On what date did the Golden Gate Bridge open to the public?

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to the public on May 27, 1937.

The suspension bridge connects San Francisco with Marin County across the Golden Gate strait. Its public opening began a week of celebrations, and pedestrians were allowed to cross before automobile traffic began the following day. The bridge quickly became an internationally recognized symbol of California and American engineering.

At the time of its completion, the Golden Gate Bridge had the world’s longest suspension-bridge main span, measuring 4,200 feet. Its towers rise 746 feet above the water, and its total length is about 8,980 feet. Engineer Joseph Strauss led the project, with important design work by Charles Ellis and Leon Moisseiff.

The bridge’s famous color, officially called International Orange, was chosen partly because it improved visibility in the region’s fog. The bridge is sometimes confused with the nearby San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which opened earlier, in 1936. The Golden Gate Bridge’s 1937 opening remains its defining anniversary date.