Today marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. Its completion in 1937 came one year after the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in November, 1936. Both bridges were celebrated at the Golden Gate International Exposition held on Treasure Island in 1939-40.
The theme of the exposition was “Pageant of the Pacific,” and it showcased the goods of nations bordering the Pacific Ocean. Embodying this theme was the “Tower of the Sun” and a giant, 80-foot statue of Pacifica, goddess of the Pacific ocean, both of which are marked on this guide map designed by Ruth Taylor:
Of course, construction of the bridges was not celebrated by all, especially railroad companies, which offered ferry services to their rail connections around San Francisco Bay; something we discussed in our Northwestern Pacific Marin County hiking map video:
