Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade
About this property
The Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade is a historic commercial building at 993-1005 Main Street in Downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut. Built in 1841 and expanded several times in the 19th century, it is one of the oldest of the city's commercial buildings. It was also the first indoor shopping mall in the state. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade is located in Bridgeport's Downtown commercial area, on the West Side of Main Street midway between Cannon and John Streets. It is a four-story masonry building, fifteen bays wide. The exterior retains only minimal elements of its original 19th-century styling, while its principal interior feature, the glass-roofed two-story arcade, retains original iron columns, arches, and scrollwork. The northerly portion of the building is its oldest section, dating to 1841. It was built as part of the Sterling Hotel, which opened in a wood-frame structure in 1835, when the area was still mainly residential. That building's site is now occupied by this building's southern six bays. In 1850, the hotel demolished the wood-frame structure and built an addition to the 1841 structure. In 1889 William D. Bishop, a prominent local businessman, oversaw a second expansion of the building and construction of the arcade, which was designed as a connector between Main Street and the city's post office. The arcade rapidly became a high-profile shopping location. National Register of Historic Places listings in Bridgeport, Connecticut Media related to Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade at Wikimedia Commons
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade listed on the National Register?
Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 20, 1978.
What type of historic resource is Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade?
Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade?
The period of significance for Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Sterling Block-Bishop Arcade will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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