Golden Gate Bridge

Vic, one of my postcard swappers from Postcrossing, sent me this wonderful historical reproduction postcard. The postcard's picture shows Fort Point (now a National Historic Site) in the foreground and San Francisco Bay -- the future site of the Golden Gate Bridge. (Now if we can just get the postal service to quit ink-marking the face of our valued postcards.) For an unmarred view of this historical photo click this link. For a contemporary picture of the bridge, showing Fort Point under the bridge's supporting arch, go here.



Some postcards just get to you. This one did me. I think I began to imagine the sheer scale of the task. Pondering this scene with the tiny steam-powered tug and a three-masted clipper ship in the waters of the bay made me appreciate what a monumental task a bridge of this magnitude requires. Constructed during years of economic depression, 1933-1937, it was the longest suspension span bridge in the world(4,200ft). It took great vision, endless engineering calculations, and years of difficult labor to construct. It is a bridge to the future.