Coit Tower

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Coit Tower is a 64-metre (210-foot) tower on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, California. It stands in Pioneer Park and looks out over the city and San Francisco Bay. It was built in 1932 and 1933 from unpainted reinforced concrete in the Art Deco style.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: San Francisco, USA
Built: 1933
Height: 64 m
Type: Tower

Quick answers

Where is Coit Tower?

Coit Tower is in San Francisco, USA, United States.

When was Coit Tower built?

Coit Tower was built in 1933.

How tall is Coit Tower?

Coit Tower is about 64 m tall.

An Art Deco concrete tower on Telegraph Hill, known for the Depression-era murals inside.

The tower was paid for with money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy San Franciscan who died in 1929 and asked that some of her fortune be used to beautify the city. Inside, colourful murals from the Depression era cover the walls. The tower is a popular stop for visitors who want a view of the city and the bay.

Who was Lillie Coit?

Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843–1929) loved the city's early firefighters. At fifteen she watched a volunteer fire company hurry to a blaze on Telegraph Hill. Her will left two gifts: one for a statue honouring the volunteer firefighters, and one to make San Francisco more beautiful.

Coit Tower came from the second gift. Many people believe the tower looks like a fire hose nozzle, but that story is not true. The resemblance is just a coincidence.

What are the murals?

The tower's lobby is filled with fresco murals painted in an American Social Realism style. Twenty-two artists worked on them on site, with many assistants, and a few more artists made their pictures elsewhere.

Above the main entrance there is a concrete relief of a phoenix by sculptor Robert Boardman Howard. The tower was designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Fun facts

It was paid for with money left by Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the city.
Despite the popular story, the tower was not designed to look like a fire hose nozzle.
Telegraph Hill once had a signal station that told the city which ships were arriving.
Twenty-two artists painted murals inside the tower.