Presidio National Park, San Francisco

On Presidio Avenue No. 655, behind the massive doors of this museum, is kept a remarkable collection of photographs, equipment and documents that come from the various fire brigades of San Francisco, especially the Volunteer Fire Brigade which was in existence from 1849 to 1866. Much space is given over to documents concerning events during the disastrous blaze following the 1906 earthquake.There is a special exhibition devoted to Lillie Hitchcock Coit who paid for the erection of Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill as a memorial in honor of the fire brigade, and was herself made an honorary member of a fire brigade company.

The National Military Cemetery in San Francisco is part of the Presidio, overlooking San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate. It has a burial ground where lie more than 30,000 who died from the time of the Civil War to World War I. Also noteworthy is the gravestone of "Pauline Tyler, Union Spy". She was an actress who served as a Union spy during the course of the American Civil War, winning promotion to the rank of major.

Situated on Lincoln Boulevard (junction with Funston Avenue) is the Presidio Army Museum, housed in an old military hospital dating from 1857. There are exhibitions of relics and documents which illustrate the part played by the military in the development of San Francisco.ATTRACTION IS CLOSED.

The dome of the Temple Emanu-El was inspired by the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. Fine Museum of Congregation Emanu-El features changing exhibits including Jewish-American identity, contemporary Jewish holidays and rituals, and religious practices in Israel.

The Holy Virgin Cathedral is a Russian Orthodox Cathedral built amid controversy in the 1960's. The five onion-shaped domes are covered in 24-karat gold leaf. The cathedral's entrance features immense bronze doors and three mosaic portraits of saints, with more gold leaf and mosaic figures inside the cathedral.

The Presidio Officers' Club is located on the site of the 1821-30 comandancia of the Mexican fort. In the 1930s the building was remodeled into a Spanish Colonial Revival style structure. Today it houses the National Park Service visitor center and numerous traveling cultural exhibits.