Lotta's Fountain, San Francisco, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

Lotta's Fountain is a cast-iron fountain at the junction of Market, Kearny and Geary Streets in San Francisco, given to the city by the actress Lotta Crabtree in 1875. It is best known as the place where survivors gathered to look for family and friends after the 1906 earthquake, and it is still a spot for remembrance every April.

The story behind it

Lotta Crabtree was a hugely popular performer who grew up in the California gold country, and she presented the fountain to the city in 1875. For its first three decades it was a street-corner landmark at one of the busiest crossings downtown.

That changed at 5:12 in the morning on April 18, 1906, when the great earthquake struck. Telephone lines failed, telegraph offices were wrecked, and fires spread through the city. With no way to find out who had survived, people headed for a place everyone knew. Thousands came to the fountain, pinned messages up, called out names and waited for familiar faces. The death toll is usually put at about three thousand, and historians believe the real figure was higher. Officials at the time played down the numbers, and records of Chinatown's residents were especially poor, so many victims were never counted. Each year on the anniversary, people gather at the fountain in the early morning to mark the moment the earthquake hit.

What to look for

• Look at the fountain's cast-iron form, which still stands on the street corner more than a century and a half after it was installed.
• Stand at the meeting of Market, Kearny and Geary Streets and picture the crowds who filled this crossing in April 1906, searching faces and reading handwritten notes.
• Notice how the fountain sits among the modern buildings and traffic, a small piece of nineteenth-century San Francisco on a very busy corner.
• Check the base and the surrounding pavement for any plaques or markers that record its history.

Tips for your visit

• The fountain stands on the street, so you can see it from the pavement at any time. Ten minutes is plenty for a look and a read of its story.
• Early morning is the quietest time, and it is also when the anniversary gatherings are held each April.
• Union Square and the Palace Hotel are a short walk away, so it fits easily into a wider stroll through downtown.
• Take care at the crossing, as Market Street is busy with cars, buses and cyclists.

See it on a quest

You reach the fountain on foot as one stop on Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in SoMa, San Francisco, a self-guided route through the surrounding streets. The app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so a corner many people hurry past becomes a proper stop. There is no guide and no group to join, you start whenever you like, and one ticket covers your whole group.