Epilogue Summary and Analysis

The epilogue summarizes fifty years of bridge craze. There were the strollers, the deadly Memorial Day stampede that Roebling had feared inevitable, and the jumpers, including Steve Brodie, who later stars in the play, On the Bowery, that features a leap. Martin becomes Chief Engineer in 1883 and remains on the job until 1902, managing 201 full-time employees. The ferries continue to run until 1942. The Bridge becomes a world-famous symbol of faith that mountains can be moved. Generations grow up in New York and Brooklyn loving the Bridge from childhood through courtship. Tourists have to photograph it. It is featured in novels, paintings, and lithographs, films, advertising, poetry, and songs. Its place in architecture, engineering, and sociology are debated for decades. It marks the beginning of modern New York, and the end of old Brooklyn, delivering the hoped-for economic stimulation.

Additional bridges are built...