6. The Towers Were Originally Designed to Look Egyptian
Though looking at the high pointed arches on the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge today might conjure up images of Gothic cathedrals rather than pyramids and mummies, the towers were originally designed to look Egyptian. Soaring above any other structure in the New York City skyline at the time they were built at 276 feet high, the towers were designed by John Roebling to mimic an Egyptian-style tomb.
In 1857 plans created by Roebling, the towers were more column-like and did not have large pointed arches but instead sculptural Egyptian imagery and a more blocky aesthetic. These plans were scrapped after John’s death when his son Washington took over the design and swayed it towards the Gothic style. Washington was constantly trying to distinguish himself from his father, who was usually given all of the credit for the bridge’s design. The towers are made of a combination of New York Limestone from Rosendale, New York, and granite from Maine and Connecticut. It took six years and over 85,000 cubic yards of masonry to complete them.