Spans the East River from
Lower Manhattan to Brooklyn Heights
The Brooklyn Bridge is one
of the most famous architectural landmarks in New York. It has
been called the "Eighth Wonder of the World" and has
been praised by such authors as Walt Whitman, Hart Crane and
Lewis Mumford. The Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River and
connects Brooklyn to lower Manhattan. It was originally designed
to handle horse and buggy traffic along with pedestrians. Today,
as one of the three bridges that connects Brooklyn to Manhattan,
it handles thousands of automobiles and pedestrians everyday.
According to legend, John
Augustus Roebling came up with idea for the Brooklyn Bridge when
the ferry that was then the only way to get to Manhattan, wasn’t
able to run because of inclement weather. He looked across the
ice flows that bottled up the ferry and knew that there must be
a better way...
Roebling began work in
1867, but the task of such a monumental undertaking was fraught
with danger. Roebling died from gangrene two years after
construction began when a ferryboat accidentally crushed his
foot. His son Washington took over construction, but was himself
crippled when he got the bends from working underwater on the
bridge’s towers. In an unprecedented move, Washington’s wife
Emily took over construction by relaying her husband’s bedside
commands and overseeing the workers.
When the bridge was first
opened in 1883, nobody would be the first to walk over a bridge
completed by a woman. Fortunately, the circus was in town and
Emily was able to prove the bridge’s strength by walking a
herd of elephants across the walkway. However, twelve
pedestrians were still killed that day when the rumors of the
bridge’s collapse created a stampede. (People not elephants)
The bridge itself is over
six thousand feet long and was the longest suspension bridge in
the world for many years. It’s construction was national news
and grew to symbolize the country’s progress and imagination.
