Existing comment:
Panaroma [sic] of Brooklyn South of the Brooklyn Bridge
People looking south towards Brooklyn from bridge in 1883 were treated to a spectacular view. 135 feet below them dozens of ferries, looking like toy boats, crisscrossed the East River, taking passengers to and from Manhattan. Along the busy waterfront the chimneys of factories and distilleries spouted great clouds of smoke as clipper ships and steamers sailed into the harbor, bound for the warehouses and docks that lined Brooklyn's shore. Rising above the horizon in the distance were the steeples of Brooklyn's many churches. Most were built in the nineteenth century when clever speculators offered land to congregations at no cost. Once a church was built, the lots around it were usually quickly sold off and developed for residential use. Because of its many ecclesiastic structures, Brooklyn was known as "the city of churches."
Brooklyn's city seal, which dates from 1834, depicts the Goddess Vesta and bears the motto "Eendraght Maakt Magt" – "In Union There is Strength." |