The Golden Gate Bridge celebrates the 80th anniversary of its opening on Saturday, May 27.
"A necklace of surpassing beauty was placed about the lovely throat of San Francisco yesterday,"wrote a San Francisco Chronicle reporter a day after the opening ceremonies in 1937.
The Golden Gate is neither the longest nor the tallest bridge in the US — but its marriage of engineering and art makes it one of the most stunning sites in the world.
These vintage photos show how the crown jewel of San Francisco's skyline came together.
The proposal for a bridge connecting San Francisco and Marin County overcame unlikely odds. Ferry companies fought it because it would cut into their profits carrying some 50,000 commuters a day into the city. Environmentalists thought it would be obtrusive.
Source: Kevin Starr
It is said that advocates of the bridge began to spread drawings of what it might look like, and its beauty won over the opposition. District voters approved a $35 million budget.
Source: SFGate
On July 9, 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt pressed a button that that set off a charge of dynamite, starting construction work on the historic bridge over the San Francisco Bay.
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