The town was originally called Prairie View for its location on the coastal prairie. When the Rainbow Bridge was completed in 1938 over the Neches River and linked Orange County to Port Arthur, the name changed to Bridge City.

The two-lane, vintage Rainbow Bridge spans salt marshes and an industrial river channel for 1.5 miles and has a 176-foot clearance height. Parallel to the Rainbow Bridge is the Veterans Memorial Bridge, completed in 1991. With a 143-foot navigation clearance, it is the first cable-stayed bridge on Texas highways.

Industrial growth came with the channeling of Cow Bayou and the building of nearby petrochemical plants. www.bridgecitytex.com.