Golden Gate Bridge

Building the Iron Horse

Posted by Cindy on June 19, 2018

Jun 192018

Laguna Honda Hospital
Lobby of the Pavillion
375 Laguna Honda Boulevard
Forest Hill

Owen Smith’s WPA-style mosaic murals depicting the building of the Golden Gate Bridge pay homage to Glen Wessel’s Professions mural series in the historic Laguna Honda lobby and provide a visual continuity between the old and the new buildings. The artist chose to illustrate the building of the Golden Gate Bridge because of the subject matter’s connection to the Wessel murals, which include themes related to labor and the four classic elements. To Smith, the building of the Golden Gate Bridge represents human audacity, bravery, skill and artistic and engineering achievement.

Mosaics by Owen Smith

Owen Smith has been on this site before. According to his own website: Smith’s illustrations have appeared in Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Time, Esquire, and the New York Times. He has created 19 covers for The New Yorker and recently illustrated a third book for children. His illustrations for the recording artist Aimee Mann helped win a Grammy for Best Recording Package. Smith has received recognition from The Society of Illustrators New York, Illustration West, American Illustration, Communication Arts, Print Magazine, Creative Quarterly, and Lürzer’sArchive.

Owen Smith’s painting and sculpture has been exhibited in New York, Milan, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He has participated in group shows at Schwartz Gallery Met at Lincoln Center NYC, and the Moderna e Contemporane Museum Rome. In 2012 Owen’s had a solo show in Caffé Museo at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Smith designed mosaic murals for a New York City Subway Station. In 2011 Smith’s mosaic murals and relief sculpture panels for Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco were named one of America’s Best Public Artworks at the 2011 Americans for the Arts Convention in San Diego.

Owen lives with his wife and two sons in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is currently the Chair of the Illustration Program at California College of the Arts.

Building the Iron Horse by Owen Smith

These three mosaics were commissioned by the SFAC at a cost of $287,515.

Fort Point the Best Vantage Point to View the Golden Gate Bridge

Posted by Cindy on January 5, 2013

Jan 052013

It took 116 years for Fort Point to become a National Historic Site, and its life along that road was a bumpy one. Construction on Fort Point began in 1854. Thanks to the California Gold Rush, commerce was booming in San Francisco, and it was important that the portal through which valuable cargo flowed, the San Francisco Bay, was protected. The Fort, as it is configured today, is how it was originally envisioned. In 1857 a reporter for the Daily Alta California described the workmanship at Fort Point as “solid masonry of more than ordinary artistic skill which meets the eye at every point…the visitor is at a loss to determine what he admires most-the granite or the brickwork…” Once the foundation-thousands of tons of granite, brought from China-was laid, work began on the masonry arched casements that would house the guns and the troops. Originally the entire fort was to be of granite, but three years into the project the engineers decided to switch to bricks, made to their specifications on a hill just south of the fort. Master masons were hired for setting and laying the millions of bricks; they were assisted by numbers of men that had gone “bust” in the gold rush.

Slow in finishing, the Fort construction was completed just in time for the outbreak of the Civil War. The military occupied the Fort and prepared it for attacks that never came. Life for those stationed there was not easy: the thick walls, built to protect the Fort, made for dark spaces; the fog, an ever present element of San Francisco made the place cold and damp. The Bay itself also took its toll on the structure. The constant waves threatened to undermine the footings. In early 1862 work began on the 1500-foot sea wall that still remains. Again, thousands of tons of granite, this time from Folsom, California, were laid down and keyed together. The spaces were filled with cement and then covered with tar-impregnated cloth and molten lead.

After the Civil War the Fort was abandoned, except for a caretaker. It did, however have a dozen men garrisoned there during the 1906 earthquake. After all the men were out safely, they noticed that the entire hillside wall had moved away from the rest of the building by eight inches. The Fort was abandoned, and plans to turn it into a detention barracks were adopted. The Fort was remodeled, and yet, never did become detention barracks. The World War I troop buildup brought the Fort back into use as housing for unmarried men. During this time the Fort was also used as a “base end station,” which located the positions of attacking ships and controlled the firing of seacoast guns, mortars, or mines to defend against them. Abandoned once again after WWI, the Fort fell into severe disrepair.

Damage caused by the 1906 earthquake: tie rods were positioned, and the wall was pulled into place and anchored back to the main structure.

The interior courtyard with the original cast iron columns and capitals

In the early 1930s funds were being raised for the new Golden Gate Bridge. Engineer and designer Joseph Strauss initially felt the Fort would be an impediment to the bridge and wanted it gone. In 1937, however, after a tour of the Fort and the realization of its superior craftsmanship, he wrote to the Golden Gate Bridge District: “While the old fort has no military value now, it remains nevertheless a fine example of the mason’s art. Many urged the razing of this venerable structure to make way for modern progress. In the writer’s view it should be preserved and restored as a national monument.”

Graffiti left by prisoners from Alcatraz sent to repair Fort Point in 1914

World War II found the Fort again refurbished and armed with Anti Motorized Torpedo Boat guns. The Bay never saw any action during the war, and the rapid demobilization after WWII left the military with a relic. Preservation enthusiasts started to organize beginning in 1947, but no government agency would step in and claim the Fort. In 1959, a group of retired military officers gathered together and formed the Fort Point Museum Association. They raised money and public awareness, and in 1970 President Richard Nixon signed a bill designating Fort Point a National Historic Site.

The Fort has four small jail cells. They now function as offices for the park rangers.

Prisoner art work, found on the jail-cell wall

Garrison Gin, used to move cannons to the upper floors

Fort Point is now part of the United States Park Service. It is open Friday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. Candlelight tours are given in January and February. A full report of the history of the Fort, as well as its construction and restoration documentation can be found on the the National Park Service website.

Joseph B. Strauss, Golden Gate Bridge Engineer

Posted by Cindy on August 24, 2012

Aug 242012

Golden Gate Bridge

Joseph Strauss (1870-1938) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, to an artistic family of German origin, having a mother who was a pianist and a father, Raphael Strauss, who was a writer and painter. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1892. Strauss graduated with a degree in economics and business.

He was hospitalized while in college and his hospital room overlooked the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge. This sparked his interest in bridges. Upon graduating from the University of Cincinnati, Strauss worked at the Office of Ralph Modjeski, a firm which specialized in building bridges. At that time, bascule bridges were built with expensive iron counterweights. He proposed using cheaper concrete counterweights in place of iron. When his ideas were rejected, he left the firm and started his own firm, the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago, where he revolutionized the design of bascule bridges.

Strauss was a prolific engineer, constructing some 400 drawbridges across the U.S. He dreamed of building “the biggest thing of its kind that a man could build.” In 1919, San Francisco’s city engineer, Michael O’Shaughnessy, approached Strauss about bridging the Golden Gate, the narrow, turbulent passage where San Francisco Bay meets the Pacific Ocean. Strauss caught fire with the idea, campaigning tirelessly over the next decade to build the bridge. He faced enormous opposition from the “Old Guard” — environmentalists, ferry operators, city administrators, and even the engineering community. Yet in November 1930, a year into the Great Depression, voters at last supported a bond issue for Strauss’ bridge. The ambitious project finally had its green light. On May 27, 1937, the bridge opened to the public. Returning to his other great love, poetry, Strauss composed verse for the occasion, exulting, “At last, the mighty task is done.” It would be the last mighty task of his life. Exhausted, Strauss moved to Arizona to recover. Within a year, he would die of a stroke. – The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley

Strauss alienated many people in his quest to build the structure — his first suspension bridge. Obsessed with claiming credit as the span’s creator, he minimized the acknowledgement given to Charles Ellis and Leon Moissieff, the two visionaries who actually worked out the significant engineering challenges of building the bridge. Strauss’ detractors blocked the statue of the chief engineer proposed for the bridge plaza; his widow would eventually fund its creation in 1941, inscribing it, “Joseph B. Strauss, 1870-1938, ‘The Man Who Built the Bridge.'”

The sculptor for the statue was Frederick W. Schweigardt. Born in Lorch, Germany on May 3, 1885. Schweigardt studied at the Munich and Stuttgart Academies and with Auguste Rodin in Paris. He immigrated to America in 1930 and the following year settled in San Francisco. He was active in San Diego during the time of the California Pacific Exposition in 1935. He died on Sept. 21, 1948 while visiting in Albany, NY.

The sculpture itself is bronze and stands 7 feet tall, it was done for a commission of $10,000.

Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Public Library

Newscopy: STATUE TO STRAUSS–Mrs. Annette Strauss today pulled the strings that unveiled a memorial statue of her late husband, Joseph B. Strauss, who designed and built the Golden Gate Bridge. The statue stands at the toll plaza between two pillars overlooking the Golden Gate. It was executed by Frederick W. Schweigardt, San Francisco sculptor.”.

The bridge plaza was remodeled and upgraded for the Golden Gate Bridges 75th Anniversary. There is now a new Bridge Pavilion and new Cable Overlook, (named for an impressive sample of the cable of this suspension bridge). There’s a new main plaza leading out to the relocated statue of Joseph Strauss. Down from the plaza are other view terraces, one of which incorporates part of the c.1902 Lancaster battery structure, a reminder of when this was a military installation. The Bridge Round House (a restaurant until the ’70s) and the 1938 Bridge Cafe were both restored as well.

Posted by Cindy on May 31, 2011

May 312011

Golden Gate Bridge Plaza
San Francisco Side

This is a piece of the cable that holds up the Golden Gate Bridge. I have loved this piece since I first laid eyes on it. The sign tells you that the length of one cable is 7640 feet, the diameter is 36 3/8 inches, there are 27, 572 wires in each cable (which is what you are looking at in the end there) they used 80,000 MILES of wire, and the weight of the cable is 24, 700 tons. I think the fact that you are looking at the ends of 27,572 wires is what captured my imagination when I first saw it. This little park is on the San Francisco side of the Golden Gate bridge and provides parking if you want to walk out onto the bridge. On weekends it has large crowds and is nearly impossible to enjoy, but during the week, you can stroll the gardens look out over the city and walk across the bridge at your leisure.

Golden Gate Bridge – Fort Point

Posted by Cindy on May 29, 2011

May 292011

Fort Point

Golden Gate Bridge

The building at the bottom of this picture is Fort Point. Many people look down upon this structure when they walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, but they never go to visit, which is a shame. Fort Point was completed just before the American civil war. Its purpose was to protect San Francisco harbor from Confederate and foreign attack during and after the U.S. Civil War. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began work on Fort Point in 1853. Plans specified that the lowest tier of artillery be as close as possible to water level so cannonballs could ricochet across the water’s surface to hit enemy ships at the water-line. The 90-foot cliff was blasted down to 15 feet above sea level. While manned throughout the Civil War, it never saw an enemy. Its beautifully arched casements display the art of the master brick mason from the Civil War period. The fort is only open on weekends, but to wander the insides and marvel at the arched casements is so very much worth a visit. It is also a wonderful area to just sit and marvel at the beauty of the bay.

For more information on Fort Point please read my article in Untapped Cities.

Golden Gate Bridge – Hopper’s Hands

Posted by Cindy on May 28, 2011

May 282011

Fort Point

Golden Gate Bridge

These are Hopper’s Hands. This plaque is at Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge on the San Francisco side. The area is a turn around spot for people running the Presidio area, and slapping the hands is a tradition. Hopper’s hands has a great story, that I am sure most runners aren’t even aware of.

Ken Hopper is an Iron Worker on the Golden Gate Bridge. Iron workers often agree to train in suicide prevention and rescue on the bridge. Ken is one of those guys. He is one of the many unsung heroes of the city, and this is a great way to get to know him. Scott Ostler wrote a beautiful piece about Hopper in the Chronicle, that has since been taken off of their website so I am including it here, I warn you, you will shed a tear.

SAVING LIVES JUST PART OF THE JOB – Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, January 10, 2001

“If you’re an ironworker on the Golden Gate Bridge and your home phone rings at 3 a.m., you know it’s trouble.
You know someone is threatening to jump off your bridge. Your stuff is always ready; you’re out the door in minutes.
If you aren’t too late, if you climb out onto the cold steel and sweet-talk some poor lost soul off the beam or tower or manage to wrestle him or her to safety, it’s a good feeling. Many suicide attempts are impulsive; lives can be salvaged.
If you fail, if the person jumps into that bottomless fog, it ruins your day.
“There’s no describing how helpless you feel,” says Ken Hopper, a Golden Gate Bridge ironworker for 17 years.
These ironworkers are tough guys. Men of Steel, they’re called. Cowboys in the Sky. They fix and maintain the world’s most amazing Tinkertoy.
But what qualifies these blue-collar rivet-wrestlers to perform the delicate psychological task of suicide prevention? Just this: There’s nobody else.
“We’re the only ones dumb enough to do it,” Hopper says.
They’re the only ones with enough equipment, knowledge of the bridge and courage to go over the rail.
The suicide rescue duty is voluntary, but the bridge’s ironworkers all take their turns. There’s almost no danger of falling, but it’s not a risk-free gig. One man pulled a knife on an ironworker. A loaded gun fell out of the pocket of another guy. An ironworker was bitten by a woman he pulled off the bridge.
But the iron cowboys answer the call, late at night or during their shift. At least two of them go out on every rescue. They give it their best shot, and the weird thing is that they wind up being pretty damn good at the psychological stuff.
Sometimes a police psychologist will be at the scene, coaching the ironworkers by radio. More often, the rescuers are on their own. I asked Hopper if the workers are given any suicide prevention training.
“Over the years, (suicide prevention experts) have come to give us seminars, ” he says. “They wind up asking us questions, because all they do is talk to these (suicidal people) on the phone. We deal with them face to face.”
Often a would-be jumper is locked into a private mental zone and the trick is to get his or her attention. Some tricks that have worked:
“Hey, if you’re going to jump, at least give me your mom’s phone number so I can call her to tell her.”
“That’s a nice watch. If you’re going to jump, can I have it?”
Sometimes the trick is simple compassion, the voice of a human who cares. Look, I’ve been through some real hard times myself. I know it’s possible to get help.
Hopper estimates he has talked or wrestled down about 30 people, and lost two.
Great percentage, but even so, it all caught up with him a few years ago. Hopper underwent a couple years of therapy, had his name removed from the rescue-call list.
“It wasn’t one incident,” he says, “it was a culmination. I tried to stuff ’em all in this bag. The bag gets so big, it bursts.”
Hopper is a bear of a guy with a bushy mustache and a sensitive side. When he noticed that waterfront joggers have a ritual of touching the fence at the dead-end of the sidewalk next to Fort Point, he had the bridge’s sign painter make a sign with two handprints on it, and another sign with two dog paws, because one woman had her dog touch the fence.
So losses haunt him. Once Ken and two other ironworkers were clinging to one arm of a man hanging over the rail. The man grabbed another piece of bridge with his other arm, wrenched free and swung off another beam and into the world’s most popular suicide pit.
Another time, Hopper arrived at a rescue just in time to see a man fling his 2-year-old daughter off the bridge, then jump off himself.
It eats at Hopper when a talked-down suicide is taken into custody and then quickly released with little or no psychiatric observation. Hopper talked an 18-year-old City College student off the bridge, and she was taken away by police.
The next morning, while a press conference was being held at City Hall to announce a new bridge suicide-prevention program, the teenager walked back onto the bridge and jumped.
On occasion, the family of a jumper will later seek out the ironworkers involved in the attempted rescue. What happened? What were my son’s last words?
“You try to help them get some peace of mind,” Hopper says.
But what about peace of mind for the ironworkers? They almost never get info on what happens to the people they rescue.
Hopper says that’s a sore spot. No follow-up, no closure. You help save a life, you become involved in that life, you know?
“Once in a great while,” Hopper says, “one of the guys will get a letter or note from someone they talked down. I’ve known that to happen only two or three times. When a guy gets a letter like that, it’s a treasure; it’s like gold.”
Mostly, the ironworkers don’t talk or philosophize or complain about this aspect of their job. They don’t talk feelings. They’re tough guys.
As soon as Hopper completed his therapy, as soon as he felt like he had a handle, he put his name back on the call list for rescues.”

Fort Point is one of my favorite spots in San Francisco. It has such a rich history and this is just a bonus when you visit.