Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge
    Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge
    Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge
    Ebook235 pages45 minutes

    Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge

    By Anne Merritt

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Golden Gate Bridge is a marvel of engineering and architecture considered by many to be one of the world’s most beautiful bridges, its picturesque vistas favored by photographers, artists, visitors to San Francisco, and almost everyone else. When naysayers said it couldn’t be built, Joseph Strauss and a team of visionaries spun 80,000 miles of wire and riveted nearly 900,000 tons of steel into gossamer wings, spanning for the first time an immense gulf and linking the Pacific coast.

    In black-and-white photography, Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge details the history of the bridge from its design and construction to recent times. Nearly 200 rarely seen images offer a compelling look at the bridge, from the days when the treacherous currents of the Golden Gate could be crossed only by boat to the rise of the bridge as a national landmark. This book is sure to delight both those who dream of the impossible and those who live to make it happen.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTurner Publishing Company
    Release dateJul 1, 2008
    ISBN9781618586346
    Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge
    Author

    Anne Merritt

    Anne Merritt has a lifetime acquaintance with bridges. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—another city with numerous bridges spanning its three rivers—and daughter of an engineer, she appreciates how much effort a big project can require in time, funding, and labor. A resident of the San Francisco bay area since 1989, she enjoys frequent glimpses of the Golden Gate Bridge. Watching the sun set behind the bridge from the Oakland hills remains, she thinks, one of the best ways to end a day.

    Related to Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      San Francisco’s Golden Gate

      Jan 1, 2019

      San Francisco’s Golden Gate
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Panama Canal 1915

      Apr 8, 2022

      In theory, the Panama Canal was such a simple idea. The Isthmus of Panama was just a thin strip of land separating two mighty oceans. If you dug a canal across it, you’d save yourself the long, hazardous journey around the Cape, or the even worse one

      6 min read

    • Article

      Bridging A Continent

      Oct 16, 2020

      Bridging A Continent
      6 min read

    • Article

      Built To Last

      Jul 1, 2022

      These man-made objects have grown into important sources of national pride to Americans. They also are iconic U.S. symbols to international visitors. The futuristic Space Needle was built for the 1962 World’s Fair hosted by Seattle, Washington. That

      4 min read

    • Article

      Bridge To A Golden Mountain

      Jan 31, 2023

      I looked ahead to the beautiful skyline of The City, which is what we Northern Californians have always called San Francisco. Then I looked east past Alcatraz Island to Berkeley, where the Campanile towered over the University of California campus, a

      2 min read

    • Article

      Bridge To A Golden Mountain

      Jan 31, 2023

      I looked ahead to the beautiful skyline of The City, which is what we Northern Californians have always called San Francisco. Then I looked east past Alcatraz Island to Berkeley, where the Campanile towered over the University of California campus, a

      2 min read

    • Article

      Treasure Of The Sloop Washington

      Jan 19, 2017

      Treasure Of The Sloop Washington
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Pioneers Set Sail

      Jul 9, 2020

      The Pioneers Set Sail
      7 min read

    • Article

      Watery Waymaking

      Sep 24, 2019

      Watery Waymaking
      13 min read

    • Article

      By Rail To Sea!

      Feb 27, 2023

      YOUR case is packed and you are Florida bound. For many, particularly families, ‘The Sunshine State’ is the ultimate holiday aspiration. They are doubtless lured by the sprawling campus of four Walt Disney theme parks, created from swampland just sou

      12 min read

    • Article

      Cornwall's Tin Coast

      Jul 9, 2021

      Cornwall's Tin Coast
      6 min read

    • Article

      Skeletons In The Sand

      May 30, 2019

      Skeletons In The Sand
      11 min read

    • Article

      Time and Tide

      Feb 16, 2022

      Time and Tide
      8 min read

    • Article

      The Pioneers Set Sail

      Jul 28, 2020

      The Pioneers Set Sail
      7 min read

    • Article

      Frontier Forts SYMBOLS OF AMERICAN AMBITION

      Nov 1, 2022

      Frontier Forts SYMBOLS OF AMERICAN AMBITION
      3 min read

    • Article

      Workhorse In The Wilderness

      Feb 22, 2016

      Workhorse In The Wilderness
      11 min read

    • Article

      From the Debris Field...

      Jun 30, 2017

      Wreck divers from everywhere on the planet are invited to submit newsy tidbits of timely information (also called “short, sharp, shipwreck shout-outs”) about a wreck in their area. Perhaps there is not enough information, or enough archival and/or un

      4 min read

    • Article

      Made To Order

      Dec 21, 2021

      Made To Order
      5 min read

    • Article

      Head Over Heels

      Jun 13, 2019

      Head Over Heels
      5 min read

    • Article

      Maine’s First Boat

      Dec 14, 2021

      Maine’s First Boat
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge - Anne Merritt

      HISTORIC PHOTOS OF

      THE GOLDEN

      GATE BRIDGE

      TEXT AND CAPTIONS BY ANNE MERRITT

      Sailboats under the Golden Gate Bridge. This picture shows a calm bay. Sailing in the bay from the many marinas and yacht clubs is a popular sport in San Francisco.

      HISTORIC PHOTOS OF

      THE GOLDEN

      GATE BRIDGE

      Turner Publishing Company

      200 4th Avenue North • Suite 950

      Nashville, Tennessee 37219

      (615) 255-2665

      www.turnerpublishing.com

      Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge

      Copyright © 2008 Turner Publishing Company

      All rights reserved.

      This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2008901714

      ISBN-13: 978-1-59652-445-3

      Printed in the United States of America

      09 10 11 12 13 14 15—0  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2

      CONTENTS

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      PREFACE

      ORIGINS (1870S–1899)

      FROM IDLE DREAM TO INTELLIGENT DESIGN (1900–1932)

      THE BRIDGE IS BUILT (1933–1936)

      A MARVEL OF ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING (1936–1939)

      A KEY TO TRANSPORTATION AND COMMERCE (1940–1949)

      RISE OF AN ICON (1950–1960)

      ACCOLADES (1960S AND LATER)

      NOTES ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS

      A view of the bridge from the western side of the south tower. The roadway was resurfaced in time for the bridge’s 50th birthday in 1987. The bridge weighs 887,000 tons, 7,500 tons less than it did when new, following the installation of new decking material.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      This volume, Historic Photos of the Golden Gate Bridge, is the result of the cooperation and efforts of many individuals and organizations. It is with great thanks that we acknowledge the valuable contribution of the following for their generous support:

      San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library

      The Library of Congress

      To

      Dana, for his support of even my craziest endeavors. Bill, Karen, and Iggy for the joy they bring to life. My family for their tolerance of the strange person they have among them.

      PREFACE

      The Golden Gate is not a bridge. It is the channel from the Pacific Ocean into a large bay. The channel was named by John C. Fremont, one of the most famous explorers of California. Today the bridge that spans the channel is world-famous, and most people think of the bridge, not the channel, when they hear the words Golden Gate. The channel is treacherous, narrow, and shrouded in fog many days of the year. Once through the gate, however, a very large bay opens up with good harbors and easy access to the western United States.

      Most people and goods traveled to San Francisco, one of the cities founded inside the bay, by water. For many years the ferry system established inside the bay provided transport for goods and people. The need for a bridge was not perceived until the 1920s, when cars became a familiar mode of transportation for the average citizen and roads improved.

      Bridging the Golden Gate, however, was a challenge that required the convergence of numerous factors. It needed an engineer willing to take on something nobody thought could be done, a community willing to vote for it, and a banker willing to finance it. All of these risks were taken, and more. Not only did Americans rise to the challenge—they did so during the Great Depression.

      The Golden Gate Bridge when opened became a symbol for the American West. It was big, something never tried before, and successful. The bridge expressed the optimism and can-do attitude that people of the West brought to their daily lives. The successful completion of the bridge is a tribute to the builders and communities who made it possible.

      The sun shines through clouds over the Golden Gate channel. This was the view welcoming visitors arriving by sea. Many of the forty-niners seeking gold arrived after a three-month sea voyage around South America. From San Francisco, where the prospectors could drink, gamble, and purchase provisions, the trip to gold country was a day or more north.

      ORIGINS

      (1870S–1899)

      What did the Golden Gate look like before the bridge was built? There are fewer and fewer people who can remember. We are lucky to have photographs not only of the famous bridge, but also of its construction and what was there before. Until gold was discovered in California, the area was better known to the native Indians, the Spanish friars who founded missions along the coast, and Russian traders who founded an outpost at Fort Ross. When John C. Fremont named the Golden Gate in 1846, he chose the name because the area reminded him of the Golden Horn near Istanbul.

      In a little more than 50 years, from 1850 to 1900, San Francisco

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1