Coit Tower facts for kids

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Coit Memorial Tower
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

View from Washington Square Park in 2024
Coit Tower Location in San Francisco County Show map of San Francisco County Coit Tower Location in California Show map of California Coit Tower Location in the United States Show map of the United States
Location	1 Telegraph Hill Blvd. San Francisco, California
Area	1.7 acres (0.69 ha)
Built	1933
Architect	Arthur Brown Jr., Henry Temple Howard
Architectural style	Art Deco
NRHP reference No.	07001468
Added to NRHP	January 29, 2008

Coit Tower (pronounced KOYT) is a tall, 210-foot (64 m) tower in San Francisco, California. It stands proudly on Telegraph Hill, offering amazing views of the city and San Francisco Bay.

The tower is located in Pioneer Park. It was built between 1932 and 1933. The money for its construction came from a special gift left by a woman named Lillie Hitchcock Coit. She wanted to help make San Francisco more beautiful. Coit Tower was added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 29, 2008, recognizing its importance.

This tower is built in the Art Deco style, which was popular at the time. It's made of concrete and was designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard. Inside, you'll find beautiful fresco murals. These are paintings done directly on wet plaster. Many different artists worked on these murals, showing scenes of life in California.

Some people mistakenly think the tower was built to honor volunteer firefighters. While Lillie Hitchcock Coit did want to remember firefighters, she left money for two different things. One was a statue for firefighters in Washington Square. The other was to make the city more beautiful, and that's how Coit Tower came to be. Above the main entrance, there's a cool concrete sculpture of a phoenix, a mythical bird, created by Robert Boardman Howard.

There's a fun story that the tower looks like a fire hose nozzle because Lillie loved firefighters so much. But this is just a coincidence!

History of Coit Tower
Tower Design
Amazing Murals Project
Tower Residents
Amazing Views
Gallery
See also

History of Coit Tower

Coit Tower in 2008, looking west-southwest

Telegraph Hill, where Coit Tower stands, has always been a great spot for views. In the past, people used it to watch for ships coming into the bay. They would use a special signal system to tell the city when ships were arriving.

Coit Tower was built thanks to Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843–1929). She was a wealthy and unique person who loved San Francisco. In the early days, before the city had an official fire department, volunteer groups put out fires. Lillie was fascinated by these firefighters.

She was known for being a bit unusual for her time. She smoked cigars and wore pants, which wasn't common for women back then. She also loved to gamble and sometimes dressed like a man to visit places where only men were allowed.

Robert Boardman Howard's concrete phoenix sculpture above the main entrance.

Lillie had a special connection with the firefighters. When she was 15, she saw a fire company struggling to pull their engine up Telegraph Hill. She quickly jumped in to help, encouraging others to join her. After that, she became a mascot for the Knickerbocker Engine Co. No. 5. She even rode with them in parades! She was known as an honorary firefighter throughout her life.

When Lillie passed away in 1929, she left a large sum of money. She wanted one-third of her fortune, about $118,000, to be used to "add to the beauty of the city." This led to two memorials: Coit Tower and a sculpture of three firemen.

City leaders first thought about using the money for a road. But the people in charge of Lillie's will wanted something more special. They approved the idea of a memorial on Telegraph Hill. A design contest was held, and Arthur Brown, Jr.'s design for the tower was chosen. The tower was finished and opened on October 8, 1933.

In 1984, Coit Tower became a San Francisco Designated Landmark. In 2008, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. There's also a state historical plaque for Telegraph Hill inside the tower's lobby.

In 2012, San Francisco residents voted to protect the tower's murals and building. In 2020, a statue of Christopher Columbus that had been outside the tower since 1957 was removed. This happened during a time when many controversial statues were being taken down.

Tower Design

The architect, Arthur Brown, Jr., first imagined a restaurant inside the tower. But the final design changed it to an exhibition area. The tower is made of three concrete cylinders nested inside each other. The outer part is a tall, fluted shaft that holds the viewing platform. An inner shaft has a staircase, and the very center holds the elevator.

The observation deck, where visitors enjoy the views, is a bit below the very top. There's also a gift shop and display area at the bottom of the tower.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 1985 that the tower has had leaks since it opened. The building wasn't originally designed to hold artwork. Water is pumped up to tanks on the fifth floor, and then gravity feeds the water systems. This setup means the murals on the lower floors can be damaged by leaks.

Amazing Murals Project

Coit Tower rotunda layout and murals
No.		Name	Artist	Notes
Rotunda murals
1	a	Animal Force	Ray Boynton	These murals are the first you see when you enter. Animal Force shows how animals help in farming. Machine Force shows machines used in building, transport, and making power.
1	b	Machine Force	Ray Boynton
2		California Industrial Scenes	John Langley Howard	Shows scenes from California's industries, like building, oil, and mining.
3		Railroad and Shipping	William Hesthal	Features a train and a ship, showing how goods are moved.
4	a	Steelworker	Clifford Wight	These murals are on either side of windows. They were once connected by a bridge with symbols that caused some debate.
4	b	Surveyor	Clifford Wight
5		Industries of California	Ralph Stackpole	Shows different industries, like making food and working in a chemical lab.
6		Newsgathering	Suzanne Scheuer and Hebe Daum	Depicts newspaper offices. The window ledge has a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle celebrating the murals.
7		Library	Bernard Zakheim	Shows a public library with portraits of artists and current news topics.
8	a	Scientist-Inventor	Harold Mallette Dean	These murals are on either side of windows. One shows a scientist, the other a stockbroker.
8	b	Stockbroker	Harold Mallette Dean
9		City Life	Victor Arnautoff	Shows busy street scenes in San Francisco's Financial District.
10		Banking and Law	George Albert Harris	Depicts scenes from banking and law, like the Federal Reserve Bank and a law library.
11		Department Store	Frede Vidar	Shows the inside of a department store from that time, including a soda fountain.
12	a	Cowboy	Clifford Wight	These murals are on either side of windows. One shows a cowboy, the other a farmer.
12	b	Farmer	Clifford Wight
13		California	Maxine Albro	Shows farming scenes from California. Many portraits are of the artist's friends.
14		Meat Industry	Ray Bertrand	Depicts scenes from slaughterhouses and meat packing.
15		California Agricultural Industry	Gordon Langdon and Helen Clement Mills	Shows the dairy and timber industries.
20		Power	Frederick Olmsted Jr.	A smaller mural located over the rotunda entrance, connecting industrial scenes.
Elevator lobby murals
16		San Francisco Bay	Otis Oldfield	This oil painting shows the view from Telegraph Hill towards Berkeley.
17		San Francisco Bay, North	Jose Moya del Pino	This oil painting shows the view from Telegraph Hill towards Marin County, including Alcatraz Island.
18	a	Bay Area Hills	Rinaldo Cuneo	Shows farming scenes from the Santa Clara Valley and Berkeley Hills.
18	b	Bay Area Hills	Rinaldo Cuneo
19	a	Bay Area Map	Otis Oldfield	These are installed above doorways in the elevator lobby.
19	b	Seabirds	Otis Oldfield	These are installed above doorways in the elevator lobby.
Spiral staircase murals (special access required)
21		Powell Street	Lucien Labaudt	This is the largest mural in Coit Tower, showing many recognizable people.
Upper level murals
22		Collegiate Sports	Parker Hall	Shows college sports, including a famous football game between California and Stanford.
23		Sports	Edward Terada	Depicts fun sports like golf and polo.
24		Children at Play	Ralph Chesse	Shows children playing in a playground.
25		Hunting in California	Edith Hamlin	Features ducks and deer in a hunting scene.
26		Outdoor Life	Ben Cunningham	Shows people enjoying outdoor activities like picnics, swimming, and hiking.
27		Home Life	Jane Berlandina	Located in a separate room, this mural shows everyday activities at home, like baking and reading.

A close-up from Ray Boynton's fresco Animal Force and Machine Force, showing credit to the Public Works of Art Project.

The Coit Tower murals are painted in a style called American Social Realism. This style often shows everyday life and social issues. These murals were part of a special government program called the Public Works of Art Project. This program helped artists find work during a difficult economic time.

Ralph Stackpole and Bernard Zakheim led the project in 1933. Many artists from the California School of Fine Arts worked on the murals. They were paid to paint "aspects of life in California." The more famous artists got larger sections to paint.

Selected murals and themes in Coit Tower

Industry both in the city and out in the fields was an important theme in the murals.
(Maxine Albro, Agriculture in California 13 )
A scene of city life, including a robbery on the bottom right, and a car accident in the center.
(Victor Arnautoff, City Life 9 )
Headlines in the newspapers discuss current events, including the creating of the murals.
(Bernard Zakheim, Library 7 )
Painted San Francisco Chronicle front page celebrates mural completion, April 1934.
(Suzanne Scheuer, Newsgathering 6 )

Mural Themes and Messages

The artists wanted to show important ideas in their paintings. They often showed people of all backgrounds working together as equals. You can see workers in strong, heroic poses.

For example, in Bernard Zakheim's mural Library 7 , one artist is shown reaching for a book by Karl Marx. Victor Arnautoff's City Life 9 includes newspapers that were popular at the time, some with strong social messages.

John Langley Howard's mural California Industrial Scenes 2 shows a diverse group of workers marching. It also shows a family looking for gold while wealthy people watch. These murals often highlighted the differences between rich and poor.

Another artist, George Albert Harris, painted Banking and Law 10 . This mural shows banks and a law library. Some of the book titles in the library are real, while others playfully mention fellow artists.

Around this time, a famous mural by Diego Rivera was destroyed because it included an image of a political leader. The Coit Tower artists protested this. Some even included references to this event in their own murals. For instance, in Zakheim's Library 7 , an artist is reading a newspaper about Rivera's mural being destroyed.

Changes to the Murals

After most of the Coit Tower murals were finished, there was a big strike by workers near Telegraph Hill. This made some people worried about certain political ideas, a time sometimes called a "red scare." This led to a debate about some of the murals.

Two murals, in particular, caused concern:

4a and 4b : These murals by Clifford Wight originally had a small fresco connecting them. It showed different economic systems, including one with a hammer and sickle symbol.
2 : John Langley Howard's California Industrial Scenes showed a banner from a workers' newspaper.

Officials asked for the art to be inspected. They worried that some details might be seen as political messages. The tower's opening was delayed. Newspaper articles criticized the project. Clifford Wight refused to remove the hammer and sickle symbol. However, government officials decided that the parts causing concern needed to be painted over. In the end, only the hammer and sickle and the newspaper banner were removed. Coit Tower finally opened on October 12, 1934.

Seeing the Murals

Most of the murals are frescoes, meaning they were painted on wet plaster. A few are oil paintings on canvas, and one is made with egg tempera.

Most of the murals are free for the public to see during opening hours. There are also special tours that let you see murals in the spiral stairway and on the second floor, which are usually closed. The murals in the spiral stairway show scenes from Powell Street. The second-floor murals are all about fun recreational activities.

Since 2004, artist Ben Wood and others have created large video projections onto the outside of Coit Tower for special events.

Tower Residents

For a time, a small apartment on the second floor of Coit Tower was home to a few people. The first residents were William J. Bradley, a former army lieutenant, and his wife. They lived there to look after the art and the building. Later, in the 1980s, Tim Lillyquist became the third and last permanent resident of the tower.

Amazing Views

From the top of Coit Tower, you get incredible panoramic views of San Francisco. You can see famous spots like "crooked" Lombard Street, Nob Hill, Russian Hill, and Twin Peaks. You can also spot Aquatic Park, Pier 39, the Financial District, and the Ferry Building.

The views of San Francisco Bay are also spectacular. You can see Angel Island, Alcatraz, Treasure Island, and both the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges.