efore the bridge was built people used boats to travel to the other side of San Francisco Bay, what is now Marin County. In the early 1820s, the Sausalito Land and Ferry Company Services became the Golden Ferry Company. The ferry crossing from the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco to Sausalito in Marin County took approximately 20 minutes and cost $1 per vehicle.
n the past, people didn’t believe they could build a bridge on top of the bay because the water was 372 feet deep at the center of the channel, with frequent strong winds, and blinding fogs. An engineering student named James Wilkins said it could be built, but it would cost $100 million. Joseph Strauss was also an engineering student who dreamed of building a bridge across the bay. Joseph spent 10 years lobbying Northern California residents to build the bridge. In the beginning, people rejected the idea, but Joseph Strauss explained how the bridge could make it convenient to cross to the other side. 