A bridge by definition is a structure built over something so the people can cross. In reality, they are so much more. Some have become symbols of man's triumph over nature, others have become national landmarks. Still, others are so familiar we feel as if we own them. These are just a few of my favorite bridges in the United States.
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
"The work which is most likely to become our most durable monument and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, not a palace, but a bridge." - Harper's Weekly (1883) that says it all doesn't it, the Brooklyn Bridge has indeed endured the test of time.
With a total length of over 6,000 feet, this is a formidable bridge. It took over 13 years to build after having been discussed for more than 50 years. While it was agreed that a bridge connecting Brooklyn and lower Manhattan was a good idea, how to do it without causing disruption to the shipping lanes was an issue that had to be overcome.
John Roebling came up with a suspension bridge design and made a determined pitch to City Hall. He was met with initial resistance but persistence paid off. Brooklyn took the major portion of the risk and they got to set and collect the tolls.
One note of interest, dynamite was used for the first time on the construction of a bridge for the Brooklyn Bridge. Construction came at a great cost not only of money but in lives. Twenty men lost their lives working on the construction.
Washington Roebling, son of John Roebling, who had taken over father his father's death, was paralyzed in an accident. His wife Emily learned higher mathematics and bridge building to become her husband's eyes on the site, pretty amazing for a woman in this time period.
Today the bridge soars over the East River at 135 feet at its highest point and this height has become a standard for bridges. It is as amazing a sight today as it was 135 years ago when it was completed.
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
When it comes to being the most recognizable bridge in the United States, there is no bridge that can compare with the Golden Gate. Named for the straits that it crosses and completed in 1937, this bridge took only four years to construct. Safety measures were used to protect the workers and it looked as if it was going to be the model for bridge building safety. An unfortunate accident took the lives of ten workers all at one time bringing the total to 11. There were another 19 who were saved by the safety net that was used.
The Golden Gate has been used as a backdrop for several major flicks over the years including Superman with Christopher Reeves and Star Trek VI. When I visited we crossed over and parked on the Marin County side to take pictures, it was spectacular.
"At last the mighty task is done; Resplendent in the western sun. The Bridge looms mountain high; its titan piers grip ocean floor, its great steel arms link shore with shore, its towers pierce the sky."
Part of a poem written by chief engineer Joseph P. Strauss upon the completion of the bridge.
CHESAPEAKE BAY BRIDGE-TUNNEL
Though it may not be the most recognized of the U.S. bridges, The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is unforgettable. Shortly after its opening in 1964, it was named one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World and justifiably so.
Covering 17.6 miles it is considered the world's longest bridge-tunnel. Connecting southeastern Virginia with the Delmarva Peninsula, it cuts 95 miles off the trip from Virginia Beach to Wilmington, Del. I know this from my own experience. When our son was stationed at Virginia Beach we would drive to visit him from Conn. and took advantage of the bridge-tunnel to cut down on the driving time.
PHILIPPI COVERED BRIDGE
Covered Bridges are quintessentially American and Lemuel Chenoweth is a giant in the field of covered bridges. Though most of his bridges were constructed in West Virginia his fame has spread beyond that region.
Built in 1852 this bridge played a historically significant part in the Battle of Philippi Bridge during the Civil War. The bridge had to be almost completely rebuilt in the 1980s due to a devastating fire. Located in the town of Philippi West Virginia this bridge is part of the Beverly to Fairmont Turnpike and is the only covered bridge that is part of the National Highway system.
LONDON BRIDGE
While not originally an American bridge it has found a home in Lake Havasu Arizona. Of course, it wasn't the bridge the buyers were expecting. For some reason, they thought that Tower Bridge was London Bridge. Surprise, someone didn't do their homework.
If you can't get to London you can still see the London Bridge. You won't be too impressed, this isn't a terribly old bridge, it was built in 1831 but it is from London and one of a kind at least in the United States.
While this is not anywhere near all the interesting bridges in the United States, hopefully, it is enough to peek your interest to dig deeper and find out more about the rest.
Of all the presidential sites, The Hermitage is one of the finest. Located just outside of Nashville, Tenn., it was the home of Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel Donelson. This is the second largest presidential site in the country, but it was very much a family home. It is unique in that it has almost all its original furnishings, right down to the wallpaper, which dates to the early 1800s.
The Jacksons had many guests visit them during their lifetimes and that tradition is still carried on today. There are costumed guides who take you through the house on tours. They will give you details of the lives of Andrew and Rachel and their adopted sons Andrew and Lyncoya, their granddaughter Rachel and Alfred, one of their slaves. A 15-minute video in the visitor center will familiarize you with the history of the Hermitage. After you watch the video, you can take a headphone tour of the grounds.
The Hermitage is never the same twice. History is no longer being made here, but it is being discovered every day. There is ongoing site development. During summer, the Hermitage becomes an active archaeological site. Currently, they are trying to piece together the lives of the slaves, who have been for the most part neglected in the historical records. Visitors are allowed to sift through the dirt looking for artifacts and to question the archaeologists. A wagon tour highlighting slave life at the Hermitage has been added.
There is a construction project as well. The original Hermitage, which was a log cabin, has been restored to the way it was during the slave era, 1820 to 1865 when it was used as housing for workers. HGTV did a feature about it and Alfred's original cabin is also available to visitors.
The main house is not large but every effort has been made to maintain it in pristine condition. All the rooms are behind glass and you have to view them from the halls. You need to be able to walk up stairs as the house is not handicapped accessible. When you finish the tour, you walk out to view the kitchen and smokehouse and then head out into the grounds.
As you began your tour of the grounds, walk out to the Field Quarter Springs and the remains of field slave's quarters which have been discovered. It is a half mile walk and this is where the slaves, who worked in the fields, spent their time off of work. The remains of four brick cabins have been found and there are traces of two earlier log cabins in the same area. Some of the items from these excavations have made their way into the museum exhibits at the visitor center. They have shed amazing new light on the life of the slaves and what their family lives were like.
What has surprised everyone is that no matter where the slaves worked, in the fields or in the house, there appears to have been very little difference in their accommodations and what they possessed. They all had coins found in the ruins of their homes as well as pieces of dishes, marbles, porcelain doll heads and many other items. Life was hard but there was some time for the children to enjoy toys.
Lastly, you will want to walk in the garden and visit the graves of Andrew and Rachel. There is a small family cemetery on one side. You will also notice Alfred's grave alongside Jackson's tomb. When Alfred died, he left all his possessions and everything he had been given by the Jacksons during his lifetime back to the house. In exchange for this, he was allowed the privilege of being buried here. It is a wonderful testimony to his love for the General.
In the visitor center, there is a really wonderful museum with additional information and possessions of the Jacksons. Once inside the museum, you will be introduced again to Andrew, his wife Rachel, their adopted son as well as her nephew Andrew Jackson Donelson. In the museum, you will find artifacts uncovered during archaeological digs on the property, additional items that belonged to the family and a history that takes you beyond the occupation of the house by members of the Jackson family. Allow a half hour and 45 minutes to visit this museum; there is a lot of information there.
After you leave the Hermitage, turn left out of the parking lot and follow the road to the Hermitage Church and Tulip Grove. These are just two additional pieces to the amazing story of Andrew and Rachel Jackson. You should allow the better part of a day to fully enjoy the Hermitage.
If you want to find out more about the Jacksons, Irving Stone has an excellent novel called "The President's Lady" which is an honest and sometimes brutal look at the love story that was Andrew and Rachel Jackson's marriage. He so loved her that he once said: "Heaven with be no heaven to me if I don't meet my wife there".
The Hermitage is a must visit for anyone who will be in the Nashville area and has an interest in American history.
Other Presidential Homes:
James Madison
James Monroe
George Mason is one of those men who somehow history has forgotten. Not in his native Virginia but in the rest of the country. He had a very significant part in the history of the creation of the United States and yet it is one event, one choice he made, in that history that has kept him from being a household word. If this sounds intriguing, please take the time to visit Gunston Hall and get to know this very interesting man.
Gunston Hall was built in the mid-18th century in the Georgian style. It sits on a 60 foot bluff above the Potomac River and at its peak was second only to the Washington Estate at Mount Vernon. Your visit here begins with a 10-minute film to familiarize you with the man who built this home, George Mason.
A small museum is located in the visitor center that will give you some insight into life at the time of the Masons occupation and shows you some of the amazing things that they possessed. George and his first wife Ann raised a large family here and it is very much a family home.
House tours take place every half hour and when I visited in October 2014 the furniture was out of the house, photography was allowed inside. This allows you to take pictures of the fabulous carvings that were done by William Buckland and William Sears in the formal rooms of the house. Both of these men were indentured servants. The work is comparable to that of Grinling Gibbons in this writer’s opinion.
The tour is guided on the first floor and you are then allowed to view the bedrooms on the second floor. Several outbuildings including a kitchen are located close to the house and you are encouraged to walk through the massive grounds. The burying ground is open to visitors as well as a schoolhouse that was used to teach the nine surviving Mason children.
On the Potomac River side of Gunston Hall, there is a garden which now does not include flowing plants. Boxwoods and terraced grounds are impressive none the less but plans for new and extensive gardens have received funding so you may get to see them. If you want to walk down to the river, there are trails for that as well.
Special events are held on average quarterly. The weekend I visited, Halloween was being celebrated. Children could have their face painted, make a mask, paint a pumpkin and hear stories being told at the schoolhouse. Some spooky surprises were also provided. The house tour was included in the entrance and everyone seemed to be taking advantage of it.
In addition to the special events, there are many things offered at Gunston Hall including things like Hearth Cooking Classes and special architecture tours just to name two. See their website for additional dates and times.
If you love the Regency Period of England history, a visit to Bath with all its Jane Austen connections and Georgian architecture is a must. Two things transformed Bath from a quiet market town into a magnet for the rich and famous, the hot mineral waters and Richard "Beau" Nash. Beau arrived in Bath in 1704 and set the stage for the development of the city into a fashionable place to see and been seen.
His love of gambling was the trigger that fueled his desire to get the idle rich to help support his passion. He began as the aid to the Master of ceremonies and when death opened the door he was the natural successor. He became in time the "King of Bath". He set the fashion in Bath and during his reign at the head of the Social Season he was the arbitrator of both behavior and fashion. If you wanted to make a splash in Bath you had to win the approval of the Beau", losing his support caused the unfortunate to be ostracized and this was social suicide. Eventually, it was his gambling that was his downfall but his reign lasted 40 years and he left a significant mark on the city of Bath.
The current Assembly Rooms designed by John Woods were constructed in 1769 with the grand opening on September 30, 1771. They replaced the Lower Assembly Rooms of Beau Nash's day. Today the rooms are administered by the National Trust. The Assembly Rooms are free to visit, what you pay to visit is the costumes. The Assembly Rooms themselves can be rented out as a venue for meetings or a wedding reception.
The Assembly Room that you see today is the one that is featured in Jane Austen's novels. You may choose to take a headphone tour; it adds a great deal of information and sets the correct mood for your visit. If you enjoy becoming part of a historic venue then the headphone tour is a must. The tour begins in the Tea Room. This was where at 9 p.m. in the evening all the guest who had been invited to attend would congregate. Some came to dance, some to play cards but all came to be seen. If you didn't have an invitation to the Assembly then your consequence was considerably lowered in the eyes of all the people who really mattered in Bath. The magnificent chandeliers that adorn the room are the originals that were installed in 1771.
"In the evening, I hope you honored my toilette and ball with a thought; I dressed myself as well as I could, and had all my finery much admired at home. By nine o'clock my uncle, aunt, and I entered the rooms and linked Miss Winstone on to us. Before tea it was rather a dull affair; but then the before tea did not last long, for there was only one dance, danced by four couple. Think of four couple, surrounded by about a hundred people, dancing in the Upper Rooms at Bath." Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra.
The Octagon Room is where the gentlemen would retire for a game of cards and to get away from the dancing and the woman. There are portraits around the upper level of the room one of them is a Gainsborough of Captain William Wade. On the lower level of the room, there are four marble fireplaces.
The ballroom hosted up to 1000 people at these dances. You can still imagine the ghosts of Georgian men and women performing the minuet and dancing the country dances. The room is 105 feet long, 42 feet wide and 42 feet high. With all the crystal chandeliers it is breathtaking. Dancing began at 6 p.m. with the minuet, at 8 p.m. there would be lively country dances, at 9 p.m. everyone went to the tea room and all music stopped at 11 p.m. even if it was in the middle of a song.
Visiting the Assembly Rooms is as close as most people will ever get to feeling and understanding the social restrictions and the life of the "beau monde" in the time of Jane Austen. It is worth visiting just for its magnificent architecture.
