CHAPTER VI 



THE STORY OF GREAT BRIDGES 



The Water Front That Invites Big Ships from Over the Seven Seas — Early 

 Highways. 



ILLIONS of dollars have been spent by the Govern- 

 ment in deepening and widening the channels of 

 waterways, and more money is constantly being ex- 

 pended on improvements. The crowding of com- 

 merce and the ever growing demand for more 

 docking space in Manhattan will eventually force the city 

 to build substantial wharves and piers along the matchless 

 water front. The opening of the Erie Canal and the Harlem Ship 

 •Canal has brought The Bronx and the maritime states of New 

 England into direct water communication with the Great Lakes 

 of the Northwest, and it is only a question of time when the ocean 

 greyhounds will be docking at Port Morris, at which point the 

 East River is deepest. This will save 300 miles of water route, 

 as it will enable steamers to come direct thru Long Island Sound, 

 instead of the Narrows and the Lower Bay. 



Our forefathers, as far back as 1693, saw the necessity of a 

 bridge across the Harlem River. Since then nearly every leading 

 thorofare of Manhattan has been extended into The Bronx by 

 means of a bridge, and around these centers there has been un- 

 paralleled growth of traffic and prosperity. 



The old bridges which once connected the Borough of The 

 Bronx with Manhattan have all been taken down and replaced 

 hy up-to-date steel structures. 



The first bridge across the Harlem River was built by Fred- 

 erick Philipse in 1693. It was named "King's Bridge" and stood 

 about where the present Broadway Bridge is situated until 1713, 

 when it was moved to just east of the present structure which bears 

 the name of Spuyten Duyvil Creek Bridge. 



Originally a ferry, owned by Johannes Verveelen, plied be- 

 tween Westchester County and Manhattan Island. As traffic 



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