MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – On this day, May 27, 1937, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public after five years of construction.
On that day, more than 200,000 people paid 25 cents each to walk along the bridge. Cars were allowed to drive across the bridge the next day.
The bridge connects San Francisco and Marin County.
The concept of bridging the nearly mile-wide Golden Gate strait was proposed as early as 1872, but it wasn’t until the early 1920s that people in San Francisco started to approve the project.
In 1921, a Cincinnati-born engineer submitted a proposal that could be built for $27 million.
The design was considered unsightly compared to the bridge’s final result, but it was affordable. The engineer became the recognized leader of the effort to bridge the Golden Gate strait.
Eleven men died during construction of the bridge.
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