Lotta’s Fountain

That cast iron fountain is quite beautiful. So beautiful that it’s almost strange to see it wedged between two crosswalks. It’s called Lotta’s Fountain. Lotta, named after the actress who commissioned and donated it to the city of San Francisco in 1875. If the city has grown around it and it has never been moved, it’s for a good reason! This is where people spontaneously gathered after the 1906 earthquake to find their loved ones. You can see two commemorative plaques. One for its role as a meeting point after the earthquake, the other for the opera singer, Luisa Tetrazzini, who performed in front of the fountain on Christmas Eve. In 1999, it was restored to its former glory and repainted in that metallic golden brown that suits it so well. The 1906 earthquake left an indelible mark on the city of San Francisco and all its residents. Several seismic shocks, ranging from 7.8 to 8.3 on the Richter scale, violently shook the city and plunged it into a disastrous fire that lasted over three days. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed, and no fewer than 3,000 people died and over half the population was left homeless. Throughout their lives, survivors of the earthquake gathered every April 18th at 5:12 am in front of Lotta’s Fountain in commemoration of this terrible event. In 2015, the last survivors passed away, but the fountain remains a gathering place during commemorations for earthquake victims or to draw attention to the importance of earthquake preparedness.
Let’s not forget that San Francisco sits on the San Andreas Fault, which is 1,000 kilometers long and responsible for major earthquakes in California. So it’s better to be prepared to react quickly in case of a tremor!