Beginning in the 1980s, the metalheads and music lovers of small-town Ferndale, Washington, began to paint Metallica’s band logo on a section of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe bridge that runs by Main Street.
Despite being seen as a nuisance in the early years and having been cleaned or painted over dozens of times throughout the years by the city, generations of metal fans have kept the spirit of the Metallica Bridge alive by continuously restoring the graffiti in weeks or sometimes even days after it has been removed, ensuring its legacy will always live on.
The city of Ferndale has warmed up to the landmark over the years and has embraced it in ways such as spoofing the Metallica Bridge on t-shirts, naming local breweries’ craft beers after it, and even hosting a Metallica cover band for one of the city’s summer concerts, which turned out to be one of the largest concerts the small town has ever hosted.
While it’s hard to predict when the logo will be painted over again, rest assured that residents are always sleeping with one eye open, gripping their pillows tight, ready to bring it back at a moment’s notice.