Telegraph Hill, San Francisco

Telegraph Hill, 295ft/90m high, is situated on the north side of the city center. It is one of 43 hills in San Francisco. Rather like Montmartre in Paris, it has many artists' studios on its slopes, as well as prosperous middle class villas.

San Francisco is often likened to Rome and Lisbon as being "a city built on seven hills"; but that takes account of only the seven most prominent, of which Telegraph Hill is one (the others being Nob Hill, Rincon Hill, the Twin Peaks, Russian Hill, Lone Mountain and Mount Davidson).

Today there is no telegraph on Telegraph Hill; the name goes back to a so-called semaphore tower, erected on what was then a barren hilltop at the time of the Gold Rush.

Picture - Sunbeams through the trees, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco.

Picture - Art deco apartment building, Telegraph Hill, San Francisco.

View a slideshow of Telegraph Hill Pictures

Telegraph Hill Map

Important Information:

Transit: Buses 15 and 30 to Columbus Street and Union Street then no. 39.

Submit a Correction

When ships were sighted coming in through the Golden Gate, their imminent arrival would be signaled to the merchants of Yerba Buena Cove, today's financial quarter. Thus forewarned they would be waiting at the anchorage even before the ships had made fast, so losing not a moment's trade. The signal tower was in use for only a few years however.

Related Attractions

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.

Picture - San Francisco's Coit Tower on Telegraph Hill.

Picture - Coit Tower and a statue of Christopher Columbus, San Francisco. .

Picture - Steps to Coit Tower, San Francisco.

Show Details

Pioneer Park

Coit Tower is surrounded by Pioneer Park. This was a stoney barren hillside until it was laid out as a park when the Centennial Celebrations of the United States took place on Telegraph Hill. The bronze statue of Christopher Columbus is especially noteworthy.