RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:
And now let's raise a toast to a bridge that once claimed the title of longest suspension bridge in the world. That was the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened 129 years ago yesterday. With a span of 1,500 feet, it featured two carriage ways, two railway lines, and a lane that pedestrians could use at the cost of one penny.
In 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge launched New York's Golden Age of Bridges, a hundred year period during which three more of the city's bridges would hold the world's longest title, the last being Verrazano-Narrows, connecting Staten Island with Brooklyn. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.