GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Golden Gate Bridge

 is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the opening of the San Francisco Bay into the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula, to Marin County. It is one of the most internationally recognized symbols of San Francisco,California, and the United States. It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
 Before the bridge was built, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. Ferry service began as early as 1820, with regularly scheduled service beginning in the 1840s' for purposes of transporting water to San Francisco.
 The Sausalito Land and Ferry Company service, launched in 1867, eventually became the Golden Gate Ferry Company, a Southern Pacific Railroad subsidiary.
 Irving Morrow, a relatively unknown residential architect, designed the overall shape of the bridge towers, the lighting scheme, and Art Deco elements such as the tower decorations, streetlights, railing, and walkways. The famous International Orange color was originally used as a sealant for the bridge. The US Navy had wanted it to be painted with black and yellow stripes to ensure visibility by passing ships, the largest ferry operation in the world by the late 1920s' Once for railroad passengers and customers only.