Where is Bridgeport?

by Brandon Booth

In Franklin W. Dixon's early works of the Hardy Boys canon he left specific and general clues as to the location of Bayport. After disproving the location of Bayport, NY due to low population, lack of cliffs, extensive research has shown Bayport to be Portland, Maine. To recap on a previous essay, the 1950 Bayport population of 50,000 inhabitants (forty-thousand more than Bayport, New York) almost matches the 2000 census of Portland Maine's population of 63,000 assuming the normal growth of cities in population. Portland is far enough north to freeze in the winter, has a shore road in the atlas, and remote areas along the coast where much of the Hardys adventures take place, unlike the south shore of Long Island. In the third volume of the canon, Secret of the Old Mill, Dixon makes reference to another major city---Bridgeport. It is my purpose to enlighten the reader trying to make sense of the geography to develop a deeper understand of this work.

Geography experts will be quick to point to Bridgeport, Connecticut. Who can be wrong? Bridgeport is also in New England, a relatively small region. It is also along the Atlantic coast. The Hardys make reference to Bridgeport being the next major city from Bayport. (Dixon, 29) The 2000 census for Bridgeport shows it to be Connecticutt's largest city followed by New Haven and Hartford. Let us assume Bridgeport to be in Connecticut.

On page 27 Chet finds the man on the street who passed him a phony 20 dollar bill in the heart of downtown Bayport. Twenty-four pages earlier, the same man was in a hurry to catch a train. The Hardys speculated that he could not have traveled too far because he reappeared in Bayport two hours later. Two pages later (page 29) after they lose the man to the crowd of shoppers, Frank said, That could be one of the reasons he took the train [to Bridgeport]---to get a new supply and palm off more. (Dixon, 29) We should not be surprised at the counterfeit money passer stocking up on phony bills in Bridgeport. Nationally known magazines have featured articles on Bridgeport, beleagured with crime even in a state with the highest income bracket per capita. (The 1994 census shows Connecticut almost $9000 above the national average). That would explain the crime in Bridgeport. This proves that Bridgeport, CN could be what Franklin W. Dixon had in mind.

As plausible as those theories are, more than once is the reader reminded that Bridgeport lies within an hour from Bayport. Bridgeport, CN lies 258 miles from Portland, ME. The train would have to travel faster than Japan's Silver Bullet to make Bridgeport, CN within an hour, giving Boston, Providence, and Hartford a miss. The price for that superfast train would not be worth the counterfeiters' time and expense to go to Bayport to pass one or two phony twenties. So we must assume the suspect either jumped off the fast train and doubled back or took a local. (There is no mention of Mr. Hardy's express from Detroit stopping in Bridgeport). Let us assume the latter. Also, Boston lies between Portland and Bridgeport. So how can Bridgeport be the next major town? Page 44 also makes reference to the Hardys getting back to Bayport within an hour from Bridgeport. So Bridgeport, CT, is not the location Dixon really had in mind.

With Bridgeport, CN, theory blown, we have no alternative but to pinpoint a major town with a different name. Who says Bridgeport has to be on the Atlantic coast because of the word port? Is not Shreveport, LA, located 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico? However the Red River running through the city justifies it to be a port.

The city within an hour of Portland, ME has to be large enough to have a bike shop that carries Belgian bicycles and close enough for the Bayport dealers to be familiar with dealers in other nearby towns. The city would have to be Lewiston, ME. Since the counterfeit passer did not go back to Bridgeport to stock up, that would justify Lewiston being the place. It is Maine's second largest city. The Androscoggin River runs through the town, justifying the city being a port. Franklin W. Dixon did have Bridgeport, Connecticut in mind afterall conceptually.

But it is not in Connecticut. It is in Maine.