In the early 1880s, brothers Frank and Walter Kilpatrick, investors from New York, along with their father, Edward, established a lumber company in Bridgeport. Believing the city's location and resources had extraordinary potential for development, the Kilpatricks began buying up land in the area. Other investors became interested in the city, and in 1889 the Bridgeport Land and Development Company was incorporated. This company bought up land and laid out a new grid pattern for the city, which incorporated in 1891.