The “Last Rivet” Ceremony Symbolizes Completion of the Golden Gate Bridge
by Carol Acquaviva
On April 27, 1937, one month before formally opening to pedestrians and traffic, a ceremony was held to drive the final rivet into the Golden Gate Bridge, symbolizing the completion of an extraordinary feat of engineering.
Under the direction of San Francisco Supervisor Arthur M. Brown, Jr., the last rivet ceremony was attended by dignitaries, community members, and a group of anticipant spectators. An Army band played, and the Sixth Coast Artillery stood near the south tower. They had initially begun marching but were frantically told by engineers to stay put, lest their vibrations “ruin” the bridge.
Representatives of Canada and Mexico — including children — served to acknowledge the spanning of the all-coast highway by way of San Francisco and the Redwood Empire.
Young girls from various locations were invited to witness the historic occasion: Patricia Ann McClary was Miss Canada; and Miss Laurita Gomez was Miss Mexico. Miss California, Shirley Brown, daughter of Supervisor Brown, was responsible for handing the rivet over at the important moment.
Twin sisters Nancy and Martye Kent — granddaughters of the late US Congressman William Kent, and his wife Elizabeth Thacher Kent — proudly wore their “Miss Redwood Empire” sashes. The youngsters smiled and posed for photographs and some, including San Rafael’s Marcia Hanlon, handed out flowers.
The “last rivet” itself was made of “pure gold from the historic Mother Lode country of California.” The 14-carat gold rivet weighed 16 ounces and was valued at about $450. The “Last Rivet Ceremony” was intended to recall and parallel the driving of the Last Spike by Central Pacific Railroad Company President Leland Stanford, which had symbolized the completion of the first transcontinental railroad, sixty-eight years previous in 1869.
Of historical note at the bridge ceremony that day was the presence of several particular individuals. First was Yim Shun Heong, the seven year-old granddaughter of Yim Yin Kow, a participant in the 1869 “golden spike” event. Civil War veteran Joseph M. Graham at 94 years old was the sole survivor of the engineer corps that completed the transcontinental railroad. George Van Gorden, also in his 90s, was a member of the group that traveled from Missouri to California in 1846 in covered wagons, and had been at the railroad celebration, too.
“The rivet was presented today to the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District by Charles H. Segerstrom on behalf of the state’s mining industry”
— Sacramento Bee, April 23, 1937
Segerstrom did not want the rivet to be removed and placed in a museum, as had happened to the golden railroad spike. It was intended that the bridge’s gold rivet be covered over by a shield of steel, and a bronze plaque would mark the place of the rivet at mid-span.
Edwin “Iron Horse” Stanley, who had driven the very first rivet — and thousands along the way — had the honor of installing the final symbolic piece, alongside fellow riveter Ed Murphy. Stanley began the process with his pneumatic gun.
The afternoon’s program was being broadcast nationally by multiple radio outlets. San Francisco Mayor Angelo J. Rossi’s remarks spoken into a microphone were drowned out by the sound of Stanley’s tool, which was designed to drive steel and not soft gold. Stanley paused for a moment, until the speech had concluded.
“He fussed and fumed and sweated. He’d drive for a while, then stand back and look at it, then drive some more…. When they still couldn’t get a good head on it, they took a burning torch and tried to heat it. They heated it for a long time, too long I guess. When Stanley drove it again, the head fell apart. He pulled his gun back, and all the pieces dropped to the ground.”
— witness Louis Hack
Meanwhile, particles from the rivet head reportedly flew into the air and the faces of nearby spectators, as bridge luminaries and a crowd of hundreds looked on. As one news outlet reported, “the rivet couldn’t take it.” Stanley punched out the remainder of the rivet, and it fell from sight.
The San Francisco Examiner described the moment: “Ed Stanley fondled his pet rivet gun which shuttered its way into the annals of world history when it sounded home the last — well the next to the last — rivet in the span.” The anticlimax continued as the rivet hole was filled with conventional steel. A gold rivet and the plaque were eventually installed a few feet away, during a private ceremony.
One month later, on May 27, 1935 — “Opening Day” — Mayor Rossi used a blowtorch to break apart another symbol, a metal chain, signifying that the bridge was open to all. It took several tries for the torch to light and while it eventually succeeded, no doubt some on hand held their breath thinking about the last gold rivet that wasn’t.
