Coit Tower
Photo: Chris6d · CC BY-SA 4.0
About
Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy San Franciscan known for her lifelong devotion to the city's volunteer firefighters, left one-third of her fortune, about 118,000 dollars, in her 1929 will 'for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city.' The tower that money built, a 210-foot column designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard, was completed in 1932 and dedicated on Telegraph Hill in 1933.
Inside, the ground-floor murals were painted in 1934 by 22 artists and their assistants as the pilot project of the Public Works of Art Project, a New Deal program that later grew into the WPA, and they depict scenes of California working life in the American Social Realism style. These murals are open for public viewing without charge during park hours, so visitors can experience a piece of Depression-era art history even without paying for the elevator ride to the observation deck above.
Visitor information
Admission The ground-floor murals are free to view during park hours; riding the elevator up to the observation deck requires a separate paid ticket.
Getting there Muni's 39 Coit bus line runs directly to the tower, and visitors can also reach it on foot via the Filbert or Greenwich Street stairs up Telegraph Hill.
