BRIDGEPORT — Camp Clarke Days pays homage to a historic area bridge builder, with locals borrowing his namesake for a big, annual Bridgeport celebration. The celebration is now in its 148th year. “We are celebrating our 148th year of the founding of Camp Clarke in Bridgeport, which, it was Camp Clarke and then it became Bridgeport later on,” Bridgeport Mayor Gail Beyer said.
“It’s our 148th celebration, where we honor our history and it’s a fun event.” This year’s Camp Clarke theme is “Trails to Us, not Through Us.” “Because Bridgeport does have five trails that go through, so that kind of came out of meetings that we had with the Camp Clarke committee,” Beyer said.
“Trails to us, not through us. We really want people to come to Bridgeport and stay and enjoy the hospitality and the fun and learn the history, because there is just so much here.” The Camp Clarke bridge crossed the North Platte River and was built in the spring of 1876 by entrepreneur Henry T.
Clarke to improve the trail from the Union Pacific Railroad at Sidney to the gold mining towns in the Black Hills. Courthouse and Jail Rocks were a landmark for many pioneers going through the area. “It’s just a natural, beautiful, scenic view out there,” Beyer said.
“You read any sort of journals from pioneers and they always mention Courthouse and Jail Rocks, different stories on that. We still have quite a few historic buildings that are in town. Main Street has a lot of them and they.