Coit Tower
A socialite's bequest to beautify San Francisco produced a 210-foot Art Deco concrete tower and the city's best unobstructed look at the Bay.
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Lillie Hitchcock Coit left money to beautify the city, not to honor firefighters — the fire-hose-nozzle story is a myth. Architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard delivered an unpainted reinforced concrete Art Deco tower in 1933 on Telegraph Hill, rated the optimal 360-degree vantage over San Francisco Bay and five surrounding counties. Inside, 22 artists covered the walls with American Social Realism frescoes.
What to look for
- A concrete phoenix relief above the main entrance, cast by sculptor Robert Boardman Howard and commissioned as part of the building itself
- The interior murals produced in two distinct ways: 22 artists worked onsite in fresco (one chose egg tempera rather than fresco), while three separate artists preferred oil on canvas and worked offsite
- The full-circle bay panorama from Telegraph Hill, spanning San Francisco Bay and five surrounding counties
The tower is in Pioneer Park in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood and has been on the National Register of Historic Places since January 29, 2008.
Coit Tower is one of 31 sights worth the detour in San Francisco, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the San Francisco pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in San Francisco
- Golden Gate BridgeOpened May 27, 1937 as simultaneously the world's longest and tallest suspension bridge — you can walk the 4,200-foot main span yourself.
- Alcatraz IslandFor 29 years, cold Bay tidal currents did what bars alone could not — make escape nearly impossible.
- Transamerica PyramidAn 853-foot pyramid that ruled San Francisco's skyline for 45 years — still on the Transamerica logo even though the company quietly moved its HQ to Baltimore.
- Golden Gate ParkSan Francisco turned three miles of bare shifting sand dunes into the country's third-busiest urban park — starting from scratch in 1870.
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)The West Coast's first museum devoted solely to 20th-century art, now stretched across 170,000 square feet after a 2016 expansion that nearly sextupled public space.
- Alcatraz Federal PenitentiaryA 9-by-5-foot cell surrounded by cold bay currents — the federal government once staked its reputation on the claim that no one could leave.