"The idea of a magnificent bridge to cross the East River and join Brooklyn and Manhattan was proposed by engineer John Roebling in 1852, but it took until 1869, after the Civil War, for everything to line up and work to start. Completing the bridge took more than a decade thanks to a host of setbacks and problems. It wasn't completed until 1883 and on opening day, May 24, people were finally able to walk or ride from Brooklyn to Manhattan and back."
"Much of the land belonged to a few Dutch and English families who had been landowners since they settled in Kings County in the late 1600s. For the next 200 years, they intermarried, bought and sold land, and left vast quantities of Brooklyn to their descendants. The largest landowning family was the Lefferts. Two separate branches lived in Brooklyn. The first owned land in Flatbush, the other in nearby Bedford."
John Roebling proposed a bridge across the East River in 1852, but construction only began in 1869 after the Civil War and faced many setbacks. The bridge was completed in 1883 and opened May 24, permitting pedestrians and vehicles to travel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Anticipating the bridge, real estate developers initiated a massive residential building boom supported by improved roads, trolley lines, and railroads that extended from Brooklyn Heights to the Queens border. Large tracts of land had been held by a few Dutch and English families since the late 1600s, with the Lefferts the largest landowners. The Lefferts farmed thousands of acres, first using slave labor and later tenant farmers. The town of Bedford formed around the Lefferts mansion near the intersection of Fulton Street and Bedford Avenue.
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