Coit Tower Frescoes

Rising 210 feet (64 m) above a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bay is an angelic tower that contains one of the most impressive collections of frescoes in North America.

Built in 1933, Coit Tower is home to 27 frescoes that were painted simultaneously by 25 local artists in 1934, covering over 3,600 square feet (334.4 sq m) of wall space.

Each fresco has its own style, character and message, but together, they depict delightful and poignant vignettes of California life during America’s Great Depression in the 1930s.

Some of the artists—inspired and emboldened by the socio-political nature of the two frescoes Diego Rivera has graced the city with just 3 years before—painted works that were so controversial in their critique of government corruption, social injustice and the capitalisitc exploitation of the American worker, that the Tower had to be shuttered for a few months to quell public outrage.

During a guided tour of the Tower, you can feast your eyes upon all 27 of these historic works of American art.

And after your tour, you can venture up to the Tower’s observation deck, where you can savor 360-degree vistas of the city and the bay.

Guided Tours

Murals on the Tower’s first floor are viewable for free. Additional murals are hidden in a spiral stairwell (which is quite an impressive sight) and in a second floor room that are only viewable during a guided tour:

San Francisco City Guides offers a free guided tour of all 27 murals on Wed & Sat, 11am.

30-40-minute private tour $6-$9, offered daily and reservable online (4 person minimum)

Coit Tower

Elevator pass to the observation deck $6-$8, reservable online

10am-6pm (May-Oct); 10am-5pm (Nov-Apr)

(415) 249-0995

Free, 30-minute lot parking is extremely
limited, come early in the day or take public transportation

Metro Rail + Bus: Stockton & Beach (E,F), then walk 1 block to Beach St and Powell St and catch the 39 bus to the Tower