Beardsley Zoo
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Maned wolf in the Pampas Plains exhibit.
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| Date opened | 1922 |
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| Location | Bridgeport, Connecticut, United States |
| Coordinates | 41°12′37″N 73°10′53″W / 41.2103°N 73.1815°WCoordinates: 41°12′37″N 73°10′53″W / 41.2103°N 73.1815°W |
| No. of animals | 305 |
| No. of species | 110 |
| Annual visitors | 250,000 |
| Memberships | AZA |
| Website | www |
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Beardsley Park
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| Location | 1875 Noble Ave., Bridgeport, Connecticut |
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| Coordinates | 41°12′45″N 73°10′56″W / 41.21250°N 73.18222°W |
| Area | 181 acres (73 ha) |
| Architect | Olmsted, Fredrick Law; Northrup, Joseph W. |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne, Modern Movement |
| NRHP Reference # | 98000357 |
| Added to NRHP | March 18, 1999 |
The Beardsley Zoo, located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, is the only AZA-accredited zoo in the state of Connecticut. It includes one of the few carousels in the state.
In 1878, James W. Beardsley, a wealthy farmer, donated over 100 acres (40 ha) of hilly, rural land bordering on the Pequonnock River, with a distant view of Long Island Sound, to the city of Bridgeport on the condition that "the city shall accept and keep the same forever as a public park". In 1881, the city contracted Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for creating New York City's Central Park, to create a design for Beardsley Park. Olmsted described the existing land as "pastoral, sylvan and idyllic" and, in 1884, delivered his plan for a simple, rural park for the residents to enjoy: "[The land donated by Beardsley] is thoroughly rural and just such a countryside as a family of good taste and healthy nature would resort to, if seeking a few hours' complete relief from scenes associated with the wear and tear of ordinary town life... It is a better picnic ground than any possessed by the city of New York, after spending twenty million on parks... The object of any public outlay upon it should be to develop and bring out these distinctive local advantages, and make them available to extensive use in the future by large numbers of people."
Olmsted was the principal architect of the site. Architect Joseph W. Northrup designed Island Bridge, a bridge to an island in the park. In 1909, the city erected a statue created by Charles Henry Niehaus in honor of Beardsley at the park’s Noble Avenue entrance. Beardsley Park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
At the time of the park's creation, the city of Bridgeport was home to Phineas T. Barnum and his world famous circus. Barnum would exercise his animals through the streets of Bridgeport, and people gathered in Beardsley Park to see zebras and camels walking by.
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