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Telegraph Hill |
| Upscale area topped by Coit Tower |
Western slope of Telegraph Hill
(Looking due East)
It's called Telegraph Hill because in the early days a semaphore sat atop the hill and would signal for residents when a ship was coming in with supplies. The tower was built in 1933 by San Francisco figure Lilly Coit in the shape of the nozzle of a firefighter's hose in honor of the firefighters who saved San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire (it was the fire that did the damage, you know). Lilly left a grant to the city for beautification purposes and they used the money for the tower. The lobby of the tower is decorated with depression-era frescoes in the style of Diego Rivera by various artists, some of whom apprenticed under Rivera. There is a parking lot at the base which affords spectacular views - expect a long line of cars and a long wait trying to get a spot. But it 's worth it! Not only is the hill a tall landmark, the 210-foot tower has an elevator that takes you up nearly to the top where you see the little arched windows. It looks like you are face-to face with downtown buildings, and have an amazing view of the surrounding neighborhoods and of the docks and the bay.
Telegraph Hill as seen from Russian Hill
(Looking due East)
Here is Telegraph Hill as seen from Russian Hill. The night life neighborhood called "North Beach" is down there between the two hills. We are standing at the very top of Lombard street, "The crookedest street in the world" (which it isn't, SF has another). You can see the car in front begin to negotiate the crooked curves. Yes, that's the hood of my car at the bottom of the picture. I was driving when I took it. You see all I do for you? I risk a fiery death just to get you good shots of the city. Let's deal with the background first. That island to the left of Coit Tower is Yerba Buena island. "Yerba Buena" is Spanish for "good herb" and was the first name given to the city by the Spaniards.in 1776. The lesser-known but bigger Oakland Bay Bridge shoots through Yerba Buena island on its way to the East Bay, the hazy mountains way in the background where Oakland and Berkeley lie. To the left of Yerba Buena is a flat artificial island which used to be a naval base but is now a residential area. I've never been there. If you look very carefully, to the right of the tower just where the trees end, you can see a faint grey bridge tower - that's one of four Bay Bridge towers that lead to Yerba Buena. As you can see, there are virtually no businesses on Telegraph Hill, it's all tony residential homes. You can't see it thought there's a small but significant area behind T. Hill, it's called the North Waterfront. Back on this picture, if you watched MTV's The Real World - San Francisco, the roomate house was a block or so below my car.
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