Bridgeport Investigates Errors Going Back Decades in the Creation of Black Rock Harbor Historic District

The mayor of Bridgeport said errors were made when the city’s Black Rock Harbor Historic District was created decades ago and the city is working to correct it.

Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim said that it has come to the city’s attention that errors were made in 1978 when the district was created.

State law requires that a legal description of historic districts be recorded on the land records, with the names of each district property owner indexed as a grantor to give public notice of historic district designation to people who are searching the land records, including potential purchasers.

But, the 1978 ordinance creating the Black Rock Harbor Historic District contains “an erroneous legal description,” and there are errors in distances and directions, according to the mayor’s office. 

The owners at that time weren’t properly indexed as grantors and a title search wouldn't reveal that the properties were included in the historic district, according to the mayor’s office. 

Mayor Ganim has directed the City Attorney’s Office to “proceed expeditiously to properly redress this legal matter for the benefit of the impacted residents of the Black Rock Community.”

The mayor’s office said the City Attorney’s Office and Office of Planning and Economic Development have consulted with the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office for help to correct the errors and re-establish the historic district with its originally intended boundaries. 

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The State Historic Preservation Office has offered to assist with grant funding for a comprehensive survey and review of what was originally intended in 1978. 

The mayor’s office added that the city intends to review the boundaries of its other historic districts to ensure that each has been properly defined and that all appropriate notices have been filed on the city’s land records.