Golden Gate Exposition (1939)
| EXPO San Francisco 1940 | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
A map of the Exposition
|
|
| Overview | |
| BIE-class | Universal exposition |
| Name | Golden Gate International Exposition |
| Area | 160 hectares (400 acres) |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| City | San Francisco |
| Venue | Treasure Island |
| Coordinates | 37°49′27″N 122°22′16″W / 37.8242°N 122.3710°WCoordinates: 37°49′27″N 122°22′16″W / 37.8242°N 122.3710°W |
| Timeline | |
| Opening | February 18, 1939 |
| Closure | September 29, 1940 |
| Universal expositions | |
| Previous | 1939 New York World's Fair in New York City |
The Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE) (1939 and 1940), held at San Francisco's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair celebrating, among other things, the city's two newly built bridges. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937. The exposition opened from February 18, 1939, through October 29, 1939, and from May 25, 1940, through September 29, 1940.
The idea to hold a World's Fair to commemorate the completion of the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge started from a letter to The San Francisco News in February 1933. Architects W.P. Day and George Kelham were assigned to consider the merits of potential sites around the city, including Golden Gate Park, China Basin, Candle Stick Point, and Lake Merced. By 1934, the choice of sites had been narrowed to the areas adjoining the two bridges: either "an island built up from shallow water" north of Yerba Buena Island which would go on to be named Treasure Island, or the Presidio, which had previously been used in 1915 for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition. Yerba Buena Shoals was chosen as the site in February 1935. In August 1935, a $10 million proposal using federal WPA funds for construction work was advanced, and in October of that year, Leland W. Culter, president of San Francisco Bay Exposition, Inc., announced that President Roosevelt had approved US$3,000,000 (equivalent to $52,410,000 in 2016) to help fund the cost of reclaiming land at Yerba Buena Shoals.
...
Wikipedia