Celebrating the Golden Gate Bridge

May 28, 2012

|In Landmarks & Ruins, Photo Essays, San Francisco, Transportation

Opened in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the one-mile-wide by three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean.

The bridge links San Francisco, California, to Marin County, and doubles as both Highway 101 and the Pacific Coast Highway (Route 1). It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Frommer’s travel guide describes the Golden Gate Bridge as “possibly the most beautiful, certainly the most photographed, bridge in the world.”¹

One of the spans of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California

Sunset behind the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco, as seen from the Berkeley Yacht Club

Sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the Marin Headlands - San Francisco — Sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from the Marin Headlands

Celebrating the 75 Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge

Since moving to San Francisco in 2009, I’ve been excited to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge on its 75th anniversary.

Dusk underneath San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge — Dusk underneath San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge

A quarter-century ago, the celebration was so massive that the bridge actually straightened out from the weight of all the people on it.

On May 27, 2012, the city of San Francisco put on a huge celebration for that anniversary. Fireworks were displayed, fleets of ships sailed underneath the Golden Gate, a festival was held at the waterfront and thousands of people crossed the bridge on foot. It did not flatten.

So where was I for all of the fun?

Chiang Mai, Thailand, in the middle of another backpacking adventure to destinations still undetermined.

So no, I can’t complain; though, I really do wish I was there to see all the festivities…and to take a few hundred photos.

Instead, I shall mark this monumental date by posting these: some of my favorite photographs of the Golden Gate Bridge, taken during two years of living in the city of San Francisco.