Seems like we've been hearing about the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge since the day after the 50th. Well it's finally here...on Sunday, that is. Some final preparatory links before you go all international orange this weekend. And remember, on May 27, the bridge will be closed from 9-10 pm for a fireworks show.
- Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary website - the Golden Gate Festival is being held on Sunday, May 27. Check this site for festival highlights, scheduled entertainment, a map of key locations, and information on getting to the festival.
- Golden Gate Bridge History in Photos (News Fix) - images of the bridge from 1936 on
- Gone But Not Forgotten: The Golden Gate Bridge 50th anniversary (The Poop) - "One expert paid for by celebration organizers predicted 80,000 people would show up. Instead, there were an estimated 800,000, with 300,000 packing the bridge at one time. Planned events were scuttled, porta-potties overflowed, chaos reigned and chilling before-and-after images showed up later, proving that the normally arched road had flattened under the weight of the pedestrians packed together like sardines."
- Life on the Gate: Working on the Golden Gate Bridge (QUEST) - Amy Standen's report on the men who built the bridge during the Great Depression
- Video: Opening Day of the Golden Gate Bridge - from May 27, 1937
- Walk This Way: Crossing The Golden Gate Bridge (NPR) - witnesses to the bridge's opening recount their stories
- Golden Gate Bridge in popular culture (Wikipedia) - from The Maltese Falcon in 1941 to Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011
- Poems about the bridge by Joseph Strauss - the bridge's chief engineer was a poet on the side:
My arms are flung across the deep,
Into the clouds my towers soar,
And where the waters never sleep,
I guard the California shore. - Video: The Bridge - controversial 2006 documentary about the bridge as a suicide destination
- This Week in Northern California: International Orange Exhibition - Scott Shafer visits the studio of artist Anandamayi Arnold, who is creating a vibrant series of dresses made almost entirely from crepe paper. The dresses pay homage to the Spanish style garments worn by the "Fiesta Queens," who helped kick-off the Golden Gate Bridge's opening ceremonies in 1937.
- Video: Building the Golden Gate Bridge - documentary from Bethlehem Steel, from the Prelinger Archives