Lotta Crabtree, Fountain

Title

Lotta Crabtree, Fountain

Biographical Text

24 foot tall fountain made of cast iron, bronze, and glass and set atop a granite base. Each of the four sides has a drinking basin with a griffin’s head. Features lions and medallions containing motifs of San Francisco’s early history, specifically the Gold Rush.
Crabtree gifted the fountain to the city of San Francisco in 1875. The fountain notably survived San Francisco’s 1906 fire and earthquake and later became a place of remembrance for the disaster. Today, the fountain is the oldest public monument in the city and is widely referred to as, “Lotta’s Fountain.” It is a City Landmark and in the National Register of Historic Places.
An eight foot addition was added to the fountain in 1916 so that it matched the height of the city’s street lamps. This remained until 1999 when the fountain was restored to it’s original height. Water no longer flows from the fountain.

Text

PRESENTED
TO THE CITIZENS
OF
SAN FRANCISCO
1875
BY
LOTTA

Date Created

1875

Date Modified

1916

1999

Type

English Statue

Bibliographic Citation

Press Release: San Francisco Heritage Celebrates 150 Years of Landmark Lotta's Fountain, San Francisco Heritage

San Francisco Commemorates 150th Anniversary of Lotta’s Fountain, First Public Monument in the City’s Civic Art Collection, San Francisco Arts Commission

Lotta’s Fountain, San Francisco’s Oldest Monument, Turns 150, KQED

Project Researcher

Bysterbusch, Hailey