Coit Tower is located in Pioneer Park on San Francisco's Telegraph Hill. The tower was built in 1933 and named after Lillie Hitchcock Coit, the benefactress who gave money to the city to use for beautification. Ms. Coit was a typically eccentric San Francisco resident who lived in the Telegraph Hill area. She often dressed as a man in order to satisfy her gambling habit in the local males-only gambling halls and she had a lifelong enthusiasm for firefighters, serving as the unofficial mascot for the Knickerbocker Engine Co. 5, who made her an honorary firefighter.

The tower itself is in the art deco style, made from unpainted reinforced concrete and serves as a monument to the city's firefighters. Inside the tower are several famous murals, created mostly by faculty and students of the California School of Fine Arts in the 1930s. The top of the tower offers fantastic views of all of San Francisco.