An 80th Birthday Party & Naming Rally for the Emperor Norton Bridge
The Emperor Norton Bridge a.k.a. the Bay Bridge, in San Francisco, as seen from Rincon Park. In the foreground: Cupid's Span (2002), by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Photograph © 2007 Σταύρος.
In January, March and September of 1872, Emperor Norton wrote and had published — in his "imperial gazette," the Pacific Appeal — three Proclamations setting out his vision for a great bay-spanning bridge linking Oakland and San Francisco via Yerba Buena Island.
Sixty-four years later — on 12 November 1936 — the Emperor Norton Bridge opened for traffic.
Some call it the Bay Bridge.
The Emperor's Bridge Campaign* is leading the effort to get the Emperor's name on the bridge's marquee in 2022 — the 150th anniversary of the year he set out the original vision for the bridge.
The idea is to:
(1) Leave the bridge's existing names — "San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge" for the entire bridge system; "Willie L. Brown, Jr., Bridge for the Western "span" — where they are; and to
(2) Use the state's precedent for allowing its bridges to have multiple names — there are a dozen or so of these — simply to add a name like "Emperor Norton Bridge" for the bridge as a whole.
There's a Change.org petition here.
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If you're in the Bay Area on November 12th, please join The Emperor's Bridge Campaign for a celebration to wish the Emperor Norton Bridge a happy 80th birthday — and to show your support for naming the Emperor's bridge...for him!
RINCON + RED'S
The Emperor Norton Bridge Turns 80
Saturday 12 November 2016
2 p.m.
Gather in Rincon Park (map)
For picture-postcard views of the bridge
2:30 p.m.
Short walk to Red's Java House
3 to 5 p.m.
Red's Java House (patio) (map)
Beautiful views of the Bay and bridge
Plus: An update on the Campaign's effort to have the bridge named for Emperor Norton in 2022
ADMISSION: Free
Although Red's will appreciate the appropriate coin for drinks and food!
Red's Java House, San Francisco, against the backdrop of the Emperor's bridge. Photograph © 2016 Gereon Recht.
If you're unable to make it to Rincon Park, by all means join the Campaign on the patio at Red's anytime from 3 to 5 p.m.
Help us raise a glass (or three) to Emperor Norton and his bridge — and show your support for elevating the name "Emperor Norton Bridge" from its place in our hearts to a giant-lettered place of public honor on highway signs at both entrances to the great structure that the Emperor decreed 144 years ago.
* In December 2019, The Emperor's Bridge Campaign adopted a new name: The Emperor Norton Trust.
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