Photos: On this day – January 3, 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins

Posted Jan 03, 2013

On this day – January 3, 1870 – The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.

Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and as the East River Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name from an earlier January 25, 1867, letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,[6] and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an icon of New York City, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972. (AP, Wikipedia)

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Officers of the New York and Brooklyn Corporation, and workmen, inspect the cable anchorage on the Broolyn side of New York City's Brooklyn Bridge during construction, Oct. 1978. (AP Photo)
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New York--completing a great work--lashing the stays of the Brooklyn Bridge / from a sketch by a staff artist.
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Plan of One Tower for the East River Bridge, 1867. From the National Archives.
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This is an 1876 photo showing the construction on the east tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, under construction as viewed from the Brooklyn side of the East River. On their completion they became the tallest structures in the nation for their time. (AP Photo)
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This was the scene at the official opening of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883. (AP Photo/Museum of the City of New York)
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Robert E. Odlum is depicted in this art showing his leap from the Brooklyn Bridge, July 23, 1886. Although he was a seasoned athlete and swimming instructor, he died from internal injuries from the impact of the 135-foot fall. Odlum was the first person to make the leap. (AP Photo)
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The airship 'Los Angeles' passes the flagpole on the top of the Singer Building, centre left, in New York, on Feb. 5, 1927, during her trip from Lakehurst to New York. Picture taken from Brooklyn Bridge. (AP Photo)
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This aerial view shows lower Manhattan, New York City, in 1928. At far right is the tower of the Woolworth building and in left center is the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. The Manhattan Bridge is in the foreground and the Brooklyn Bridge is at center. (AP Photo)
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Pedestrians stroll along the promenade of the Brooklyn Bridge, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, New York City, 1891. The suspension bridge was opened to traffic on May 24, 1883. When bridge designer John A. Roebling incorporated the promenade into the design of the bridge, he said it was important that the people take part in the leisures afforded by the bridge. (AP Photo)
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Portrait of Washington A. Roebling (1837-1926), who completed the Brooklyn Bridge started by his father. He had aided his father in earlier work and when his father died in 1869, he took over and completed the bridge in 1883. He was stricken with Caisson Disease (decompression sickness) in 1872 but directed the work despite his invalidism. (AP Photo)
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Trains and a horse-drawn carriage pass through the Brooklyn terminal of New York's Brooklyn Bridge, ca. 1903. (AP Photo/Library of Congress)
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The steamboat Chester W. Chapin docks at a pier in the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, ca. 1905. (AP Photo/Library of Congress)
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This is an aerial view of the Brooklyn Bridge spanning the East River in New York City, 1923. The bridge measures 6,016 feet from one end to the other, including approaches. To accomodate the passage of ships, the clearance at the center of the bridge rises to 135 feet, a height that became standard for bridge construction. The bridge was opened to traffic on May 24, 1883. Part of the Manhattan Bridge can be seen at top left in Brooklyn. (AP Photo)
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This is a close-up view of the towers and cables of the Brooklyn Bridge as painters can be seen on the cables in New York City on July 26, 1929. (AP Photo)
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Reconstruction on a ramp leading to the Brooklyn Bridge is seen in full swing, with buildings of lower Manhattan in the background, May 10, 1944. (AP Photo/Robert Kradin)
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New York City's Brooklyn Bridge is shown from the Brooklyn side, with Manhattan's World Trade Center at center, May 24, 1983, the 100th birthday of the span. (AP Photo)
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A workman in goggles and mask cuts away steel up-rights that stood alongside the old car tracks on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, May 24, 1950. The work to the bridge was done to widen the roadway on which he is standing. The skyscapers of lower Manhattan are visible in the background. (AP Photo/Bob Kradin)
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Some of the beams and other steel work of New York City's Brooklyn Bridge is being salvaged and reused in the modernization of the structure, seen May 24, 1950. Workmen are shown guiding one of the steel breams, which was formerly around the old car tracks, into place at a new location on the bridge. (AP Photo/Robert Kradin)
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The underside of the Brooklyn Bridge and the lower Manhattan skyline are visible in this photo taken from the Brooklyn side of the East River in this undated photo. (AP Photo/Tony Camerano)
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The new U.S. Navy submarine Nautilus N-2 passes under the Brooklyn Bridge on its way to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 8, 1931. (AP Photo)
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This is a view of the development site of Knickerbocker Village, modern housing project apartments, near the East River in New York's Lower East Side in 1932. The new development is between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. (AP Photo)
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The 10,000-ton Treaty Cruiser U.S.S. New Orleans passes beneath Brooklyn Bridge on its way to the Atlantic from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, April 12, 1933. (AP Photo)
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View of the newly-constructed Knickerbocker Village, shown Dec. 7, 1934. The complex is a low-to-moderate income residential project, near the Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan. (AP Photo)
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This is a view of the Madison Square district of the Manhattan borough of New York, seen Sept. 29, 1938, photographed from the observation deck of the Empire State Building, looking south down Fifth Avenue. In the center is Madison Square with Broadway leading off to the left, past the famous Flatiron Building. Left of Madison Square is the Metropolitan Life Building (with clock) and left foreground is the New York State Life Insurance Building. In the distance is the Brooklyn Bridge crossing the East River. (AP Photo)
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This is a view of the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn showing part of the Manhattan skyline on April 19, 1939. The suspension bridge spanning the East River was completed in 1883. (AP Photo)
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The aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) sails down the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, Nov. 16, 1945. The carrier is leaving the Brooklyn Navy Yard for the Navy Yard annex in Bayonne, N.J., where it will undergo further conditioning. (AP Photo/Harry Harris)
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Early morning mist adds an atmospheric touch to the Fulton Fish Market, New York City's wholesale fish center, on Sept. 5, 1948. Early morning is the busy time at the market as buyers select fish which will appear on store counters and restaurant menus later in the day. (AP Photo/Bob Wands)
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A crew of workmen are shown on the south roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge removing track at the left, May 24, 1950. The men at the right are removing steel uprights and overhead cross beams during the widening of the bridge roadbed. (AP Photo/Robert Kradin)
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Brooklyn Bridge workers, seen May 24, 1950, maintain and update the span that crosses the East River, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Here, the bridge is being converted from a two-lane auto roadway to six lanes. (AP Photo/Robert Kradin)
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The Brooklyn Bridge, foreground, and the Manhattan Bridge, background, are seen from the corner of Dover St. and Water St. on the East River waterfront in New York on Sept. 9, 1952. The steel piled up in the foreground will be used for an elevated highway along the East River. (AP Photo/Bob Kradin)
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The Brooklyn Bridge majestically spans the East River and frames part of the Manhattan skyline in this striking night photo taken from the Brooklyn side of the river on May 15, 1958. When it opened in 1883 it was the largest suspension bridge in the world and the first to incorporate steel-wire in its construction. (AP Photo/Hans Von Nolde)
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Demonstrators march across Brooklyn Bridge on their way to the Board of Education Offices, Brooklyn, to press their demands for improved educational facilities for Puerto Ricans in New York City, March 1, 1964. The marchers estimated at more than 2,000, rallied outside City Hall, Manhattan, and staged a demonstration before setting out for Brooklyn. Carried at the head of the parade are the United States and Puerto Rican commonwealth flags. (AP Photo)
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Demonstrators against the integration of schools by bus march across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York March 12, 1964 to join mass protest at City Hall. The marchers first demonstrated at the New York City Board of Education headquarters in Brooklyn. Then some of the estimated 3,000 persons there marched to City Hall in Manhattan to form a group of some 15,000 demonstrators against plans they said would force transfer of students. Snow fell throughout the day. (AP Photo)
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Demonstrators carry signs outside the New York City Board of Education offices in Brooklyn, New York March 12, 1964. They were part of 3,000 white adults who demonstrated in protest against school integration by bus. Later part of the group marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to City Hall where a larger mass demonstration was staged. (AP Photo/John Lindsay)
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Demonstrators against the integration of schools by bus march across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York March 12, 1964 to join mass protest at City Hall. The marchers first demonstrated at the New York City Board of Education headquarters in Brooklyn. Then some of the estimated 3,000 persons there marched to City Hall in Manhattan to form a group of some 15,000 demonstrators against plans they said would force transfer of students. Snow fell throughout the day. (AP Photo)
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Brooklyn Bridge is a span of light from auto headlights in this view made from Manhattan early during the power failure on Nov. 10, 1965. Roadways at right and center show bumper to bumper traffic heading toward Brooklyn in background with less traffic headed toward Manhattan on roadway at left. Lights glare from buildings in Brooklyn, parts of which were not affected by the power failure. (AP Photo)
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The lights of lower Manhattan are dark as a result of an electrical power failure in this view from under the Brooklyn Bridge on Wednesday, July 13, 1977. One building at left is lit with emergency power and a stream of light comes from the headlights of moving vehicles on the FDR Drive and on the bridge. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)
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The lights of lower Manhattan shine across New York's East River in this nighttime view from under the Brooklyn Bridge on July 14, 1977. Power has been restored in about 90 percent of the city, 24 hours after a city-wide electrical blackout. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)
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This undated photo shows the Brooklyn Bridge, which spans the East River, and the lower Manhattan skyline. At center, left of the bridge, are the Twin Towers. (AP Photo)
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Skyline of lower Manhattan in New York City is pictured on Sept. 17, 1977. In the foreground is the Brooklyn Bridge. The World Trade Center is seen in the center, whose twin towers dominate the skyline. (AP Photo)
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This is a view of the Brooklyn Bridge looking west from Brooklyn toward lower Manhattan, Feb. 9, 1983. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
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The Brooklyn Anchorage of the Brooklyn Bridge is seen May 22, 1983, two days before festivities begin to celebrate the span's 100th anniversary. (AP Photo/David Handschuh)
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Flags flutter and vehicular and pedestrain traffic crosses the Brooklyn Bridgem May 23, 1983 in New York, a day before a massive celebration of the span's 100th anniversary of its dedication. A workman, atop the nearest tower, finish preparations for a huge fireworks display which will cap a day long schedule of events for the anniversary (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
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The twin towers of New York's World Trade Center frame the Brooklyn Bridge on the day of the span's 100th anniversary, May 24, 1983. The bridge was designed by John A. Roebling and crosses over the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn. (AP Photo/David Pickoff)
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A parade celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge crosses the span over the East River, from Brooklyn into Manhattan, May 24, 1983. (AP Photo/Carlos Rene Perez)
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The Brooklyn Bridge is seen spanning over New York's East River, with the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the background, July 1987. (AP Photo)
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This general view shows the Brooklyn Bridge span over the East River and the lower Manhattan skyline in June 1987. At left of the bridge are the twin towers in the World Financial Center; the Woolworth Building, right of the bridge arch; the Bell Atlantic telephone building, right, with the Municipal Building behind it, and the U.S. Courthouse, far right, and the Jacob Javits Federal Building behind it. The stubs of pilings from long gone piers line the Brooklyn waterfront in the foreground. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan)
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The twin towers of the World Trade Center are seen behind the Brooklyn Bridge, seen from the Brooklyn borough of New York, looking west, June 12, 1990. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
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About 300 students reacting to the verdict in the Rodney King case chant and yell as they march across the Brooklyn Bridge towards a peaceful demonstration at City Hall in New York on Friday, May 1, 1992. Anger and fear brewed around the city as groups of roaming teenagers and organized protests reacting to the verdict caused some wary business owners to close early. (AP Photo/Joe Major)
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A view of lower Manhattan is seen from Brooklyn Heights, with the Brooklyn Bridge at top, date unknown. (AP Photo/Ed Ford)
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A bird soars over the Brooklyn Bridge
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The Brooklyn Bridge, viewed from Manhattan
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Brooklyn Bridge with Downtown Manhattan in the Background.
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Brooklyn Bridge, Spanning East River between Brooklyn & Manhattan, New York City, New York County, NY
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Night view of Brooklyn Bridge. The Brooklyn Bridge and Financial District of Manhattan, in New York City.
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Looking southeast along centerline of Brooklyn Bridge shortly before dusk of a sunny day.