May 24 marks the 127th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, celebrated in 1883 with a “grand display of fireworks and illuminations” according to this newspaper account.
The Brooklyn Bridge was hailed as an engineering marvel; schools closed for the day as politicians gave speeches and thousands of pedestrians were charged one cent to cross it.
But the festivities didn’t last. A few days later, after a staircase gave way, tragedy struck and 12 pedestrians were killed.
Tags: bridges in New York City, Brooklyn bridge, Brooklyn Bridge opening day, East River Bridge, trampled on the Brooklyn Bridge
Ephemeral New York 
May 23, 2010 at 7:44 pm |
I linked to Ephemeral New York from http://www.bookpod.org/. It’ll be on the home page until next Sunday (May 30, 2010). It’s also archived at: http://bookpod.wordpress.com/caprices-archive/
December 5, 2010 at 4:49 pm |
[…] marks the 127th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. Its opening in 1883 was celebrated with a “grand display of fireworks and illuminations.” […]