Golden Gate Bridge Magnet

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California is one of the most beautiful, and most photographed, bridges in the world. Fort Point is an historic Civil War era masonry building partially under the south end of the massive bridge. Linking San Francisco with Marin County the Golden Gate Bridge is a 1.7 mile-long suspension bridge that can be crossed by car, on bicycles or on foot. The Golden Gate Bridge design echoes an Art Deco Theme. Wide, vertical ribbing on the horizontal tower bracing accents the sun's light on the bridge. The towers that support the Golden Gate Bridge's suspension cables are smaller at the top than at the base, emphasizing the tower height of 500 feet above the roadway. Irving Morrow—an architect hired by Strauss to design an architectural treatment for the bridge—chose the 'international orange' paint color to blend with the setting while still being very visible to ships. Golden Gate refers to Golden Gate Strait—a name that originated around 1846. Fort Point—at the south end of the Golden Gate Bridge— was designated a National Historic Monument on October 16, 1970. The historic structure was built out of brick in 1853–1861 at the beginning of the Civil War to protect San Francisco from attack by sea.