The Golden Gate Bridge is an impressive historic landmark and an unprecedented engineering marvel. In 1933, construction workers began the project over open water, grateful to find employment during the Great Depression, though the working conditions were often treacherous. The Golden Gate Bridge was first opened to the public in 1937, the nearly-two-mile-long bridge connects the city of San Francisco to nearby Marin County, California. It gets its name from the water it passes over. The narrow strait where the San Francisco Bay joins the Pacific Ocean is known as the Golden Gate!