Coit Tower is a 64m tower in the Telegraph Hill neighborhood offering panoramic views over the city and the bay. The tower, in the city’s Pioneer Park, was built between 1932 and 1933 using Lillie Hitchcock’s bequest to beautify the city. It was added to the National register of Historic Places on January 29, 2008.
The Art Deco tower, built of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown Jr. and Henry Temple Howard.
The murals inside the tower’s base were painted in 1934 by a group of artists employed by the Public Works of Art Project, a precursor to the Works Progress Administration (WPA), and depict life in California during the Depression. When violence broke out during the 1934 longshoremen’s strike, controversy over the radical content in some of the panels became quite heated. Some of the most controversial elements were painted over, and the tower was padlocked for several months before the frescoes were finally opened to the public in the fall of 1934.
Although the tower offers nice views of the city, the elevator was broken…So we decided not to climb it.
Mission District
Mission Dolores Basilica
The site of the future Mission San Francisco was scouted by the Spanish missionary Pedro Font in March 1776 during a visit to the Bay Area by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza. The Spanish missionaries named the new mission San Francisco de Asís, in honor of Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order. It became commonly known as Mission Dolores, after the nearby creek, Arroyo de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (Our Lady of Sorrows Creek)”
Here is the link:
The Walt Disney Family Museum. We were going to visit it, but unfortunately it was closed on the day we were in San Francisco. Our guide told us that it was an interesting visit. Oh well, for our next visit.
These houses beside the Painted Ladies are nicer houses… But the Ladies get all the press.
The Chinatown is the oldest in North America, and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside of Asia.
It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within the city.
Established in 1848, Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, language, places of worship, social clubs, and identity.
There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches, a post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture.
The Transamerica Pyramid is a 48-story futurist skyscraper. Located in the city’s Financial district, it was the tallest building in San Francisco from its completion in 1972 until 2018 when the newly-constructed Sales force Tower surpassed its height.
The Transamerica building was commissioned by Transamerica CEO, with the claim that he wished to allow light in the street below.
The building no longer houses the headquarters of Transamerica, which moved its U.S. headquarters to Baltimore. However, the building is still associated with the company by being depicted on the company’s logo. (They sold the building, but kept the rights to the name of the tower)
These houses beside the Painted Ladies are nicer houses… But the Ladies get all the press.
Telegraph Hill (elev. 87 m) is a hill and surrounding neighborhood. It is one of San Francisco’s 44 hills and one of its original “Seven hills”.
This tram was purchased from the Toronto Transit Corp.
Alcatraz Island is a small island 2.01 km offshore from San Francisco. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison. In 1934, the island was converted into a federal prison. The strong currents around the island and cold water temperatures made escape nearly impossible, and the prison became one of the most notorious in American history. The prison closed in 1963.
Most of the prisoners were notorious bank robbers and murderers. The prison initially had a staff of 155, including the first warden James A. Johnson and associate warden J.E. Shuttleworth, both considered to be “iron men”. The staff were highly trained in security, but not rehabilitation.
During the 29 years it was in use, the prison held some of the most notorious criminals in American history, including gangsters such as Al Capone, Robert Franklin Stroud (the “Birdman of Alcatraz”), George “Machine Gun” Kelly and Bumpy Johnson, and political terrorists such as Rafael Cancel Miranda, a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who attacked the United States Capitol building in 1954. Others included Mickey Cohen, Arthur R. “Doc” Barker, and Alvin “Creepy” Karpis, who served more time at Alcatraz than any other inmate. It also provided housing for the Bureau of Prisons staff and their families.
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