Then & Now: The Locomobile Factory in Bridgeport
Old 16, the first American car to win a Vanderbilt Cup Race, was manufactured directly across the Long Island Sound in Bridgeport. Here are some photos of the Locomobile factory, one of the largest automobile manufacturing plants of its era. Remember to click on the photo to enlarge it.
The Locomobile Company was very proud of its factory and produced a series of postcards with the harbor view.
Walter McCarthy has provided this 1965 photo of the factory "taken from the Port Jefferson Ferry". Thanks again Walter for your contributions!
Here is a copy of the "For Sale" flyer for the factory from my collection. The plant was taken down in the late 1960s.
This is the Google Earth view of the location of the Locomobile factory in Seaside Park. Eric Lehman, a Bridgeport historian, places the factory where the four large oil tanks stand today. For more information on Locomobile, visit the Locomobile Society of America.
___________________________________________________February 20, 2010 Update:This aerial of the Bridgeport Harbor taken in the 1950s shows the location of the Locomobile factory (top left) in relation to Seaside Park.
This is the same view as seen today courtesy of Google Earth.
February 28, 1910: Inside the Locomobile Factory.
Links to related posts on VanderbiltCupRaces.com
Index: 1908 Vanderbilt Cup Race
Comments
The interior photo of the Locomobile factory is terrific. I love shots like that. Thanks for preserving it.
Roger Price
Vanderbilt Cup Region, AACA
My grandfather helped design and work on cars in the Locomobile plant in
Bridgeport. Just found (in my father’s collection of National Geographic) a full
back page ad in the May 1918 issue.