SF Images - Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge

and the Gate

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Atop the North Tower, Golden Gate Bridge, 1935

At over a mile long (6,450 feet), the Golden Gate Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its completion in 1937 until it was surpassed by the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City in 1964. It incorporates 80,000 miles of cable, weighing 22 tons.

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View towards the Golden Gate, 1904
Frigate sales through passing

Shot from area near Palace Legion of honor

Taber photograph

Pedestrian Day, Golden Gate Bridge, May 27, 1937

After completion, the Bridge was opened to pedestrian traffic the day before it was opened to vehicular traffic. 200,000 people attended the momentous opening of this spectacular engineering feat, which was not repeated until its 50th anniversary.

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Golden Gate Bridge, viewing North, circa 1940

Joseph B. Strauss engineered the building of this bridge over the vast Golden Gate Strait amidst controversy and great challenge. Completed in 1937, it was considered a feat in design and beauty. At over a mile long, the Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world until 1964.The Golden Gate Bridge, designed by Chief Engineer, Joseph B. Strauss, owes its famous Art Deco styling to architects Irving and Gertrude Morrow. They modified earlier, more traditional designs for cleaner, geometric lines to allow for an unobstructed view of the bay for motorists. Wide, vertical ribbing was added on the horizontal tower bracing to accent the sun's light on the structure, The rectangular tower portals themselves decrease on ascent, further emphasizing the tower height.
Source: OPL

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Golden Gate from above Fort Point circa 1890

Fort Point was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers between 1853 and 1861 to prevent entrance of a hostile fleet into San Francisco Bay during the Civil War. Between 1933 and 1937 the fort was used as a base of operations for the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.

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B/W

Handtinted

The Golden Gate Strait, the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean, is approximately three-miles long by one-mile wide. It is generally accepted that the strait was named "Chrysopylae", or Golden Gate, by John C. Fremont, Captain, topographical Engineers of the U.S. Army circa 1846. It reminded him of a harbor in Instanbul named Chrysoceras or Golden Horn.

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Golden Gate Bridge Under Construction

Handtinted by Bennett Hall
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