Past and Present: The Approach to the Brooklyn Bridge

A look at Brooklyn, then and now.

Public transportation across the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the major reasons for the bridge’s existence, carrying commuters across the river from Brooklyn to Manhattan. The bridge opened to pedestrian, railroad and vehicular traffic in 1883. It wasn’t until 1898 that the first trolley service rolled along the tracks from the Sand Street Terminal on the Brooklyn side.

The tracks ran on the outermost sides of the bridge, on the same roadway as the horse-drawn vehicles. Above, the elevated railroad lines ran across the bridge to Park Row, in Manhattan, operated by the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Company. They had also begun in 1883, the year the bridge opened, and were cable cars. The system was electrified in 1896, but the cable method was often used to cross the bridge itself.

The photo on the left was taken in 1903, and what strikes me more than the sight of all those tracks, is the multitude of advertising bombarding the public. (I highly recommend going to the Shorpy site and viewing the photo full sized. You can pick out workers on scaffolds, and read every single ad with amazing clarity and detail). Now, as seen on the right, we only have the pedestrian lanes and the lanes for the thousands of cars and vehicles that cross every day. Thank goodness those ads are gone. The past is not always better. (Originally posted 04/11/11)

Next week, I’ll be back with all new posts.