Neighborhood History
Many of the newcomers to Telegraph Hill were civic-minded intellectuals who applied their talents to improving the quality of life in their city. Frieda and Dr. Hans Klussman lived at 260 Green Street. As many readers probably know, Mrs. Klussman led the successful fight in the 1950s to save the remaining cable car lines. Mrs. Grace Marchant was another resident of Telegraph Hill who worked to improve the quality of life on Telegraph Hill. A quasi-legendary figure in the story of Telegraph Hill, Mrs. Marchant lived on the corner of Filbert and Napier Streets. Annoyed by the barren and trash-strewn street right-of-way alongside the Filbert Street Steps, Marchant removed the junk in the early 1930s and began planting lush, ground-holding plants and flowering trees, including banana trees, roses, jasmine, palms and many others. Today Marchant Gardens, a San Francisco City Landmark, is tended by neighbors. The Gardens contribute to the almost otherworldly atmosphere of Telegraph Hill, as well as providing a habitat for hundreds of exotic and native birds, including the famous parrots of Telegraph Hill.
60 - 62 Alta
The history of Telegraph Hill would be sorely incomplete without a discussion of its most famous landmark, Coit Tower. For almost half a century after its founding in 1876, Pioneer Park languished for lack o f funds. Following the construction of Telegraph Hill Boulevard in 1923, things began to change. In 1925, the Parks Commission hired renowned architect and theater designer G. Albert Lansburgh to design the Classical Revival balustrade ringing the observation area. For many San Franciscans, this was not enough. In letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Society of California Pioneers called for the construction of a monument on the crest of Telegraph Hill akin to the one originally envisioned in Daniel Burnham’s 1906 Plan for San Francisco. After several attempts to raise money came up short, eccentric San Franciscan Lillie Hitchcock Coit, an honorary member of the San Francisco Fire Department, left $118,731 for an “…artistic monument to the memory of the original Volunteer Fire Department.” In 1931, the City retained prominent San Francisco architect Arthur Brown, Jr. to prepare plans for a monumental observation tower. After several revisions, construction began in 1933, and on October 8 of that same year Coit Tower was dedicated. The streamlined tower’s design has on occasion been compared to a fire hose nozzle and other objects. One of the crowning achievements of the project includes the frescoes painted by San Francisco muralists Bernard Zakheim, Ralph Stackpole and others with funding from the Public Works Administration (PWA).
Telegraph Hill’s gradual transformation intensified after the conclusion of the Second World War. During the 1950s and 1960s, rising rents and real estate prices forced most of the remaining oldtimers and less solvent artists to move elsewhere. Nevertheless, many of the newcomers have made their own stamp on the neighborhood in ways no less significant than their predecessors. Understandably protective of the unique character of their neighborhood, residents formed the Telegraph Hill Dwellers in 1954. Although the reason for forming the group was MUNI’s threatened removal of the No. 39 bus line, the Hill Dwellers soon took on other projects. Today numbering around 600 members, the group has evolved into a civic organization dedicated to preventing or at least softening the worst excesses of “progress” on the Hill and in the adjacent North Beach, Jackson Square and Northeast Waterfront neighborhoods. Some of the group’s major accomplishments include the implementation of a 40′ height limit throughout much of the neighborhood, stopping the Embarcadero Freeway at Broadway, establishing the Telegraph Hill and Northeast Waterfront Historic Districts, and the continued “greening” of the Hill through maintenance of Marchant Gardens and tree planting along the neighborhood’s streets.
1360 Montgomery
The Telegraph Hill Dwellers have been successful in their fight to preserve the character of Telegraph Hill. New construction in the neighborhood continues to occur but design guidelines and cooperation with local groups and city agencies has ensured that the new buildings are compatible with adjacent historic structures. Astronomically high land values have placed pressure on the continued existence of tiny pre-quake cottages (particularly those outside the historic district) as well as on the few remaining empty lots, which thanks to modern engineering techniques are no longer considered to be “unbuildable.” Demolition and removal of historic dwellings still continues, including the razing of a handful of remaining cottages on Filbert Street, just below Pioneer Park (including the moving of labor union organizer Bill Bailey’s cottage). Thankfully, most people who choose to live on Telegraph Hill today do so because of its unique character and not because it is a good investment for their portfolios. Hopefully more recent newcomers, as well as the thousands of visitors who climb its streets and stairs each year, will continue to respect its special character and love it dearly.
The author would like to dedicate this article to the late architectural historian Anne Bloomfield. Her extensive original research into the history of Telegraph Hill is the basis for much of the information presented in this article. Residents of San Francisco have Ms. Bloomfield to thank for the designation of several important historic districts, not the least of which is Telegraph Hill.