Excerpt:
On June 12, 1806, John A. Roebling, civil engineer and designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, was born in Muehlhausen, Prussia. The Brooklyn Bridge, Roebling's greatest achievement, spans the East River to connect Manhattan with Brooklyn. For nearly a decade after its completion, the bridge, with a main span of 1595 feet, was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Steel wire cable, invented and manufactured by Roebling, made the structure possible.
When the Brooklyn Bridge was opened you had to pay three cents to cross it until it was paid for. When they opened the bridge everybody went to see it..It took them 14 years to build the Brooklyn bridge.
Annotation:
This Library of Congress page gives a brief history of John A. Roebling and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. However, its primary feature is a series of links to primary source documents in the LOC archives, including interviews, footage, and extensive photographs. The page also links to a bibliography of books and web resources on the Brooklyn bridge.