See all Museums in San Francisco
Coit Tower
1 Telegraph Hill Blvd, San Francisco, California 94133, United States Phone: ☎ +1 415 362-0808About
Coit Tower, 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd (limited parking; or take #39 Muni bus from Washington Square), ☎ +1 415 362-0808 (mzakheim@earthlink.net). 10AM-5PM daily. Visible from all parts of San Francisco and the Bay Area, Coit Tower stands atop Telegraph Hill and gives an excellent view of the bay and the rest of the city. The tower was built by the Federal Works Projects Administration in 1933 with money bequeathed by eccentric San Franciscan Lillie Coit. Coit was said to have chased after firefighters as a young girl, and as an older woman sponsored her favorite fire company. A fan of the volunteer city firefighters, and local legend has it that the shape of the tower is supposed to simulate the end of a fire hose — although the architects denied this claim. The first and second floors house beautiful examples of New Deal-era idealist murals, and the top floor (reached by elevator) has featured paintings or other art. Artists put in their own signatures and messages in the murals, which interpretive plaques point out. $5 (elevator to top floor; the rest is free).
