May 27, 1937 – Opening of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge

The 1.7-mile-long Golden Gate Bridge connects the city of San Francisco to Marin County, California. At its completion, at 4200 feet it was the longest main suspension bridge span in the world. It held that record until New York City’s Verrazano Narrows Bridge opened in 1964; it is now the 19th longest in the world. (A list of the longest suspension bridge spans is here.)

In 1919, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors launched a study of the feasibility of a bridge across the Golden Gate Strait. The study was completed in May, 1920, and the prominent engineer Joseph B. Strauss in Chicago was selected to head up the project. It wasn’t until December, 1928 however that the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District was incorporated as the entity to finance, design, and construct the bridge. A year later, two dedication ceremonies were held to mark the start of borings for the tower piers at each end.

In the summer of 1930, Strauss hired a local architect, Irving Morrow, to design how the bridge would look. Morrow was later recognized for his aesthetic contributions – the Golden Gate Bridge’s distinctive Art Deco lines, burnt red-orange hue, and the structure’s dramatic lighting. Still, it wouldn’t be until January 5, 1933 that the bridge construction officially began.

On April 27, 1937 the “Last Rivet Ceremony” was held at midspan. On this day in history – May 27, 1937 – Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic. The next day, it opened to vehicular traffic at twelve o’clock noon, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a telegraph key in the White House to announce the event to the world. Simultaneously, every fire siren in San Francisco and Marin was sounded, every church bell rang, ships sounded their whistles, and every fog horn blew. The bridge opened ahead of schedule and under budget.

On opening day–“Pedestrian Day”–some 200,000 walkers converged on the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco, the longest suspension bridge in the world was opened on May 27, 1937. A view taken from one of the towers of pedestrians swarming across the Golden Gate Bridge immediately after the opening. (AP Photo)

In 1987, at the 50th anniversary of the bridge, some 300,000 pedestrians crowded onto the bridge, and the enormous, unprecedented weight caused the middle of the bridge to sag 7 feet.

Engineers of course maintained afterward that the bridge was never in danger of collapsing. (…just like the Titanic was never in danger of sinking…) They furthermore contended that it was “normal” to have “deflections” of up to ten feet on a suspension bridge of that size.

Nevertheless, the sixtieth anniversary in 1997 was held virtually via an interactive web site. On the 75th anniversary in 2012, the main activities were held at Fort Point, Crissy Field, The Presidio and Marina Green rather than on the bridge.