PowerPoint Show by Andrew

Before 1937, San Francisco was hampered by a reliance on ferry traffic.

The 8,981 ft (2,737 m) suspension bridge changed that, creating a link between San Francisco to Marin County.

Before the bridge -- Fort Point in the foreground, looking across the Golden gate (the strait connecting San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean), toward Marin County to the north, in 1910.

Construction underway on a pylon on the south shore of the Golden Gate Bridge project, 1933.

Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge 1933. A trestle reaches out from the San Francisco shore to the foundation of the north tower.

Work progresses on the Golden Gate Bridge, as seen in 1934.

Workers complete the catwalks for the Golden Gate Bridge, hundreds of feet above the strait below, prior to spinning the bridge cables during construction on October 25, 1935.

The Golden Gate bridge, during its construction in May of 1936.

The Golden Gate Bridge, nearly complete on November 12, 1936.

The Golden Gate Bridge was opened to pedestrians on May 27, 1937. The next day it officially opened to vehicular traffic.

Traffic from Marin County en route to San Francisco.

View of Marin County, from the top of the southern tower, prior to 1968.

Motor traffic crosses the Golden Gate Bridge 1951.

One of the cable seats, atop the south tower, prior to 1968.

As thousands of people jam the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge during a bridge walk, one person walks across the span 220 feet above the San Francisco Bay, on May 24, 1987.

A crowd estimated at 800,000 jams the deck of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, on May 24, 1987, part of the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the bridge.

The Golden Gate Bridge, as the sun rises over San Francisco, on January 27, 2005.

Cars drive northbound on the Golden Gate Bridge, on May, 8, 2008.

A dreary day view of the Golden Gate Bridge, on February 16, 2009.

A man takes in the view of the fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Headlands in Sausalito, California, on September 24, 2008.

A cargo ship passes through San Francisco Bay at sunrise.

A man looks over the railing of the Golden Gate Bridge, on January 27, 2005.

A suicide prevention message on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco California, 2006. More people die by suicide at the Golden Gate Bridge than at any other site in the world.

An exhibit of shoes in remembrance of people who have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge is displayed during a commemoration of the bridge's 75th anniversary on May 27, 2012, in San Francisco.

The Russian tall ship Pallada sails under the Golden Gate Bridge during the opening of the Sail San Francisco 2005 International Maritime Festival, on July 28, 2005.

The Golden Gate Bridge, seen from the third tee of the Lake Course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, on March 19, 2012.

The Queen Mary 2 sails beneath the Golden Gate Bridge as it enters the harbor in San Francisco, on February 4, 2007.

The Golden Gate Bridge, lit at dusk, seen from Fort Point in San Francisco, on February 4, 2009.

San Francisco, the bay, and the Golden Gate Bridge, seen from orbit aboard the International Space Station, on November 6, 2010.

High-power lights illuminate the Golden Gate Bridge as part of the span's 75th anniversary celebration in San Francisco, on May 27, 2012.

Fireworks erupt from the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, on May 27, 2012.