Officially the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, and usually just called the Roebling Bridge, or the Suspension Bridge, John Roebling called it simply

1868	1867, a photograph by Covington's John Winder. Steamers Magnolia on the east, and the General Lytle on the west. From a Facebook post by John Reusing, via the Getty Museum	Beautifully colorized, c. 1890

 

c. 1900	Toward Cincinnati	1896

 

Construction Views, June, 1866. We assume the three images on the left are all the same picture, cropped to different effects.

“In 7 days, the Scott street ferry-boats crossed the river 1,480 times, carrying 29,311 passengers over 12 years [of age], 369 horses, 382 cattle, 1,566 drays, 627 buggies, and 450 other 1-horse vehicles, 74 two-horse carriages, 230 omnibuses, 341 other two-horse vehicles, 32 3-horse and 178 4-horse vehicles. This information was obtained as data for the probable business of the proposed bridge from Covington to Cincinnati.” The History of Kentucky, by the Late Lewis Collins

 

Scene of the 1896 bridge re-building. The murky air may be fog, but more likely pollution - they burned lots of coal in those days.
from a Facebook post by David Rutherford

 

Looking toward Ohio	from Collins' History of Kentucky	1944, High Water From a Facebook post by Linda Schilling Mitchell

 

An 1868 sketch of the Suspension Bridge	c. 1870's	c. 1870's

They spotted a sea serpent from the bridge in 1878.

In the flood of 1884		1884 on the Ohio side

 

The Great Wire Bridge from a Facebook post by Don Sanders	19th century	An early painting of the bridge.	The Toll Gate for Pedestrians,  from Harpers New Monthly, 1883

 

In 1869, with their city on the verge of building a bridge modeled after the one in Cincinnati, The Brooklyn Eagle sent reporters to Cincinnati to check it out. They also interviewed Amos Shinkle (“Does the bridge pay, Sir?” “Yes, Sir, very handsomely”). You can read their feature story here.

 

Suspension Bridge from the Newport Barracks	1910. That's a Cadillac, and those folks are on a Glidden Tour (Wikipedia). Shout out to Kurt Hultquist for the ID

 

John Stobart (Wikipedia) a contemporary painter of old time riverfronts, has included the Suspension Bridge in a number of his works. His online gallery is here.			A painting by Milton O'Dell (external link)

“When we look upon the massy stone piers of the Cincinnati and Covington Suspension Bridge, and see the workman busily engaged in dressing the huge rocks, and placing them in position where they are to remain visible to the mortal eye through all the mutations of time - century after century – we cannot but feel that over the minds of the workmen there comes now and then a sweep of lofty thoughts concerning the grandeur and long-enduring character of the work on which they are thus engaged.  As a handsomely dressed rock is placed into position, we can imagine the thoughtful mason to soliloquize thus: These outer rocks which occupy so prominent a position will be gazed upon by the children of my great-great-grandchildren.  All my posterity to the latest generations will have it for their boast that an ancestor of theirs helped build this great and wonderful work.  I am leaving marks of my life’s doings while in the world and I am not ashamed of the record which day to day I am making up.  I feel a glorious consciousness within me – that I have lived for some purpose – that I have not lived in vain.”   From the Saturday Evening American, (Covington), August 27, 1864

 

c. 1934	One of the walkways	That's the steamer Eureka. Note the river height.

 

With a separate toll booth for pedestrians.	Under Construction	the 1937 flood

The Great Bridge, c. 1880-90, All of these are old stereoview cards and, with the ones below, and are indicative of the bridge's fame, and importance as a tourist attraction in the late 1800's.

 

Front and back of an old stereoview card Note the sign on the upper right of the bridge.		More old stereoviews

 

A close up of the Suspension Bridge	Note the flooring of the bridge, originally made of wood.	More old stereoviews

 

Drawing, c. 1880's	c.. 1880's

 

1890 Flood, 56.9 Feet	In the 1884 Flood	These stereoview cards are from the late 1800's

A film to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Roebling Bridge, produced by the Kenton County Public Library is at this site.

All Pre-WWI

 

c. 1906	1908

 

1898	1912	c. 1910
	The most common of all Covington postcards is a variation of the above two shots of the Suspension Bridge

Spanning the Ohio, a painting by Julie Morrow DeForest, c. 1930

 

A 2014 painting by D. McCrary

 

“Jamming Barges Under the Suspension Bridge”a painting by H. H. Wessel, 1921		Background on Wessell and his painting. from the January, 1922 Cooperative Engineer.

 

Crossing	Suspension Bridge, circa 1903

 

You're on the Ohio side, at what was then the foot of Vine Street in the flood of 1913

Suspension Bridge and Covington Riverfront	Suspension Bridge and Covington Riverfront November 16, 1927	unknown year	1928

 

c. 1949	c. 1949	1944 from a Facebook post by Linda Schilling Mitchell

Ten things you likely don't know about the Suspension Bridge are here.

Here's the application for the bridge to be on the National Register of Historic places, complete with photo's, history, and maps.

“The Covington and Newport street railroads carry 2,600 passengers per day over the Ohio river suspension bridge.”
from the Louisville Daily Journal, August 19, 1868

Technology, in 1869, brought to bear to prevent trotting across the bridge. Story here.

1937 Flood
From a Facebook post by Myles H. Kitchen

 

In the 1937 Flood notice the back up into the “Newport fill” on the left picture

 

		from a Cindy Alexander post on Facebook
It's true that you could cross the Suspension Bridge in the 1937 flood, but it's not like they didn't have to lend some assistance to get'er done.

The Green Line Heads for Latonia, 1938. Note that the Suspension is a toll bridge	c. 1935, from the  Ohio side	Looking south toward Covington, 1931

 

On the Covington side, looking toward Cincinnati. Steamers on the Ohio side are the America, the Magnolia, and the Major Anderson

from the Ohio side, c. 1910	Note the huge number of steamers at the Cincinnati landing	The Ben Franklin on the Covington shore	The Indiana passes under the Suspension Bridge

 

An early 20th century view	A 19th century view. Note all the steamboats

 

The original plan was for a single tower in the center of the river.	Suspension Bridge, 1934, from the US Army, Chief of Engineers

A citizens group, the Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee, Inc. published this handy guide to the history of the Suspension Bridge.  The two parts on the left are a history of the bridge; the two parts on the right are a walking tour.  You can visit the Committee on the web here.

The Catholic Telegraph, August 19, 1880

Remarks upon Mr. Roebling's plan & report for a wire suspension bridge, proposed to be erected over the Ohio River, at Cincinnati, is online at this site.
The Suspension Bridge was opened on Saturday, December 1, 1866. 46,000 people crossed. The next day was an unseasonably warm Sunday, and it's estimated that 120,000 people came out. The formal dedication was the following New Year's Day.
The Ticket, a Covington newspaper, cited an Ohio Law, which said that the Suspension Bridge must charge 15% less than ferries then operating, and published a comparison of rates to cross the Suspension bridge in 1876, and the comparable ferry rates from 1863. It's here.
An article from Cincinnati Engineers from 1922 on the Suspension bridge is here.
There are several plaques on the ends of the bridge.  You can see  close-ups of them, here.	John A. Roebling's bio on Wikipedia is here.
The original bridge was painted “Spanish Brown,” thought to be a light brown corrupted by linseed oil to be a darker brown. From the 1895-1899 reconstruction to the mid-1930's it was black and white.  From the 1930's to 1976 it was green, and since 1975, it's always been blue.
There was a plan to make the bridge a double-decker.	An 1819 author ponders a bridge across the Ohio.
The Enquirer's 1900 article on Ohio River bridges is here.	The Covington-Cincinnati Suspension Bridge Committee's site here. They have lots more bridge pictures, and a nice history of the bridge.

 

Streetcar ticket, c. 1880's

Whatever . . .	Last and least.  What a mess.