July 22, 2005
Elizabeth “Lillie” Hitchcock Coit was one of the prototypically colorful characters of San Francisco history.
A daughter of high society, she was a tomboy who developed an unusual obsession with fire and firemen, and was associated with them throughout her life. Though much sought after by the young men of the city, she cheerfully ignored society’s rules, playing poker, smoking cigars, staging boxing matches and generally scandalizing the upper echelons of Victorian San Francisco.
What a woman!
Though she spent years in Paris and traveled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, she loved this place more than anywhere on earth, and upon her death left her large fortune, in her own words, to “be expended in an appropriate manner for the purpose of adding to the beauty of the city which I have always loved.”
The result was the beautiful edifice of Coit Tower, still standing proudly above Telegraph Hill and honoring both her memory and the memory of the firemen she loved.
- #15: The Golden Gate Bridge and Suicide
- San Francisco Timecapsule: 03.02.09
- SFist: “A Jitney Elopement” — Charlie Chaplin’s San Francisco film
- #14: The Golden Fire Hydrant of San Francisco
- SFist — sands-can-drift-so
thanks to tom joad and gerry dempsey for the use of the tune “cherry rag”, and to tom joad for the banjo tune “soldier’s joy”. use licensed under creative commons.
July 29, 2005 at 5:39 pm
Another great show…….. Thanks. Sorry don’t know the answer to this weeks question…..
John
July 29, 2005 at 5:40 pm
thanks, john! (i’m doing my best to make the questions difficult.)
February 23, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Hi, Richard,
I knew Coit Tower had been left to the City by Mrs. Coit, but I never knew the extent of her love for those who braved the fires. Wow! She sounds just like the kind of woman I would’ve wanted to have been if I’d lived back then. The card playing, drinking, partying life she led sounds just right! Of course, if I HAD lived back then, I doubt I would’ve been so brave as to toss away society’s chains for a life of freedom such as she chose.
I’ve been up to Coit a few times, but have yet to go inside. Isn’t it a shame that when one lives someplace, they often don’t take the time to actually visit their own City? I’m working on that, though, and hope to see those frescoes before too long.
Chloe