Lotta's Fountain

File:Lotta Crabtree Fountain 1905.jpg is at right and the Ferry Building's clock tower is in the distance]]

The cast-iron fountain, commissioned by actress Lotta Crabtree as a gift to the city, was dedicated September 9, 1875.{{cite web| url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!341770~!0#focus| title=Lotta's Fountain, (sculpture).|publisher=Save Outdoor Sculpture, California, San Francisco survey| year= 1994| accessdate=December 27, 2011}} During its centennial it was designated both a San Francisco Designated Landmarks and the U.S. National Historic Places.

A plaque commemorates its role as a meeting point in the aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire. Another plaque mentions the opera soprano Luisa Tetrazzini, who gave a memorable performance for the people of San Francisco at the fountain on Christmas Eve, 1910, after legal difficulties prevented her from appearing on stage.{{cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/23/MN211GTC0N.DTL|title=Luisa Tetrazzini's gift ends S.F. era on high note|last= Nolte|first= Carl|author-link= Carl Nolte|date=24 December 2010|newspaper= San Francisco Chronicle}} The bronze column was added in 1916 to match the height of new lights being installed along Market Street.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

In 1974 it was relocated slightly from its original location at 3rd, Market and Kearny during the renovation of Market Street and brought into alignment with the "Path of Gold" streetlamps.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}} In 1999 the fountain was refurbished, shortened back to its 1875 appearance, and repainted a metallic gold-brown. Its lion's-head spigots flow during daytime hours.{{Citation needed|date=August 2014}}

In 1919, a commemoration of the earthquake was started that still occurs annually. The South of Market Boys, a fraternal drinking organization, hung a wreath on the fountain. Since then, survivors of the earthquake gathered at 5:12 a.m. on April 18 at the intersection. After the 2015 anniversary, the last two survivors of the earthquake died. In 2016, more than 200 participants, many in period costuming, gathered to commemorate victims of the earthquake and to draw attention to earthquake preparedness.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Last-known-survivor-of-1906-S-F-earthquake-dies-6751833.php|title=1906 S.F. earthquake's last known survivor dies at 109|first=Peter|last=Fimrite|date=January 12, 2016|website=SFGATE}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/01/12/462771935/last-known-survivor-of-1906-san-francisco-earthquake-has-died|title=Last Known Survivor Of 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Has Died|website=NPR.org}}

{{Portal|San Francisco Bay Area}}

• List of San Francisco Designated Landmarks

{{reflist}}

• O'Brien, Robert This is San Francisco Chronicle Books 1994, reprint from 1948

{{Commons category}}

• [http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/crab.html Lotta Crabtree]
• [https://archive.today/20120908211158/http://www.ncgold.com/History/LottaCrabtree/lotta.html Lotta Crabtree, Fairy Star of the Gold Rush]
• [http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/crab2.html "Lotta's Legacy," by J. Kingston Pierce]
• [http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lotta-s-fountain "Lotta's Fountain," Atlas Obscura]

{{Financial District, San Francisco}}

{{San Francisco, California}}

{{National Register of Historic Places}}

Category:Fountains in San Francisco

Category:Financial District, San Francisco

Category:Market Street (San Francisco)

Category:1906 San Francisco earthquake

Category:National Register of Historic Places in San Francisco

Category:Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in California

Category:San Francisco Designated Landmarks

Category:Relocated buildings and structures in California

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