The barber shop doubled as a confectionery store. The wandering writer recorded that the saws and planer were in full operation at the box factory. James Crowly was the proprietor of a saloon and boardinghouse combination. Mrs. C.J. Pittman, proprietor of the Bridgeport Hotel, was praised for her fine dining. The town was eventually renamed Cordelia.
Most historians theorize that it was renamed when it re-established a post office.
Because there was already a Bridgeport in Alpine County, the postal service would have demanded the change. Bridgeport remains as the main residential street in Cordelia. We will never know the truth of these stories passed down, but folklore tells another side of this story. Cordelia Waterman was a plucky lass. Waterman was a tough seafarer.