to the 1970s, the local high school was named Bridgeport High School. Its mascot was the Bulldogs. Bridgeport High School then consolidated with the neighboring town of Sumner, and the mascot for the new consolidated school became the Salukis. There is also an elementary school in Bridgeport called BGS, or Bridgeport Grade School. Sports The Red Hill Junior High School Lady Salukis 2008 softball team went to the Illinois state championship and placed second. In 1960, Bridgeport High School had a total school enrollment of only 385. That year the boys basketball team advanced to the State of Illinois IHSA basketball tournament finals to face a much larger Chicago team, John Marshall. At the time, Illinois, like Indiana in the movie Hoosiers, held a single-class tournament where all schools competed for the same championship. Chicago Marshall's enrollment was listed at 2,333, more than six times that of Bridgeport. Unlike the Indiana team in Hoosiers, Bridgeport lost the championship game, finishing its season with a 33–2 record. Notable people Frank Beckerson, a fictional character portrayed by John Larroquette in the Parks and Recreation episode "Galentine's Day", lives in Bridgeport. John Lankston, tenor with the New York City Opera and actor in Broadway musicals Gary Wagner, a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, was born in Bridgeport. References Cities in Illinois Cities in Lawrence County, Illinois populated places established in 1896 1896 establishments in Illinois