Community Overview & Early Settlement

The community of Bridgeport is located about five miles from downtown Frankfort. Its name was derived from the two covered bridges that once spanned Armstrong's Branch and South Benson Creek. Though the covered bridges are gone and the historic general store, post office, and stagecoach rest stops along the "Big Road" (linking Frankfort and Louisville) have closed, Bridgeport remains a distinct historic residential area.

In the early summer of 1774, a party of hunters and explorers led by James Harrod traveled into the wilderness. Harrod sent Richard Benson to explore a large creek, discovering rich bottom lands along what became known as Big Benson Creek and Little Benson Creek. Harrod returned in the spring of 1775 to build a cabin and plant corn.

Land grants followed starting March 6, 1781, when William Armstrong entered 300 acres on Little Benson (approved by Gov. Benjamin Harrison, creating Armstrong's Branch). Sherman Nunnery received 773 acres on August 9, 1785, the northern section of which became the future village of Bridgeport. Additional early grants were issued to Thomas Paxton, James McCoun, John Robinson, Lawrence Flournoy, George Slaughter, and Benjamin Bennett.

Early Residents: 1797 Benson Valley Land Owners

By September 1797, there were only 183 white men above the age of 21 south of the Kentucky River in Franklin County. This included the following landowners in the Benson Valley:

Historic Area Churches

• Bridgeport Christian Church: Established in the late autumn of 1846 by local residents formerly of the South Benson Baptist Church who had grown dissatisfied with Calvinistic denunciations preached by Alexander Campbell, Barton Stone, and others. Constituted on November 7, 1846 as The Church of God at Bridgeport. Charter member Mary Bailey Jenkins donated land south of the Frankfort-Shelbyville road for the first building.
• Lower Benson Church: Established in 1802 as the first Presbyterian church near Bridgeport, organized with elders Robert Armstrong and William Boyd and preached by Rev. Samuel Shannon. In 1803, Robert Armstrong donated land on Arnold's Ferry Road. After the Civil War, membership declined, leading some to join the First Presbyterian Church in Frankfort and others to form the Southern Presbyterian Church on Steele Street.
• South Benson Church: Organized on February 28, 1810, when members of the Forks of Elkhorn Church in South Benson Valley asked for dismissal. John Major, William Hickman, the Christians, and Nancy Berryman were charter members. A brick church was built in 1883 on the Farmdale road. Internal disputes caused a division, with the withdrawing group forming the **Evergreen Baptist Church** nearby on Cardwell Lane.
• Upper Benson Church: Established in 1795 on Little Benson Creek (southeast of Bridgeport) by local Presbyterians aided by Rev. Samuel Shannon. In 1816, former elder Thomas Paxton and a congregation of 59 moved to town to form the First Presbyterian Church in Frankfort.

Early Education & Schools

• Belle Collins ("Beautiful Hill"): A finishing school for girls founded before 1840 by Rev. James Braddock on the Bridgeport-Farmdale Pike. Destroyed by fire in the 1850s; trustees included Dandridge S. Crockett, J. Russell Hawkins, John W. Russell, and Alexander Julian.
• Bridgeport Female Institute: Established in 1858 on Main Street under administrators Mr. and Mrs. C. M. Moore of New York; closed after the spring term in 1860. It was later sold to Dr. John B. Stout in October 1865 and remodeled into the **Lattice School** (a two-story school with a double latticed porch), which operated with county aid until abandoned in 1875 and destroyed by the fire of 1880.
• Bridgeport School: The first public school was built in the summer of 1851 on Evergreen Road. Replaced multiple times due to fires and overcrowding, a new building opened in 1942, serving elementary students for decades until closing for a modern facility in 2005.

Property Owners in the Bridgeport-In-Benson Area (1870)

Burial Grounds & Family Cemeteries in the Bridgeport Area

The Bridgeport-Benson area contains numerous historic family burial plots and church cemeteries, including:

• North Benson Baptist Church Cemetery: Highway 1005 (approx. 100 marked graves as of 1976).
• Anderson Cemetery: Old U.S. 60 on Sheep Pen Road (~15 marked graves).
• Armstrong Cemetery: West side of Bridgeport (~10 marked graves; oldest is John W. Armstrong, b. 1822).
• Bailey Graveyard: Browns Lane (.3 miles off U.S. 60), final resting place of the Shelah Bailey family (6 marked graves).
• Conner Cemetery: Little Benson Creek (includes Thomas Paxton).
• Gorman-Duke Graveyard: Near Evergreen Baptist Church (6 marked graves in 1976).
• Grennan Cemetery: 1 mile north of Devil's Hollow Rd on Hwy 1005 (Moore and Hulette families).
• Hale Graveyard & Herndon Cemetery: Bryant-Benson Road and Sheep Pen Road.
• Jenkins Graveyard: Near the Bridgeport/Evergreen intersection.
• Kirk Cemetery & Lower Benson Burying Ground: Old Sheep Pen Rd and the Julian farm off U.S. 60 (100+ marked graves).
• Mayhall Family Burying Ground & Moore Graveyard: Browns Lane and Bryant-Benson Road.
• Parrent Burying Ground: Located across from Bridgeport Christian Church.
• Power-Hieatt, Redding, Riddle, & Riner Graveyards: Taylor Branch Road, Botkin Road, and Sheep Pen Road intersections.
• Roberts, Robinson, Sargent, & Smith Cemeteries: Roberts Road, Benson Depot (Hwy 1665), Broadview Manor, and Sheep Pen Road.
• Taylor Burying Ground: Burial place of Revolutionary War soldier James Taylor on Taylor Branch.
• Tracy & Tracy-Stockton Graveyards: Bridgeport-Benson Road and Roberts Road.
• Wright Burying Ground: Southeast corner of the Julian farm at U.S. 60 junction.