A Look at Architecture: Coit Tower in San Francisco
On a recent visit to San Francisco, Artsology visited Coit Tower, which is an iconic building towering on top of Telegraph Hill. While the location and views are worth the trip on their own, we wanted to learn a little more about this building, how it was built, and why it was built.
The answers begin with Lillie Hitchcock Coit, a wealthy socialite who lived from 1843 - 1929. Upon her death, her will stipulated that she would leave 1/3 of her fortune to the city of San Francisco "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved."
A little background info on Lillie Hitchcock Coit is necessary before examining the building further. As a child she was fascinated by fire fighters, fire trucks and the process of firefighting. When she was 15, she witnessed a short-handed fire fighting unit responding to a fire call up on Telegraph Hill, and she reportedly dropped her school books on the ground and ran over to help, yelling for others to help as well. As a result of her courage and enthusiasm, she became a sort of mascot for the fire fighters, and was later elected an honorary member of the fire department.
So it is with this story of legend that the suggestion has been made that Coit Tower was designed to represent a fire hose nozzle, or even a fire hydrant ... however, it is now commonly said that the architect Arthur Brown Jr. did not have any intention for it to resemble either one of those things. With our evidence below, what do you think?
Above, from left: Coit Tower, a fire hose nozzle, a fire hydrant in San Francisco, and an original sketch by architect Arthur Brown Jr. for the design of Coit Tower, which you can see is not the same as the final design.
At right is an interactive panoramic view of San Francisco as seen from the top of the Coit Tower. Click on the control buttons at the bottom to navigate your view of the city.
At left, a sculpture of Christopher Columbus in front of Coit Tower. Below - almost as well known as the architecture of Coit Tower are the series of murals painted inside of the tower. A separate feature on these murals will be coming soon!
