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Tower Bridge: then and now

1935 vs 2006 · Sacramento, CA

Tower Bridge, 2006Tower Bridge, 1935
NowThen
Then, 1935The two towers and the steel of the lift span, seen from the river while the bridge was still being built. The date is from the file's Wikimedia Commons title.Photo: Historic American Engineering Record · Public domain · Source · resized, from a scan
Today, 2006The same pair of towers, now gold, lit up over the river with boats at the marina.Photo: Michael Grindstaff of Sacramento, CA (edited) · Public domain · Source · resized

The story

The Tower Bridge was built between 1934 and 1935 over the Sacramento River, linking Sacramento with West Sacramento. It is a vertical lift bridge, so the middle of the roadway rises straight up between the towers to let tall boats pass. It was designed by Alfred Eichler and opened on December 15, 1935.

Its colors have changed over time. It was first painted silver aluminum, which drew complaints about glare, and its concrete pylons were sky blue. It was repainted yellow-ochre in 1976. After residents voted on a new look in 2001, it was painted all gold in 2002.

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Did you know? The lift span is about 209 feet long, and the whole bridge is about 737 feet.
Historians argue about this. The "Then" photo is dated by its Wikimedia Commons title (July 20, 1935), a few months before the bridge opened. The "Now" photo year comes from the file's camera data (2006), and the bridge may have been repainted or changed slightly since.

Fact or tall tale?

Sources

More: Look for historic photos at the Library of Congress

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Next: Crocker Art Museum. Written from the cited sources, not yet walked on site unless noted.