Seaside Park

Seaside Park was designed as one of the country's first major "rural" parks, a sanctuary apart from the crowding industrial landscape. Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, already famous for designs of Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City, provided the blueprint. Legendary promoter P.T. Barnum, Bridgeport's most famous citizen, campaigned passionately to rally support for the ambitious project. The park's full size of 370 acres - many reclaimed from the waters with dykes and fill - took shape from 1865 to 1920, and Seaside was regaled as a crown jewel among urban parks.