Golden Gate Bridge

About the Golden Gate Bridge

San Francisco is home to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most recognized landmarks in the world. This majestic suspension bridge, painted in its distinctive International Orange, spans the Golden Gate strait connecting San Francisco to Marin County. Completed in 1937, the bridge has become an enduring symbol of American engineering and the spirit of the city by the bay.

Construction of the span across the Golden Gate strait began on January 5, 1933, under chief engineer Joseph Strauss, with Irving Morrow and Charles Ellis contributing the tower styling and structural calculations, and it opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937. At completion its 4,200-foot main span was the longest suspension span in the world, a distinction it held until 1964. Morrow's choice of international orange, rather than the gray or striped schemes proposed by the Navy, made the structure immediately recognizable in photographs and film, and it became shorthand for the city in tourism material, newsreels and later movies. Today it carries U.S. 101 traffic, marks the city's northern gateway, and appears routinely in coverage of San Francisco itself.