San Francisco - Coit Memorial Tower

Coit Tower stands 500ft/150m above sea-level on the summit of Telegraph Hill. As well as having interesting murals, well worth seeing in their own right, the tower, though not as high as Twin Peaks, is still one of the best vantage points for views over San Francisco and the Bay. A lift ascends the 210ft/64m to the Perspex-glazed viewing platform. In clear weather it is possible to see as far as Mount Tamalpais

The tower is named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit (1843-1929), an honorary member of one of the fire fighting companies who, on her death, left $100,000 to the city. This paid for the erection of the tower in honor of the fire brigade. Constructed in 1934, it was designed by Arthur Brown jr., architect of the City Hall and other San Francisco buildings. There are many who claim to recognize in the shape of the free-standing columnar tower, the nozzle of a fire-hose. Murals

The tower is decorated on the inside with sixteen monumental murals, the work of 25 painters and their nineteen assistants, undertaken as part of a work creation scheme during the Great Depression. The cycle of paintings has as its theme working life in California in 1934. The largest mural, by Ralph Stackpole, depicts California's industries. In common with most of the murals it shows the strong influence of the Mexican artist Diego de Rivera, who lived in San Francisco for a period during the 1930s. Apart from those at ground-level, the murals inside the tower can only be viewed on Saturday mornings from 11 am.