Existing comment:
Panorama of Manhattan South of Brooklyn Bridge
With no skyscrapers to block the view, a person on the bridge in 1883 could see from Brooklyn to Staten Island and over Manhattan clear to the Hudson and the New Jersey shore. The bustle of the city's great port, one of the world's busiest, could be seen below. An unbroken necklace of piers lined the eastern shore of lower Manhattan to 11th Street. From this harbor, steam and sailing ships left for New England, California, South America and Europe. The narrow, densely built streets of the port were crowded with warehouses, shipyards and small factories as well as with residences. Soaring above the low buildings of the city were the spire of Trinity Church, 280 feet high, and the tower of the Tribune Building. |