The carousel at the zoo |
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| Location | Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA |
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| Number of animals | 305 [1] |
| Number of species | 110 [1] |
| Annual visitors | 250,000 [1] |
| Memberships | AZA[2] |
| Website | http://www.beardsleyzoo.org/ |
The Beardsley Zoo, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the only zoo in the state of Connecticut. It includes one of few carousels in the state.
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Beardsley Park
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| Location: | 1875 Noble Ave., Bridgeport, Connecticut |
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| Area: | 181 acres (73 ha) |
| Architect: | Olmsted, Fredrick Law; Northrup, Joseph W. |
| Architectural style: | Queen Anne, Modern Movement |
| Governing body: | State |
| NRHP Reference#: | 98000357[3] |
| Added to NRHP: | March 18, 1999 |
In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over 100 acres (40 ha) of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River with a distant view of Long Island Sound to the city of Bridgeport on condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park...." In 1881, the city contracted Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for creating New York City's Central Park, to create a design for Beardsley Park.[4] Olmsted described the existing land as "pastoral, sylvan and idyllic" and, in 1884, delivered his plan for a simple, rural park for the residents to enjoy: "[The land donated by Beardsley] is thoroughly rural and just such a countryside as a family of good taste and healthy nature would resort to, if seeking a few hours' complete relief from scenes associated with the wear and tear of ordinary town life.... It is a better picnic ground than any possessed by the city of New York, after spending twenty million on parks.... The object of any public outlay upon it should be to develop and bring out these distinctive local advantages, and make them available to extensive use in the future by large numbers of people." [5]
Fredrick Law Olmsted was the principal architect of the site. Architect Joseph W. Northrup designed Island Bridge, a bridge to an island in the park. In 1909, the city erected a statue created by Charles Henry Niehaus in honor of Beardsley at the park’s Noble Avenue entrance.[4][6][7] Beardsley Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.[3][8]:6
The city of Bridgeport was also home to Phineas T. Barnum and his world famous circus. At the time of the park's creation, Barnum exercised his animals through the streets of Bridgeport, and people gathered in Beardsley Park to see zebras and camels walking by.[9]
In 1920, Bridgeport Parks Commissioner Wesley Hayes began a campaign to create a city zoo within the park. He requested that the citizens of Bridgeport contribute animals to start the zoo. In the first year there were eighteen exotic birds donated. As of 1927, the zoo had acquired a variety of exotic animals, including a camel donated by the Barnum and Bailey Circus.[9]
In 1997, the Connecticut Zoological Society, a nonprofit support group for the zoo, purchased the zoo from the city. The society continues to run the zoo as a private, nonprofit institution with assistance from the state of Connecticut and the city of Bridgeport.[9]
The Beardsley Zoo is divided up into five sections:
The zoo also has a carousel and one of the largest greenhouses in Connecticut. At the entrance to the zoo, a pair of brick buildings that had served as trolley barns for the city of Bridgeport now hold administrative offices.[10]
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