Washington Roebling and His Lessor Known Bridge

I published this post several years ago, and thought it would be an interesting throwback post for my readers.

What do Brooklyn, Brunswick, Maine, Cincinnati, Ohio, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and our United States Civil War have in common?

The answer is, the Roebling family, a family responsible for some of the most historic bridges in this country.  One of their members, a civil engineer by the name of Washington Roebling, served in the United States Civil War.

Chances are, you may well have traveled over at least one bridge designed by the firm of  John A. Roebling's Sons.  These bridges include the Brooklyn Bridge )photo below), the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge (connecting Cincinnati, OH and Covington, KY) and the bridge above, the Brunswick Topsham Swinging Bridge over the Androscroggin River in Maine (photo above).

Brooklyn Bridge, September 2015, taken from the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

I have walked across both the Brooklyn Bridge and the Brunswick Topsham Swinging Bridge.  You couldn't ask for two totally different experiences.  The Brooklyn Bridge is traveled by thousands of people daily - by car, by foot, and by bicycle.  The scenery is breathtakingly urban, dominated by skyscrapers on both sides of the East River.  At the time the bridge was built, Brooklyn was a city separate from New York City.  (In some ways it still is-for example, still having its own library system.)

The bridge between Brunswick, Maine (a college town rich in history) and Topsham is a pedestrian only bridge.  Brunswick has many connections to the Civil War, among them the fact that the book Uncle Tom's Cabin was written there and that General Joshua Chamberlain of Gettysburg fame (later the governor of Maine) also lived there for a time.

Washington Roebling served in various capacities as an engineer in the Civil War, including at the Battle of Gettysburg.  Stricken by the bends due to an accident during the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, he spent the last 40 plus years of his life as a physical invalid with a very active mind. Despite his disability, he outlived many people in his family and even ran the family business for a time when in his 80's.

If you've seen the Smithsonian rock and mineral collection at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, you can thank Washington Roebling for the beginnings of that collection.

When you think of engineers and the bridges that link our lives....think of the Roeblings.