There's a great children's history book titled "This Bridge Will Not Be Gray" by Dave Eggers that goes into the early days of the color choice. The bridge was s

There's a great children's history book titled "This Bridge Will Not Be Gray" by Dave Eggers that goes into the early days of the color choice. The bridge was shipped over from east coast metal works in orange, so it was not gray to begin with. The choice to keep it orange involved some public support so I think it is unlikely that it was ever painted gray, even temporarily.