View source for Coit Tower

{{Use American English|date=July 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Coit Memorial Tower
| nrhp_type = 
| image = Coit Tower 1.jpg
| caption = 
View from Washington Square Park in 2024
| location = 1 Telegraph Hill Blvd.<br />[[San Francisco, California]]
| coordinates = {{coord|37|48|09|N|122|24|21|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = United States San Francisco County#California#USA
| map_label = Coit Tower
| built = 1933
| architect = [[Arthur Brown Jr.]], Henry Temple Howard
| architecture = [[Art Deco]]
| added = January 29, 2008
| area = {{convert|1.7|acre}}
| refnum = 07001468<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
| designated_other1 = San Francisco
| designated_other1_number = 165
| designated_other1_date = 1984<ref name=SFLandmark>{{cite web|title=City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks|publisher=City of San Francisco|url=http://www.sf-planning.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5081|access-date=2012-10-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325040805/http://sf-planning.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5081|archive-date=2014-03-25|url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

'''Coit Tower''' ({{IPAc-en|'|k|oi|t}} {{respell|KOYT}}; also known as '''Coit Memorial Tower''') is a {{convert|210|ft|m|adj=on}} tower in the [[Telegraph Hill, San Francisco|Telegraph Hill]] neighborhood of [[San Francisco]], California, overlooking the city and [[San Francisco Bay]]. The tower, in the city's [[Pioneer Park, San Francisco|Pioneer Park]], was built between 1932 and 1933 using [[Lillie Hitchcock Coit]]'s bequest to beautify the city of San Francisco. It was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on January 29, 2008.<ref name=nris/>

The [[Art Deco]] tower, built of unpainted [[reinforced concrete]], was designed by architects [[Arthur Brown Jr.]] and Henry Temple Howard. The interior features [[fresco]] murals in the American [[Social realism|Social Realism]] style, painted by 22 different onsite artists and their numerous assistants. Three artists preferred oil on canvas and worked offsite.  One artist preferred egg tempera rather than fresco.

It is often erroneously stated that the structure was dedicated to the volunteer firemen who had died in San Francisco's five major fires, but that is not accurate.  The tower was constructed as the result of a bequest by Lillie Hitchcock Coit, whose will included two bequests, one to create a memorial to the city's volunteer firefighters, which was done by statuary in Washington Square, and the other to beautify the city.  Coit Tower is the result of the second bequest.<ref>Robert W. Cherny, The Coit Tower Murals: New Deal Art and Political Controversy in San Francisco (2024), ch. 1</ref> A concrete relief of a phoenix by sculptor [[Robert Boardman Howard]] is placed above the main entrance. It was commissioned by the architect and cast as part of the building.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-robert-boardman-howard-13247 |title=Oral history interview with Robert Boardman Howard |date=September 16, 1964 |publisher=[[Archives of American Art]] |access-date=November 19, 2022 }}</ref>

Although an apocryphal story claims that the tower was designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle<ref name="shadow0">{{cite book|last = Crowe|first = Michael F. and Robert W. Bowen|title = Images of America: San Francisco Art Deco|publisher = [[Arcadia Publishing]]|year = 2007|pages = 72|isbn = 978-0-7385-4734-3}}</ref> due to Coit's affinity with the San Francisco firefighters of the day, the resemblance is coincidental.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sfrecpark.org/destination/telegraph-hill-pioneer-park/coit-tower/ |title=Coit Tower |publisher=[[San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department]] |quote=Contrary to popular belief, Coit Tower was not designed to resemble a firehose nozzle. |access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Coit Tower aerial.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Coit Tower in 2008, looking WSW]]
Telegraph Hill, the tower's location, has been described as "the most optimal 360 degree viewing point to the San Francisco Bay and five surrounding counties."<ref name="nrhpnom1" /> In 1849, it became the site of a two-story observation deck, from which information about incoming ships was broadcast to city residents using an optical [[semaphore]] system, replaced in 1853 by an electrical telegraph that was destroyed by a storm in 1870.<ref name="nrhpnom1" />

Coit Tower was paid for with money left by [[Lillie Hitchcock Coit]] (1843–1929), a wealthy socialite who loved to chase fires in the early days of the city's history. Before December 1866, there was no city fire department, and fires in the city, which broke out regularly in the wooden buildings, were extinguished by several volunteer fire companies. Coit was one of the more eccentric characters in the history of [[North Beach, San Francisco|North Beach]] and [[Telegraph Hill, San Francisco|Telegraph Hill]], smoking cigars and wearing trousers long before it was socially acceptable for women to do so. She was an avid gambler and often dressed like a man in order to gamble in the males-only establishments that dotted North Beach.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lillie Hitchcock Coit, 1843-1929|url=https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0702/gallery.rich_eccentrics.fortune/3.html|work=ALMANAC OF AMERICAN WEALTH Wealthy eccentrics|publisher=CNN Money|access-date=April 13, 2014}}</ref>

[[File:San Francisco (CA, USA), Coit Tower -- 2022 -- 0891.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Robert Boardman Howard]]'s cast concrete relief of a phoenix is placed above the main entrance to the tower.]]
Coit's fortune funded the monument four years following her death in 1929. She had a special relationship with the city's firefighters. At the age of fifteen she witnessed the Knickerbocker Engine Co. No. 5 in response to a fire call up on Telegraph Hill when they were shorthanded; she threw her school books to the ground and pitched in to help, calling out to other bystanders to help get the engine up the hill to the fire, to get the first water onto the blaze. After that Coit became the Engine Co. mascot and could barely be constrained by her parents from jumping into action at the sound of every fire bell. She frequently rode with the Knickerbocker Engine Co. 5, especially in street parades and celebrations in which the Engine Co. participated. Through her youth and adulthood Coit was recognized as an honorary firefighter.

In her will she specified that one third of her fortune, amounting to $118,000,<ref name=nrhpnom1>{{cite web|last=Worsley|first=Stephen A.|title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Coit Memorial Tower|url={{NRHP url|id=07001468}}|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=8 May 2012|date=June 18, 2007}}</ref> "be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved."<ref name="women1">{{cite book|last = Pryor|first = Alton|title = Fascinating Women in California History|publisher = [[Stagecoach Pub.]]|year = 2003|isbn = 0-9660053-9-2|pages = 86}}</ref> Two memorials were built in her name. One was Coit Tower, and the other was a sculpture depicting three firemen, one of them carrying a woman in his arms.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A5849058 h2g2 Lillie Hitchcock-Coit – Firefighter]</ref>

The San Francisco County Board of Supervisors proposed that Coit's bequest be used for a road at [[Lake Merced]]. This proposal brought disapproval from the estate's executors, who expressed a desire that the county find "ways and means of expending this money on a memorial that in itself would be an entity and not a unit of public development".<ref name=nrhpnom1/> Art Commission president [[Herbert Fleishhacker]] suggested a memorial on Telegraph Hill, which was approved by the estate executors. An additional $7,000 in city funds was appropriated, and a design competition was initiated. The winner was architect Arthur Brown, Jr, whose design was completed and dedicated on October 8, 1933.<ref name=nrhpnom1/>

The following month Honore Bowlby-Gledhill, proprietor of the Dead Fish Cafe (an 'artists' restaurant') in Telegraph Hill, was charged (under the name 'Helen Smith') with shooting a pistol at the tower. Bowlby-Gledhill was quoted as objecting to the tower because it 'looked like a silo'.<ref>'Girl Angered, Shoots Tower', San Bernardino County Sun 18 November 1933 p. 1; 'Seek Dame Who Once Took Shot at Coit Tower', Siskiyou Daily News 15 February 1946 p. 5</ref>

Coit Tower was listed as a [[List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks|San Francisco Designated Landmark]] in 1984<ref name=SFLandmark/> and on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2008.<ref name=nris/> Although Coit Tower itself is not technically a [[California Historical Landmark]], the state historical plaque for Telegraph Hill is located in the tower's lobby, marking the site of the original signal station.<ref name=CHL>{{cite ohp|91|Telegraph Hill|2012-11-19}}</ref>

In 2012, residents of the city voted in favor of Proposition B, the Coit Tower Protection Initiative, that requires the city to pay for the preservation of the murals and the building.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walker |first=Richard A. |date=2012-06-07 |title=Victory for Coit Tower Restoration: Proposition B Wins |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/victory-for-coit-tower-restoration/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Living New Deal |language=en-US}}</ref> The [[San Francisco Arts Commission]] ordered the removal of the [[Statue of Christopher Columbus (San Francisco)|Statue of Christopher Columbus]] that had stood outside the entrance of the tower since 1957, following [[List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests|numerous other removals of controversial statues]] during the [[George Floyd protests]] that began in May 2020, and it was removed on June 18, 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fracassa|first=Dominic|date=2020-06-18|title=San Francisco removes Christopher Columbus statue at Coit Tower ahead of planned protest|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Christopher-Columbus-statue-by-Coit-Tower-removed-15349812.php|access-date=2020-06-18|website=San Francisco Chronicle|language=en-US}}</ref>

==Architecture==
Brown's competition design envisioned a restaurant in the tower, which was changed to an exhibition area in the final version. The design uses three nesting concrete cylinders, the outermost a tapering fluted {{convert|180|ft|m|adj=on}} shaft that supports the viewing platform. An intermediate shaft contains a stairway, and an inner shaft houses the elevator. The observation deck is {{convert|32|ft|m}} below the top, with an arcade and skylights above it. A rotunda at the base houses display space and a gift shop.<ref name="nrhpnom1" />

According to the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' (1985), "The tower has been leaking since the day it was dedicated." The building was never designed to house artwork.<ref name=":2" /> Potable water is pumped from a water main at street level to two {{cvt|1000|USgal|L}} tanks on the fifth floor, and gravity is used to feed all systems in the tower; a booster pump was installed later at the tanks to provide adequate pressure for the restrooms. Because of this arrangement, the murals (on the second and ground floors) are vulnerable to water damage from system leaks, which could be avoided if adequate pressure was available from the water supply at the street.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://sfgov.org/arts/sites/default/files/Combined_2020.10.16_Incident%20report%20and%20Analysis_sm.pdf |title=Coit Tower water incident |date=September 30, 2020 |publisher=City of San Francisco |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>

==Mural project==
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:90%;text-align:center;"
|+[[File:Coit Tower lobby mural layout.svg|frameless|upright=1.5|alt=Coit Tower rotunda floor plan and murals, numbered 1 through 20]]<br/>Coit Tower rotunda layout and murals<ref name=Zakheim>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/coittowersanfran00zakh/ |title=Coit Tower, San Francisco: Its History and Art |author=Jewett, Masha Zakheim |author2=Beatty, Don (photographer) |date=1983 |publisher=Volcano Press |location=San Francisco, California |isbn=0-912078-75-8 |chapter=Part II: The Art, a Walking Guide |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/coittowersanfran00zakh/page/65/mode/2up |pages=65–120 |url-access=registration}}</ref>
! colspan=2 | No.
! class="unsortable" style="width:7em;" | Thumbnail !! Name !! Artist !! Size (H×W) !! class="unsortable;" | Notes !! class="unsortable;" | Refs.
|-
| colspan=8 style="font-size:150%;background:#eee;" data-sort-value="zzz" | Rotunda murals
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 1
! style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| [[File:Animal Force (Boynton).jpg|frameless|upright=0.5]]
| ''Animal Force'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Boynton" | [[Ray Boynton]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|10|×|36|ft|disp=br}} (aggregate)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | First mural visible as visitors enter the rotunda; left and right panels are separated by "Old Man Weather" over the entrance to the elevator lobby. ''Animal Force'' has an alcove with a bronze plaque and commemorative dates; this panel depicts the use of animals in agriculture. ''Machine Force'' shows construction, transportation, and power production machines.
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|67–69}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres09hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=9 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres09hail/page/n17/mode/2up |chapter=Ray Boynton |pages=1–29 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-boynton-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Boynton mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
| [[File:Machine Force (Boynton).jpg|frameless|upright=0.5]]
| ''Machine Force''
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 2
| [[File:California Industrial Scenes (Howard).jpg|frameless|upright=0.67]]
| ''California Industrial Scenes'' || data-sort-value="Howard" | [[John Langley Howard]] || {{cvt|10|×|24|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Industrial scenes, including construction, oil recovery, and mining; ironic points include use of hand tools and a broken-down car.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|70–72}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres17hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=17 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres17hail/page/n133/mode/2up |chapter=John Langley Howard |pages=54–92 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-howard-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Howard mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ff0;color:#000;font-size:220%;" | 3
| [[File:Railroad and Shipping (Hesthal).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Railroad and Shipping'' || data-sort-value="Hesthal" | [[William Hesthal]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Train and ship, used to transport goods; a narrow window interrupts the center of the panel.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|73}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres201hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=20, Part 1 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres201hail/page/n37/mode/2up |chapter=William Jurgen Hesthal |pages=8–13 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-hesthal-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Hesthal mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 4
! style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| [[File:Steelworker (Wight).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Steelworker'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Wight" | [[Clifford Wight]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|10|×|4|ft|disp=br}} (each)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Straddles windows on the west wall; originally linked by a bridge with controversial symbols depicting capitalism and communism, but these elements were removed before 1934.
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|74–75}} <ref name=Wight-LND>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-wight-murals-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Wight murals — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
| [[File:Surveyor (Wight).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Surveyor''
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#00f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 5
| [[File:Industries of California (Stackpole).jpg|frameless|upright=1]]
| ''Industries of California'' || data-sort-value="Stackpole" | [[Ralph Stackpole]] || {{cvt|10|×|36|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Industrial scenes, including food production and a chemical laboratory. Depicts several artists, including Tom Lehman (pouring chemicals), William Hesthal (bending over table in checked shirt), and Helen Clement Mills (part of packing crew).
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|76–77}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres14hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=14 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres14hail/page/n13/mode/2up |chapter=Ralph Stackpole |pages=1–62 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-stackpole-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Stackpole mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 6
| [[File:Newsgathering (Scheuer & Daum).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Newsgathering'' || data-sort-value="Scheuer" | [[Suzanne Scheuer]] and [[Hebe Daum]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Newspaper offices; the window ledge has a replica of the front page of the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', celebrating the completion of the murals.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|78–79}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-scheuer-and-daum-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Scheuer and Daum mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 7
| [[File:Library (Zakheim).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Library'' || data-sort-value="Zakheim" | [[Bernard Zakheim]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Public library; individual portraits depict numerous artists, family, and friends alongside current news topics.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|80–82}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres202hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=20, Part 2 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres202hail/page/n77/mode/2up |chapter=Bernard Boruch Zakheim |pages=32–113 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-zakheim-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Zakheim mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 8
! style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| [[File:Scientist-Inventor (Dean).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Scientist-Inventor'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Dean" | [[Harold Mallette Dean]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|10|×|4|ft|disp=br}} (each)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Straddles windows on the south wall; stockbroker may depict [[Amadeo Giannini]], while scientist stands in front of [[Lick Observatory]].
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|83}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-dean-murals-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Dean murals — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
| [[File:Stockbroker (Dean).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Stockbroker''
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ff0;color:#000;font-size:220%;" | 9
| [[File:City Life (Arnautoff).jpg|frameless|upright=1]]
| ''City Life'' || data-sort-value="Arnautoff" | [[Victor Arnautoff]] || {{cvt|10|×|36|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Depicts busy street scenes in the [[Financial District, San Francisco|Financial District]] of San Francisco, based on the corner of [[Montgomery Street|Montgomery]] and Washington.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|84–87}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres201hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=20, Part 1 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres201hail/page/n253/mode/2up |chapter=Viktor Mikhail Arnautoff |pages=105–124 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-arnautoff-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Arnautoff mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 10
| [[File:Banking and Law (Harris).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Banking and Law'' || data-sort-value="Harris" | [[George Albert Harris]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Depicts Federal Reserve Bank, Stock Exchange, and a law library.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|88–89}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-harris-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Harris mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#00f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 11
| [[File:Department Store (Vidal).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Department Store'' || data-sort-value="Vidar" | [[Frede Vidar]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Contemporary department store interior, including soda fountain.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|90–92}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-vidar-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Vidar mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 12
! style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| [[File:Cowboy (Wight).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Cowboy'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Wight" | [[Clifford Wight]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|10|×|4|ft|disp=br}} (each)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Straddles windows on the east wall; farmer may depict [[Ralph Stackpole]] while cowboy may depict Wight.
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|93}} <ref name=Wight-LND/>
|-
! style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
| [[File:Farmer (Wight).jpg|frameless|upright=0.11]]
| ''Farmer''
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 13
| [[File:California (Albro).jpg|frameless|upright=1]]
| ''California'' || data-sort-value="Albro" | [[Maxine Albro]] || {{cvt|10|×|36|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Depicts agricultural scenes from California; most portraits are friends of Albro, including her future husband (Parker Hall, next to apricot trays) and Ralph Stackpole (checkered shirt).
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|94–96}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres202hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=20, Part 2 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres202hail/page/n11/mode/2up |chapter=Maxine Albro |pages=1–15 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-albro-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Albro mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 14
| [[File:Meat Industry (Bertrand).jpg|frameless|upright=0.28]]
| ''Meat Industry'' || data-sort-value="Bertrand" | [[Ray Bertrand]] || {{cvt|10|×|10|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Slaughterhouse and meat packing operations.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|97}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-bertrand-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Bertrand mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ff0;color:#000;font-size:220%;" | 15
| [[File:California Agricultural Industry (Langdon & Mills).jpg|frameless|upright=0.75]]
| ''California Agricultural Industry'' || data-sort-value="Langdon" | [[Gordon Langdon]] and [[Helen Clement Mills]] || {{cvt|10|×|27|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Dairy and timber industries.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|98–99}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-langdon-and-clement-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Langdon and Clement mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#000;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 20
|
| ''Power'' || data-sort-value="Olmsted" | [[Frederick Olmsted Jr.]]|| {{cvt|3|×|3|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Transition piece flanked by industrial scenes, over rotunda entrance
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|106}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-olmsted-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Olmsted mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
| colspan=8 style="font-size:150%;background:#eee;" data-sort-value="zzz" | Elevator lobby murals
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 16
| [[File:Coit Tower - "San Francisco Bay" (Otis Oldfield).jpg|frameless|upright=0.3]]
| ''San Francisco Bay'' || data-sort-value="Oldfield" | [[Otis Oldfield]] || {{cvt|9|×|4+1/2|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Oil on canvas, depicts view from [[Telegraph Hill, San Francisco|Telegraph Hill]] towards [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]].
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|100–101}} <ref name=CAR19-Oldfield>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres19hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=19 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres19hail/page/n71/mode/2up |chapter=Otis Oldfield |pages=1–28 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref name=Oldfield-LND>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-oldfield-murals-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Oldfield murals — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#00f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 17
| [[File:San Francisco Bay, North, by Jose Moya del Pino - Coit Tower, San Francisco, CA - DSC04838.jpg|frameless|upright=0.2]]
| ''San Francisco Bay, North'' || data-sort-value="Moya" | [[Jose Moya del Pino]] || {{cvt|9|×|4+1/2|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Oil on canvas, depicts view from [[Telegraph Hill, San Francisco|Telegraph Hill]] towards [[Marin County, California|Marin County]], including [[Alcatraz Island]].
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|102}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres13hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=13 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres13hail/page/n221/mode/2up |chapter=Jose Moya del Pino |pages=100–140 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-moya-del-pino-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Moya del Pino mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 18
! style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| 
| rowspan=2 | ''Bay Area Hills'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Cuneo" | [[Rinaldo Cuneo]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|9|×|4+1/2|ft|disp=br}} (each)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Depicts agricultural scenes from the [[Santa Clara Valley]] and [[Berkeley Hills]].
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|103}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres11hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=11 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres11hail/page/n139/mode/2up |chapter=Rinaldo Cuneo |pages=61–100 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-cuneo-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Cuneo mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
|
|-
! rowspan=2 style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 19
! style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | a
| [[File:Coit Tower ascensore.JPG|frameless|upright=0.3]]
| ''Bay Area Map'' || rowspan=2 data-sort-value="Oldfield" | [[Otis Oldfield]] || rowspan=2 | {{cvt|3|×|4+1/2|ft|disp=br}} (each)
| rowspan=2 style="text-align:left;" | Installed in [[lunette]] spaces over doorways in elevator lobby.
| rowspan=2 | <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|104–105}} <ref name=CAR19-Oldfield/><ref name=Oldfield-LND/>
|-
! style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | b
|
| ''Seabirds''
|-
| colspan=8 style="font-size:150%;background:#eee;" data-sort-value="zzz" | Spiral staircase murals (special access required)
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 21
| [[File:Coit Tower Lobby Murals 04.JPG|frameless|upright=0.3]]
| ''Powell Street'' || data-sort-value="Labaudt" | [[Lucien Labaudt]] || {{cvt|6|×|32|ft|disp=br}} (each of two panels)
| style="text-align:left;" | Largest mural in Coit Tower; most portraits are recognizable.
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|107–110}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres19hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=19 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres19hail/page/n13/mode/2up |chapter=Lucien Labaudt |pages=1–28 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-labaudt-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Labaudt mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
| colspan=8 style="font-size:150%;background:#eee;" data-sort-value="zzz" | Upper level murals
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#ff0;color:#000;font-size:220%;" | 22
|
| ''Collegiate Sports'' || data-sort-value="Hall" | [[Parker Hall (artist)|Parker Hall]] || {{cvt|9|×|13|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Includes depiction of [[Big Game (American football)|The Big Game]] between [[University of California, Berkeley|California]] and [[Leland Stanford Junior University|Stanford]]
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|111}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-hall-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Hall mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#080;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 23
|
| ''Sports'' || data-sort-value="Terada" | [[Edward Terada]] || {{cvt|9|×|19|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Leisure sports, including golf and polo
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|112}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-terada-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Terada mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#00f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 24
|
| ''Children at Play'' || data-sort-value="Chesse" | [[Ralph Chesse]] || {{cvt|9|×|6|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Playground
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|113}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-chesse-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Chesse mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#80f;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 25
| [[File:Edith Hamlin Coit Tower Mural.jpg|frameless|upright=0.4]]
| ''Hunting in California'' || data-sort-value="Hamlin" | [[Edith Hamlin]] || {{cvt|9|×|12|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Ducks and deer
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|114–115}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres16hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=16 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres16hail/page/n211/mode/2up |chapter=Edith Hamlin |pages=95–114 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-hamlin-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Hamlin mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f00;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 26
|
| ''Outdoor Life'' || data-sort-value="Cunningham" | [[Ben Cunningham (artist)|Ben Cunningham]] || {{cvt|9|×|22|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | Picnickers, bathers, photographers, hikers
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|116–117}} <ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-cunningham-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Cunningham mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2 style="background:#f80;color:#fff;font-size:220%;" | 27
|
| ''Home Life'' || data-sort-value="Berlandina" | [[Jane Berlandina]] || {{cvt|9|×|34|ft|disp=br}}
| style="text-align:left;" | In a separate room, shows typical home life activities, including contract bridge, baking, music making, and newspaper reading
| <ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|118–120}} <ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres17hail/ |title=California Art Research |volume=17 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/californiaartres17hail/page/n249/mode/2up |chapter=Jane Berlandina (Mrs. Henry Temple Howard) |pages=110–147 |date=1937 |editor=Hailey, Gene}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/coit-tower-berlandina-mural-san-francisco-ca/ |title=Coit Tower: Berlandina mural — San Francisco |website=The Living New Deal |access-date=29 December 2022}}</ref>
|}

[[File:Coit Tower frescos 20.JPG|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Detail from [[Ray Boynton]]'s fresco ''Animal Force and Machine Force'', crediting the [[Public Works of Art Project]]]]

The Coit Tower murals in the American [[Social realism|Social Realism]] style formed the pilot project of the [[Public Works of Art Project]],<ref name="nrhpnom1" /> the first of the New Deal federal employment programs for artists. [[Ralph Stackpole]] and [[Bernard Zakheim]] successfully sought the commission in 1933, and supervised the muralists, including [[Maxine Albro]],<ref name=Albro-Hall>{{Cite interview |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-maxine-albro-and-parker-hall-12350|title=Oral history interview with Maxine Albro and Parker Hall, 1964 July 27 |subject1=Maxine Albro |subject2=Parker Hall |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=July 27, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> [[Victor Arnautoff]], [[Jane Berlandina]], Ray Bertrand, [[Ray Boynton]], Ralph Chessé,<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-ralph-chess-12664 |title=Oral history interview of Ralph Chessé, 1964 October 22 |subject1=Ralph Chessé |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=October 22, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref><ref>{{cite interview |url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/wwwprotectcoittower/pages/158/attachments/original/1434252443/RalphChesseInterview.pdf |title=Interview with Ralph Chesse |subject1=Ralph Chesse |date=October 22, 1964 |interviewer=Mary Fuller McChesney |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516104015/https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/wwwprotectcoittower/pages/158/attachments/original/1434252443/RalphChesseInterview.pdf |archive-date=May 16, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Rinaldo Cuneo]], [[Ben Cunningham (artist)|Ben Cunningham]],<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-ben-cunningham-12240 |title=Oral history interview with Ben Cunningham, 1964 October 24 |subject=Ben Cunningham |interviewer=Harlan Phillips |date=October 24, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> Mallette "Harold" Dean, Parker Hall,<ref name=Albro-Hall/> [[Edith Hamlin]],<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-edith-hamlin-and-dorothy-cravath-12280 |title=Oral history interview with Edith Hamlin and Dorothy Cravath, 1964 May 27 |subject1=Edith Hamlin |subject2=Doroth Cravath |interviewer=Minette Martin |date=May 27, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> [[George Albert Harris]], William Hesthal,<ref>{{Cite interview|url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-william-hesthal-12752|title = Oral history interview with William Hesthal, 1964 Dec. 22 |subject=William Hesthal |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=December 22, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> [[John Langley Howard]],<ref>{{cite interview |url=https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/wwwprotectcoittower/pages/158/attachments/original/1433545599/JLH_Interview.pdf |title=Interview with John Langley Howard and Mary Howard |subject1=John Langley Howard |subject2=Mary Howard |date=September 5, 1991 |interviewer=Robert Campbell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516103335/https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/wwwprotectcoittower/pages/158/attachments/original/1433545599/JLH_Interview.pdf |archive-date=May 16, 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Lucien Labaudt]],<ref>{{Cite interview |url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-marcelle-labaudt-11986 |title =Oral history interview with Marcelle Labaudt, 1964 Sept. 16 |subject=Marcelle Labaudt |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=September 16, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> Gordon Langdon, [[Jose Moya del Pino]]<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.moya-rhs.org/moya-del-pino.html|title = Who is Jose Moya del Pino?|access-date = October 29, 2014|website = Marin Art & Garden Center}}</ref><ref>{{Cite interview |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-jos-moya-del-pino-12903|title = Oral history interview with José Moya del Pino, 1964 Sept. 10  |subject=José Moya del Pino |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=September 10, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> [[Otis Oldfield]],<ref>{{Cite interview |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-otis-oldfield-13601|title=Oral history interview with Otis Oldfield, 1965 May 21 |subject=Otis Oldfield |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=May 21, 1965 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project}}</ref> [[Frederick Olmsted Jr.]], [[Suzanne Scheuer]],<ref>{{Cite interview |url=http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-suzanne-scheuer-12278 |subject=Suzanne Scheuer |interviewer=Mary McChesney |date=July 29, 1964 |publisher=Archives of American Art: New Deal and the Arts Project |title = Oral history interview with Suzanne Scheuer, 1964 July 29}}</ref> Edward Terada, Frede Vidar, and Clifford Wight. Many were faculty and students of the [[San Francisco Art Institute|California School of Fine Arts]] (CSFA).<ref>[http://www.sfai.edu/commission San Francisco Art Institute. The Commission. ''SFAI Offers Diego Rivera His Second Commission in the US''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923070455/http://www.sfai.edu/commission |date=2013-09-23 }}</ref>

These artists (chosen by Walter Heil, director of the [[de Young Museum]], together with other officials) were each paid $25 to $45 per week to depict "aspects of life in California."<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/chronicle_vault/article/How-Coit-Tower-s-murals-became-a-target-for-11273933.php|title=How Coit Tower's murals became a target for anticommunist forces|last=Kamiya|first=Gary|date=2017-07-08|website=www.sfchronicle.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-03}}</ref> The most well-known of them were assigned sections that were {{convert|10|by|36|ft}} in size, while less famous artists were confined to {{convert|10|by|4|ft}}.<ref name="nrhpnom1" />

{{clear}}
{{gallery
|title=Selected murals and themes in Coit Tower
|align=center
|height=150
|width=200px
|File:Coit_Mural_Agriculture.jpg
 |Industry both in the city and out in the fields was an important theme in the murals.<br/>([[Maxine Albro]], ''Agriculture in California'' {{color box|#f80|13|#fff}})
|File:Coit_Mural.jpg
 |A scene of city life, including a robbery on the bottom right, and a car accident in the center.<br/>([[Victor Arnautoff]], ''City Life'' {{color box|#ff0|9|#000}})
|File:Coit_Mural_News.jpg
 |Headlines in the newspapers discuss current events,<ref>Remark: The uppermost newspaper headlines reads "Thousands slaughtered in [[Austria]]" and dates to "14th February 1934", two days after the outbreak of the [[Austrian Civil War]], lasting only a few days after outlawing the social democratic party.</ref> including the creating of the murals.<br/>([[Bernard Zakheim]], ''Library'' {{color box|#f00|7|#fff}})
|File:Newsgathering by Suzanne Scheuer, detail - Coit Tower, San Francisco, CA - DSC04812.jpg
 |Painted ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' front page celebrates mural completion, April 1934.<br/>([[Suzanne Scheuer]], ''Newsgathering'' {{color box|#80f|6|#fff}})
}}

===Themes===
The artists were committed in varying degrees to racial equality and to [[leftist]] and [[Marxist]] political ideas, which are strongly expressed in the paintings. Bernard Zakheim's mural ''Library'' {{color box|#f00|7|#fff}} depicts fellow artist [[John Langley Howard]] crumpling a newspaper in his left hand as he reaches for a shelved copy of Karl Marx's ''[[Das Kapital]]'' (here spelled as ''Das Capital'') with his right. Workers of all races are shown as equals, often in the heroic poses of [[Socialist realism]], while well-dressed racially white members of the capitalist classes enjoy the fruit of their labor.

[[Victor Arnautoff|Victor Arnautoff's]] ''City Life'' {{color box|#ff0|9|#000}} includes the periodicals ''[[The New Masses]]'' and ''[[Daily Worker|The Daily Worker]]'' in the scene's news stand rack.

[[John Langley Howard]]'s mural ''California Industrial Scenes'' {{color box|#f80|2|#fff}} depicts an ethnically diverse Labor March as well as showing a destitute family panning for gold while a wealthy, heavily caricatured ensemble observes.

Stackpole's ''Industries of California'' {{color box|#00f|5|#fff}} was composed along the same lines as an early study of the destroyed ''Man at the Crossroads''.<ref name="Lee1999">{{cite book |title=Painting on the Left: Diego Rivera, Radical Politics, and San Francisco's Public Murals |last=Lee |first=Anthony W. |year=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-21977-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sEvM9s8NekkC }}</ref>

The youngest of the muralists, [[George Albert Harris]], painted a mural called ''Banking and Law'' {{color box|#080|10|#fff}}. In the mural, the world of finance is represented by the Federal Reserve Bank and a stock market ticker (in which stocks are shown as declining) and law is illustrated by a law library.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.artandarchitecture-sf.com/telegraph-hill-san-francisco-may-31-2012.html|title = Telegraph Hill – Coit Tower Murals|access-date = September 30, 2014|website = Art and Architecture San Francisco}}</ref> Some of the book titles that appear in the law library, such as ''Civil, Penal, and Moral Codes'', are legitimate, while others list fellow muralists as authors, in a joking or derogatory manner.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=agwaAwAAQBAJ|title=Depression-Era Murals of the Bay Area|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9781467131445|quote=As the strike raged along the waterfront at the base of Telegraph Hill, many claimed that the labor unrest was influenced by members of the Communist Party. Simultaneously, the PWAP took notice of blatant communist references in the Coit Tower murals painted by Victor Arnautoff, John Langley Howard, Clifford Wight, and Bernhard Zakheim.}}</ref>

After [[Diego Rivera]]'s ''[[Man at the Crossroads]]'' mural was destroyed by its Rockefeller Center patrons for the inclusion of an image of Lenin, the Coit Tower muralists protested, picketing the tower. Sympathy for Rivera led some artists to incorporate references to the Rivera incident; in Zakheim's ''Library'' panel {{color box|#f00|7|#fff}}, Stackpole is painted reading a newspaper headline announcing the destruction of Rivera's mural.<ref name="Lee1999" />

===Censorship===
After most of the Coit Tower murals had already been completed, the [[1934 West Coast waterfront strike]], taking place nearby at the foot of Telegraph Hill,<ref name=":0" /> caused government officials, shipping companies, some union leaders and the press to raise fears about communist agitation.<ref name=":1" /> This "[[Red Scare|red scare]]" has been identified as playing a "crucial role" in a subsequent controversy that mainly focused on two of the murals:
# {{color box|#080|4a|#fff}} and {{color box|#080|4b|#fff}}: These portraits were linked originally by a third small fresco in which Clifford Wight portrayed capitalism, the New Deal and communism, the three prominent economic systems of the era, with the communism part containing a [[hammer and sickle]] and the caption "[[Workers of the World Unite]]."<ref name=":1" />
# {{color box|#f80|2|#fff}}: [[John Langley Howard]]'s Industry mural (designed with the support of his architect brother Henry Howard), which depicts California industrial scenes including out-of-work men, and angered conservatives by showing a banner of the communist periodical [[Western Worker]]<ref name="marxists/westernworker">{{cite web |title=Western Worker (1932 - 1937) |url=https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/westernworker/index.htm |website=Marxists Internet Archive |access-date=4 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204174250/https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/westernworker/index.htm |archive-date=December 4, 2011 |quote=Western Worker was the west coast periodical of the Communist Party, founded in 1932.}}</ref> above a crowd of workers.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/John-Langley-Howard-2892730.php|title = John Langley Howard|date = November 26, 1999|access-date = September 25, 2014|website = SFGate|last = Temko|first = Allan}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

On June 23, 1934, the conservative banker [[Herbert Fleishhacker]], the most powerful member of the committee allocating funds from the Public Works of Art Project, asked Heil to inspect the art, who telegraphed back that some artists had included "details ... and certain symbols which might be interpreted as communistic propaganda," and that "editors of influential papers ... have warned us that they would take hostile attitude towards whole project unless those details be removed."<ref name=":1" /> The official opening of the tower, planned for July 7, was canceled and Fleishhacker ordered to close the tower and to block the view from outside through the windows.<ref name=":1" /> Subsequently, articles in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' and ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]'' attacked the project, sometimes using misleading representations of the artworks in question, while Wight refused to remove the hammer and sickle symbol from his mural.<ref name=":1" /> However, federal government officials decided that the offending parts would need to be painted over, and 16 of the artists signed a statement saying that they opposed the hammer and sickle symbol and that it "has no place in the subject matter assigned."<ref name=":1" /> Eventually, only the hammer and sickle and the "Western Worker" banner were removed, and Coit Tower opened on October 12, 1934.<ref name=":1" />

===Technical details and access===
Two of the murals are of [[San Francisco Bay]] scenes. Most murals are done in [[fresco]]; the exceptions are one mural done in [[egg tempera]] (''Home Life'' by [[Jane Berlandina]], {{color box|#f80|27|#fff}}: upstairs, in the last decorated room) and the works done in the elevator foyer, which are [[oil on canvas]] ({{color box|#080|16|#fff}}, {{color box|#00f|17|#fff}}, {{color box|#80f|18|#fff}}, and {{color box|#f00|19|#fff}}).<ref name=Zakheim/>{{rp|65;118}} While most of the murals were restored in 1990<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sfartscommission.org/sites/default/files/documents/coit_tower.pdf |title=Saving the Coit Tower Murals and the Civic Art Collection |publisher=San Francisco Arts Commission |date=2012 |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> and again in 2014 through cleaning and touching up scratches,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/136049/coit-tower-reopens-after-six-month-renovation |title=Coit Tower Reopens After Six-Month Renovation |author=Boyer, Mark Andrew |date=May 15, 2014 |work=KQED |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref> the murals in the spiral stairway exit to the observation platform (''Powell Street'' by [[Lucien Labaudt]]) were not restored but durably painted over with [[epoxy]] surfacing.

Most of the murals are open for public viewing without charge during open hours, although there are ongoing{{When|date=July 2018}} negotiations by the Recreation and Parks Department of San Francisco to begin charging visitors a fee to enter the mural [[Rotunda (architecture)|rotunda]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2018}} The murals in the spiral stairway and second floor, normally closed to the public, are{{When|date=October 2023}} open for viewing through tours.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Rare Look at 7 Upstairs Murals at Coit Tower|url = http://blog.sfgate.com/artsandnot/2014/09/30/rare-look-at-7-upstairs-murals-at-coit-tower/#27155101=0|access-date = 2015-06-23|website = SFGate|date = 2014-09-30|last = Whiting|first = Sam}}</ref> Labaudt's ''Powell Street'' runs along both sides of the spiral staircase; the second-floor murals all carry recreational themes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Coit-Tower-s-long-hidden-murals-finally-being-5867664.php |title=Coit Tower's long-hidden murals finally being revealed |author=Whiting, Sam |date=November 3, 2014 |work=SF Gate |access-date=30 December 2022}}</ref>

Since 2004 artist [[Ben Wood]] collaborated with other artists on large scale video projections onto the exterior of Coit Tower, in 2004, 2006, 2008 & 2009.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Coit-a-towering-reminder-of-Alcatraz-occupation-3280453.php | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | first=Justin | last=Berton | title=Tower of films to recall Alcatraz takeover | date=November 23, 2009}}</ref>

== Residents ==
There is a small unindexed apartment on the second floor of the building. The former army lieutenant William J. Bradley and his wife were paid to live in the apartment to guard the art and the building. It is not known when the couple moved out. During the 1980s, the city renovated the artwork in the building, and once again hired a permanent guardian, Tim Lillyquist, who became the third and last permanent resident of the tower.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=McLean |first=Tessa |date=2023-03-01 |title=What it looks like inside Coit Tower’s former apartment |url=https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-coit-tower-apartment-17802655.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302032356/https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/san-francisco-coit-tower-apartment-17802655.php |archive-date=2023-03-02 |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=SF Gate}}</ref>

==Panorama==

The tower, which stands atop Telegraph Hill in San Francisco's Pioneer Park, offers panoramic views of San Francisco that take in "crooked" [[Lombard Street (San Francisco)|Lombard Street]], [[Nob Hill]], [[Russian Hill]], [[Twin Peaks (San Francisco)|Twin Peaks]], [[San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park|Aquatic Park]], [[Pier 39]], the [[Financial District (San Francisco)|Financial District]] and the [[San Francisco Ferry Building|Ferry Building]], as well as [[San Francisco Bay]] itself including [[Angel Island (California)|Angel Island]], [[Alcatraz]], [[Treasure Island, California|Treasure Island]], and the [[Golden Gate Bridge|Golden Gate]] and [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge|Bay Bridge]]s.

== Gallery ==
{{Panorama
| image = File:Panoramic view of San Francisco from Coit Tower.png
| height = 100
| alt = A panoramic view of San Francisco from Coit Tower
| caption = A view of San Francisco from the top of Coit Tower
}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160px">
File:TelegraphHillbyJohnCurley.jpg|A view of Telegraph Hill from a boat in the [[San Francisco Bay]].
File:Coittower sf view.jpg|View of Coit Tower, Alcatraz, and Marin County from Downtown.
File:CoitTowerLookingFromGreenwichAndTelegraphHillBlvd.jpg|A closer photograph of Coit Tower from the parking lot
File:Coit Tower ascensore.JPG| ''Bay Area Map'', mural by [[Otis Oldfield]] above the elevator
File:coit tower lombard street.JPG|View from [[Lombard Street (San Francisco)|Lombard Street]]
File:Coit Tower, San Francisco (south facing side).jpg|The south-facing side of Coit Tower
File:Sfcoit.jpg|Looking south from the tower
File:Looking up at Coit Tower.jpg|Looking up at the tower
File:Coit Tower at Night.JPG|Coit Tower at night, lit orange in recognition of the [[San Francisco Giants]]
File:San Francisco bay from coit tower.jpg|View of the bay from Coit Tower
File:Coit tower 2.jpg|As seen from below
File:Coit tower.jpg|Vertical view
File:17 30 085 coit tower.jpg|Detail of arches at the top of the tower
</gallery>

== In popular culture ==

Coit Tower is a prominent landscape feature in [[Alfred Hitchcock]]'s 1958 film, ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]'', set largely in San Francisco. The character of Madeleine ([[Kim Novak]]) tells Scotty ([[James Stewart]]) that she has used the tower to orient herself to his apartment, as she did not know his street address; he responds this is the first time he had been grateful for the tower. Art director [[Henry Bumstead]], who worked on ''Vertigo'', noted that Hitchcock was adamant that Coit Tower should be seen in the film from the apartment of the lead character, portrayed by Stewart. When Bumstead asked why, Hitchcock said, "It's a phallic symbol."<ref>{{cite web|last=San Filippo|first=Maria|date=November 25, 2002|title=Bumstead gives talk on art direction, "˜Vertigo'|url=https://dailybruin.com/2002/11/25/bumstead-gives-talk-on-art-dir|access-date=June 18, 2020|website=The Daily Bruin}}</ref>

Coit Tower is also featured in:

* ''[[After the Thin Man]]'' (1936): the roundabout in front of the tower served as the driveway for Nick and Nora Charles' home in San Francisco.
* ''[[The Strawberry Statement (film)|The Strawberry Statement]]'' (1970)
* ''[[The Enforcer (1976 film)|The Enforcer]]'' (1976)
* ''[[Tex Murphy]]'' series (1989–2014)
* ''[[California's Gold]]'' Episode 12004<ref name="vimeo/11537257">{{cite web |author1=California's Gold |title=12004 Coit Tower |url=https://vimeo.com/11537257 |access-date=4 January 2023 |website=[[vimeo]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=14 January 2010 |title=Coit Tower- California's Gold (12004) – Huell Howser Archives at Chapman University |url=https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2010/01/14/coit-tower-californias-gold-12004/}}<!-- https://web.archive.org/web/20150715211916/https://blogs.chapman.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/05/HH-Show-List.pdf --></ref><ref name="oac.cdlib/13030/c8k64mfn">{{cite web |title=Finding Aid for the "California's Gold" Collection 2011.114.r.c |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8k64mfn/entire_text/ |access-date=4 January 2023 |website=[[oac.cdlib.org]]}}</ref> (1991-2012)
* ''[[Just like Heaven (2005 film)|Just like Heaven]]'' (2005)
* ''[[X-Men: The Last Stand]]'' (2006)
* ''[[History Detectives]]'' Episode 709 August 24, 2009
* ''[[The Amazing Race 16]]'' Leg 12 (2010)
* ''[[Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore]]'' (2010)
* ''[[San Andreas (film)|San Andreas]]'' (2015)
* ''[[Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings]]'' (2021)
* ''Hero Inside'' Episode 9 January 7, 2024'
* ''[[Ironside (1967 TV series)|Ironside]]'' ( 1967 to 1975): Most episodes include images in episodes' during the opening footage that serves as the episodes' establishing sequence

== See also ==
{{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area}}
* [[49-Mile Scenic Drive]]
* [[History of San Francisco]]
* [[List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://sfrecpark.org/Facilities/Facility/Details/Coit-Tower-290 Official website]
* {{Structurae|id=20009310|title=Coit Tower}}

{{San Francisco Attractions}}
{{Registered Historic Places}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coit Tower}}
[[Category:Art Deco architecture in California]]
[[Category:Art Deco sculptures and memorials]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Observation towers on the National Register of Historic Places]]
[[Category:Towers in California]]
[[Category:Towers completed in 1933]]
[[Category:Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco]]
[[Category:1930s architecture in the United States]]
[[Category:Public Works of Art Project]]
[[Category:San Francisco Designated Landmarks]]
[[Category:Landmarks in San Francisco]]
[[Category:North Beach, San Francisco]]