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Coit Tower, San Francisco

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Coit Tower is a 210-foot tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The tower was built in 1933 at the request of Lillie Hitchcock Coit to beautify the city of San Francisco; Coit bequeathed one-third of her estate to the city "to be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved".

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The art deco tower, made of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard, with fresco murals by 27 different on-site artists and their numerous assistants, plus two additional paintings installed after creation off-site. The tower was not designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle, despite Coit's affinity with the San Francisco firefighters of the day, in particular with Knickerbocker Engine Company Number 5. Mrs. Lillie Hitchcock Coit Honorary Member Knickerbocker Engine No. 5, Veteran Volunteer Firemen of California, March 1912

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City Life, one of the largest murals at Coit Tower was painted by Victor Mikhail Arnautoff who had worked as an assistant to Diego Rivera in Mexico and taught at the California School of Fine Arts (CSFA).Victor Mikhail Arnautoff The controversial mural includes a traffic accident, armed robbery and leftist newspapers. In addition a fire engine (Knickerbocker Engine Company No.5a tribute to Lilly Hitchcock- Coit) and the San Francisco Stock Exchange (with sculptures by fellow muralist Ralph Stackpole) are depicted.