The Brooklyn Bridge is the first thing someone might think about Brooklyn, there are various reasons why. When we think of the Brooklyn Bridge we don’t really think about how the Bridge’s state was before we even glimpsed about it, we just think of how the bridge looks now in the present. All that seems to matter to us is what’s in front of our eyes. What we don’t realize is that the bridges present all depended on its past. The Brooklyn Bridges past and present state have similarities and differences as well. We’ll compare to these accounts and view how much the bridge has changed in over 100 years. It is an account in which we will analyze how the bridge was in the past and how it is now in 2013.

The Brooklyn Bridge was first opened to the public in May of 1883[1]. The Bridge was built to allow transportation between Manhattan and Brooklyn. At this time, the Bridge was brand new and people were skeptical of how sturdy it was. So in 1884, a man by the name of P.T Barnum conducted a march of elephants and various animals to prove that the bridge would not collapse[2]. The bridge at the time was the longest suspension bridge[3]. The bridge was in perfect condition through the late 1800’s as it was brand new and none of the material was yet rotted or old. The design and paint was also beautiful compared to many architectural bridges during the time. The bridge allowed hundreds of people to cross the bridge as it was practically for walking and bicycling. The bridge was also standing alone as it had no views of any other famous places except Manhattan.

Let’s fast forward over 100 years to 2013 and look at the Brooklyn Bridge in the present. The Brooklyn Bridge is now under constructions in some areas and has been improved over the years. Changes to the bridges structures and paint have been made as to prevent rotting and erosion from happening and causing any unneccessary damage[4]. The bridge now has the walking promenade and the roads in which vehicles travel to and from Brooklyn. The era has changed and these changes allow for faster transportation. The bridge has vantage points to very beautiful views that occupy the city of New York such as the Statue of Liberty, Governors Island and the Brooklyn Bride Park. The bridge is walked by over 4,000 people a day and over 120,000 vehicles cross the bridge[5].

Now the past and the present of the Brooklyn Bridge have various similiarities and differences. Some similarities are the length of the bridge remain the same, the architectural design has not change at all. The Bridge still has the walking promenade. Now there have been various differences such as the amount of people that cross the bridge everyday, the paint, the addition of vehicles. More changes include the beautiful views assesible from the bridge and the changes constantly being made to the bridge. Both the past and present are what represent Brooklyn. We fail to see that the bridge had a past that differed from the present view that is available to us today.

Therefore the Brooklyn Bridge had similarities in the accounts of past and present. The comparisons analyzed how the Bridge has changed over its 100 years of existence. The Bridge as we speak is still developing and in many years what we now know as the present will the past. The Bridge changes for the better and provides us with information in which we analyze to see what the past was like in Brooklyn and how the present is.