Philo T. Farnsworth Memorial

Who Was Philo Farnsworth?

Philo Taylor Farnsworth (1906–1971) was an American inventor whose work made electronic television possible. The idea first came to him as a teenager on his family's farm in Idaho, where the parallel lines of plowed potato fields sparked a vision of scanning lines of electrons sweeping across a screen. He pursued that concept at the University of Utah, where San Francisco backers from the Crocker Bank provided $25,000 — a substantial sum in the late 1920s — to fund his research.↗↗

On September 7, 1927, in his laboratory at 202 Green Street in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, Farnsworth and his small team achieved the first fully electronic transmission of an image: a simple straight line. Soon after, they projected a dollar sign for investors. What began as that humble line evolved into the television industry. Farnsworth later fought a protracted patent battle against RCA's David Sarnoff, who claimed the invention first — the rolled papers in the statue's hand represent those patent documents.↗↗↗↗

Beyond television, Farnsworth went on to develop an infrared telescope and helped prototype the incubator for premature infants. In later life he worked on nuclear fusion research under a NASA contract. He died in 1971, largely uncredited by the public — described by author Art Peterson as "the most influential, unknown man of the 20th century."↗

The Sculpture

Lawrence Noble — who also sculpted the beloved Yoda Fountain elsewhere on this same campus — created the Farnsworth bronze in a classically naturalistic style. The figure shows Farnsworth as a handsome, brooding thinker gazing at the cathode ray tube he holds in his right hand. In his left, he clutches a rolled schematic. At his side stands a vintage television set, rendered with extraordinary attention to detail: even the rear panel is carved with heat vent slats, knobs, and dials that early TV owners would have recognized.↗↗↗

The memorial was installed in October 2008, positioned in front of Building D at the Letterman Digital Arts Center. Its placement on a campus dedicated to digital arts and media — home to Lucasfilm and other creative technology companies — adds a layer of meaning: the statue marks the origin point of an entire industry that now thrives in this very location.↗↗

The Setting: One Letterman Campus

The Farnsworth Memorial stands on the One Letterman campus, a 23-acre creative enclave within the Presidio of San Francisco — the national park site that was once a U.S. Army post. The campus opened in 2005 on the former grounds of Letterman Army Medical Center and is now home to Lucasfilm, other digital arts studios, and venture capital firms. Roughly 17 acres are landscaped public open space, designed by the renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin (who also designed the WWII Memorial in the Presidio). The meadow features a creek-fed lagoon, approximately 500 trees, wide walkways, and sitting areas.↗↗

From the campus paths, visitors can see toward the Palace of Fine Arts and portions of the Golden Gate Bridge and bay. The grounds also feature Noble's famous Yoda Fountain outside Building B, the Skywalker Ranch General Store, and restaurants including Piccino Presidio and a Starbucks. The result is a rare combination: a working corporate campus that genuinely feels like public parkland.↗↗

Visiting the Memorial

The statue sits in an open park area near Building D, outdoors and accessible from the campus walkways. The grounds are open daily, and the memorial can be combined with the Presidio Promenade Trail, a 2.1-mile paved path that links the Lombard Gate to the Golden Gate Bridge and passes through this part of the Presidio. The campus is wheelchair accessible with accessible parking and an elevator in the underground garage.↗↗↗

The campus itself is a public open space, though individual buildings are working offices with restricted access. The outdoor areas, paths, meadow, and sculptures are freely walkable without any special arrangements.↗↗