# Lions Gate Bridge Museum

> An independent digital museum of Vancouver's Lions Gate Bridge. Stories give the answer first and a source for every fact. Not affiliated with the BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit, the bridge operator or DriveBC.

Key fact: the Lions Gate Bridge opened for public use on Saturday 12 November 1938, on foot. Cars began crossing on Monday 14 November 1938. The bridge company held its ceremony on 26 May 1939, and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth drove across on 29 May 1939. Sources: https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/when-did-the-lions-gate-bridge-open

Official name: in British Columbia law the bridge is still the First Narrows Bridge (B.C. Reg. 513/2004). The name Lions Gate comes from the harbour entrance it crosses: in 1889 Judge John Hamilton Gray suggested calling First Narrows "Lion's Gate", after The Lions, the twin peaks on the mountains to the north. Source: https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/how-the-lions-gate-bridge-idea-took-shape

The lions: the two concrete lions at the south end were designed by the sculptor Charles Marega and set on their pedestals on 23 January 1939. He died on 24 March 1939. Source: https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/charles-marega-lions-gate-bridge-lions

Tolls: a car and its driver paid 25 cents to cross from 14 November 1938 until the tolls ended on 1 April 1963. Passengers and people on foot paid 5 cents until 1 August 1956. Source: https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/lions-gate-bridge-tolls

Gallery pictures are artist's impressions. Camera pictures come from DriveBC. English only.

## Stories
- [Stories](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories): answers from the archives; our conclusion first, then the evidence, every fact with a source number
- [Who made the Lions Gate Bridge lions? Charles Marega’s last big work, and the day he died](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/charles-marega-lions-gate-bridge-lions): Charles Marega (1871–1939) made the Lions Gate Bridge lions in concrete, on a tight budget. They went up in January 1939; he died two months later.
- [What was First Narrows like before the Lions Gate Bridge?](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/first-narrows-before-the-lions-gate-bridge): Before 1938, First Narrows could be crossed only by boat. Ferries ran between the cliff at Prospect Point and the Capilano River's shifting sandbanks.
- [How did the Lions Gate Bridge get built? The long road from idea to approval](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/how-the-lions-gate-bridge-idea-took-shape): The Lions Gate Bridge idea took shape from 1924 to 1936: West Vancouver land, British money, a 1933 Vancouver vote and Ottawa's approval on 30 April 1936.
- [How much did it cost to cross the Lions Gate Bridge? Tolls from 1938 to 1963](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/lions-gate-bridge-tolls): From November 1938 to 1 April 1963, a car and driver paid 25 cents on the Lions Gate Bridge. Walkers and car passengers paid 5 cents until August 1956.
- [When did the Lions Gate Bridge open? Why you’ll find four dates](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/when-did-the-lions-gate-bridge-open): The Lions Gate Bridge opened for public use on 12 November 1938, on foot. Cars followed two days later; the ceremony and the royal drive came in May 1939.
- [Who paid for the Lions Gate Bridge? The Guinness brothers and the mountainside behind it](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/who-paid-for-the-lions-gate-bridge): Private British money led by three Guinness brothers paid for the Lions Gate Bridge, the road to their West Vancouver land. The province bought it in 1955.
- [Who was the first person to cross the Lions Gate Bridge?](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/who-was-first-across-the-lions-gate-bridge): No one can be sure. On 12 November 1938 The Vancouver Sun named Mrs. Mary Sutton, 75, as first across, but said five others claimed it too.

## Museum
- [Museum](https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum): the bridge date by date, from the rock under Prospect Point to today, with sources, rights and links between people and events
- [88th Birthday · 1938–2026](https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum/birthday): the birthday story and images
- [Timeline as Markdown](https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum/timeline.md): the museum's timeline for an agent to read, each entry with its date, sources and credit
- [Timeline as JSON](https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum/timeline.json): the same timeline as data, one file per entry at https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum/entries/<id>.json
- [People](https://lionsgatebridge.org/wiki/people): promoters, financiers, engineers, builders and officials
- [Engineering](https://lionsgatebridge.org/wiki/engineering): the main numbers of the bridge
- [Archive](https://lionsgatebridge.org/museum/archive): film and a photograph from the City of Vancouver Archives, with credits
- [Digital Twin](https://lionsgatebridge.org/twin): a digital twin in the making, what is real in it and what is not done yet

## Story topics
- [Before the bridge, 1859–1938](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/before-the-bridge): How did people cross First Narrows before the Lions Gate Bridge?
- [Building the bridge, 1936–1938](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/building-the-bridge): How was the Lions Gate Bridge built?
- [Opening and the royal visit, 1938–1939](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/opening-and-the-royal-visit): When did the Lions Gate Bridge open?
- [Tolls and ownership, 1938–1963](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/tolls-and-ownership): Who bought the Lions Gate Bridge, and when did the tolls end?
- [The lions, 1889–1939](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/the-lions): Why is it called the Lions Gate Bridge?
- [People of the bridge, 1887–2017](https://lionsgatebridge.org/stories/topics/people-of-the-bridge): Who built the Lions Gate Bridge?

## Traffic
- [Traffic now](https://lionsgatebridge.org/traffic): queue levels, delays and incidents; the numbers are estimates, not official traffic information
- [How accurate are our forecasts?](https://lionsgatebridge.org/method): how the centre-lane and delay forecasts have done, with the dates and size of every sample

## Cameras
- [Cameras](https://lionsgatebridge.org/cameras): eight DriveBC cameras at the bridge, with links to DriveBC

## Share your story
- [Share your story](https://lionsgatebridge.org/share): how to send the museum memories, photos, films, papers and objects of the bridge; the museum asks before it shows anything

## Pictures and wallpapers
- [Gallery](https://lionsgatebridge.org/gallery): twelve pictures, one for each month, each with its own page and free personal-use wallpaper downloads (desktop, phone, folding screens and iPhone Duo); sizes and licence

## For AI agents
- [Connect the museum to your agent](https://lionsgatebridge.org/agent): a prompt to give an AI assistant; also as plain Markdown at https://lionsgatebridge.org/agent.md. Anonymous and read-only. Answers that use the museum must credit "Lions Gate Bridge Museum (lionsgatebridge.org)" and link the page used. Current traffic status is read from the text of the /traffic page; the data feed is not offered.

## Data and credits
- [Data](https://lionsgatebridge.org/data): where the numbers and pictures come from, what the live readings may be used for, and the credits of the open data

## About
- [About the museum](https://lionsgatebridge.org/about): who is behind it, how we edit, how we use AI
- [Corrections](https://lionsgatebridge.org/corrections): how to report a mistake, and the public log
- [Privacy](https://lionsgatebridge.org/privacy)
- [RSS feed](https://lionsgatebridge.org/rss.xml)

## Contact
- hello@lionsgatebridge.org (corrections, questions, press)