San Francisco Hotels near Golden Gate Bridge

The History of the Golden Gate Bridge

The Golden Gate Bridge combined artistic and engineering genius to an extent previously unimagined when its construction began in 1933. Irving Morrow, the Bridge’s architect, and Charles Alton Ellis, its senior engineer, collaborated to produce an Art Deco structure extending 2.8 kilometres over the water in a single cable-braced span, held together with 1.2 million rivets and cables a meter in diameter.

Morrow also practiced the art of illusion; the rectangular dimensions of the towers’ portals decrease as they ascend, making the towers appear taller than they actually are. The ornamental ribbing on the towers’ bracing is designed to enhance the effects of the sun striking the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge’s orange vermilion paint is maintained by twenty-five painters performing constant touchups. Its two fog horns, at its centre span and south pier, have guided countless vessels on their way and warned the residents of San Francisco about incoming fog banks since it opened, although the original fogorns were replaced in 1985 due to wear and tear.

One of the most spectacular and photographed views of San Francisco is seen from the Bridge’s northern end, at Marin County’s Vista Point. There is a $5USD toll for southbound vehicles; all other traffic is free.

Hotels Close to the Golden Gate Bridge

The Travelodge Golden Gate, less than five minutes from the Bridge itself, is within walking distance of shopping and dining venues along San Francisco’s Chestnut and Union Streets. It’s also a great location from which to plan a trip along the breathtaking coastal scenery of the Seventeen Mile Drive and to Yosemite National Park.