 | San Francisco S.F. Sights Reviews | Tips 11 - 20 of 22 |  |
 | |  |  | S.F. Sights: 1906 Earthquake Survivors: Lotta's Fountain | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
The oldest existing monument in San Francisco is Lotta's Fountain, located at the intersection of Market, Kearney, and Geary, diagonally across from the Palace Hotel. This rather humble gold painted, cast iron public fountain (now dry), with lion heads was purchased and shipped from Philadelphia by famed singer, Lotta Crabtree, and dedicated as a token of her appreciation for the city that made her rich. Lotta Crabtree and her mother arrived in San Francisco in 1852, and built a fortune from gold nuggets tossed on stage for young Lotta's performances. While her mother wore black and had business talents, red headed and vivacious, Lotta woed the miners with her Mae West style suggestive singing and hip movements. Between the late 1860's through 1890's Lotta was a national sensation for her stage and theater performances. Despite her popularity, she never married. Lotta became very wealthy and provided the public fountain at the time the new Palace Hotel was constructed in 1875. Few Hollywood stars today will be so well remembered as Lotta Crabtree. See links below for more information about her life and times. The monument is a survivor of the 1906 earthquake and fire, and was a popular meeting place for those looking for loved ones. Also, note that famed Italian opera singer Luisa Tetrazzinni, who sang in front of Lotta's Fountain on Christmas Eve in 1910, is memorialized on a bronze band around the upper part of the fountain. The KQED link below has a quicktime recording of the diva's arias sung that night, as well as the interesting story of her free concert on the street of San Francisco. Leave a Comment Website: http://www.kqed.org/w/sinfiregold/lotta.html Other Contact: http://www.ncgold.com/History/Lo
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| | | | S.F. Sights: 1906 Earthquake Survivors: The Mechanics Monument | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Visitors are very likely to pass by the huge bronze statue of 5 muscle bound and naked men struggling with a stamp press. Formally the Peter Donahue Memorial, Mechanics Monument is located at the intersection of Market, Bush, and Battery. This most brilliant of three works along Market Street by the "Michelangelo of the West", Douglas Tilden, a native-born Californian, and a university trained artist whose wealthy family is perhaps most famous around the city of Chico, where descendents mostly live today. Then Major Phelan, gave Tildren free reign, while the son of Peter Donahue, founder of the Union Iron Works, donated the idea and money for a tribute to his father. Donahue had arrived in 1849 with only an anvil, hammer, and apron and began business under a shade tree. He proceeded to create the first foundry west of the Mississippi, to manufacture the first printing press west of the Mississippi, and to build the first city railway. He also founded Pacific Gas, which after merging with Edison Electric, became PG&E, today the largest supplier of natural gas and electricity on the Pacific coast. Tilden details well the human body. Here, muscles flair, and men of impressive proportions perform a heroic task, actually the everyday work of laboring men. Unfamiliar with the labor of an iron worker, Tilden was impressed by seeing men using the stamp press. My grandfather, who with Union Iron Works at the time, could easily have served as a model for Tilden classic work. Tilden's two other bronze works along Market street were built earlier: The Admission Day Monument (Market and Montgomery Streets), and the California Volunteers (Market and Dolores Streets). The earthquake caused the reflecting pool of the Mechanics Monument to crack and drain, but the monument survived while buildings around it collapsed. Tilden's monuments provided inspiration for the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake. In these photos, someone had cleverly provided a worker a bicycle helmet. Leave a Comment Website: http://www.sandowmuseum.com/monument.html
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| | | | S.F. Sights: 1906 Earthquake Survivors: Admission Day Monument | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Douglas Tilden, a California native university trained in art, was commissioned to build 3 Market street monuments, including The Pioneers, The Mechanics, and The Admissions Day monument. Tilden is often regarded a the "Michelangelo of the West" for the muscular realism in his bronze statues. Tilden is also known for being deaf. Born in 1860, Tilden lost his hearing from scarlet fever at age 5, but with the help of wealthy parents, was educated at the California school for the deaf, and taught art there after he graduated. Later he learned more about sculpture from another deaf sculptor during a trip through France. The Admission Day monument, located at the intersection of Market, Post, and Montgomery Streets, is actually a collaboration with famed Bay Area architect, James Phelan. This monument commemorates the entry of California into the union of the United States in 1850. Leave a Comment Website: http://deafness.about.com/cs/deafhistoricpeople/p/douglastilden.htm Other Contact: http://www.verlang.com/sfbay0004
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| | | | S.F. Sights: California street | | | | | |
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