Historic Photos of the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge resounds throughout popular culture as an iconic image. Yet its creation was fraught with turmoil. Working with the relatively untested theory of suspension, John Roebling designed a suspension bridge modeled after his Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, but he died before construction even began. His son Washington then accepted the challenge—only to end up paralyzed while working on the bridge. However, with his strong-willed perseverance and help from his wife, he drove the project through to completion.
As the only bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan at the time, the Brooklyn Bridge carried half a million people daily. The photographs in Historic Photos of the Brooklyn Bridge illustrate not only those traveling the bridge but also the hurdles that over 1,000 American and immigrant workers endured to build this magnificent symbol. Today, admirers from around the world gather on its historical walkway to gaze, admire, and pay homage to the majesty of the Brooklyn Bridge, "the Eighth Wonder of the Modern World.”
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Book details
- Imprint
- Turner Publishing Company
- Formats
- Hardcover
- Subjects
- History › United States › State & Local › Middle Atlantic (DC, DE, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
Photography › Subjects & Themes - Topics
- New York history · historic photography · black-and-white photography · suspension bridges · 19th century America · architectural history
- ISBN-13
- 9781596525252
About the author
JOHN B. MANBECK is an author, editor, and urban historian who has published or edited nine books on Brooklyn’s history, culture, and people.
Manbeck served as Brooklyn Borough Historian, appointed by Borough President Howard Golden, from 1993 to 2002. He was named Centennial Historian of the Year in 1999 and appointed chairman of the Mayor’s Department of Records, Research and Information Services Advisory Board in 1997. He contributed to The Encyclopedia of New York City, 2nd Edition and The Encyclopedia of New York State. His degrees are from Bucknell and New York universities.
When not writing, Manbeck taught English and Journalism at Kingsborough Community College (CUNY) in Brooklyn for 32 years and founded the Kingsborough Historical Society in 1972. He has lectured at the Smithsonian Institution and appeared on the Discovery, A&E, and History channels.