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In February 1872, Washington Augustus Roebling looked on as a caisson for the New York and Brooklyn Bridge (later known as the East River Bridge and subsequently the Brooklyn Bridge for short) was sunk into the New York harbor. Washington was the son of John Augustus Roebling, founder of the Roebling Company that manufactured wire rope. After John’s death in 1869, Washington took over as chief engineer of the Brooklyn Bridge project, which utilized wire rope manufactured at the Roebling Company factory in Trenton, New Jersey. The Roebling factory was the first wire rope manufacturer in the United States. From its floors in Trenton enough wire rope was sent out to build suspension bridges throughout the northeastern U.S., including the now famous Brooklyn Bridge seen in the “Sinking of the New York Caisson” image.

doi:10.7282/T3D50K7Q

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