The temporary footbridge, made of rope and wooden planks, was strung between the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge during construction. The walkway would sway in the wind, and as it was more than 250 feet above the swirling waters of the East River, it required considerable nerve to walk across.
Despite the obvious danger, a number of people chose to take the risk to be able to say they were among the first to walk high above the river.
In this stereograph the planks in the foreground are the very first step onto the footbridge. The photograph would be more dramatic, or terrifying, when viewed with a stereoscope, the device that made these very closely paired photographs appear three-dimensional.