11. The Scam Sales of the Brooklyn Bridge
The phrase “I have a bridge to sell you” comes from the shockingly large number of times the bridge was sold by con artists. The first instance was by a man named Peaches O’Day who made $200 from the “sale,” but George C. Parker took the scam to a whole new level. Often targeting immigrants, Parker sometimes sold the bridge up to twice per week and even made $50,000 in a single sale.
He set up counterfeit offices and offered fake documents for the sales. The police were called in regularly to remove toll booths set up by the new supposed “owners” of the Brooklyn Bridge. Parker didn’t just limit himself to the Brooklyn Bridge: he was known for selling the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Statue of Liberty, and Grant’s Tomb as well. Parker ended up incarcerated at Sing Sing, where he died.