Lotta’s fountain is probably one of the best known landmarks and pieces of public art in the city. It is also the oldest surviving monument in San Francisco, Lotta’s fountain was donated by singer/dancer Charlotte Mignon (Lotta) Crabtree in 1875. Lotta began her career as a young girl performing for miners in the gold country and went on to become one of America’s most popular stage performers. The fountain was cast in Philadelphia, shipped to San Francisco on an 18,000 mile sea journey around Cape Horn reassembled and presented to the citizens of San Francisco.
After the 1906 earthquake, the fountain, which was one of the few remaining structures downtown, became a meeting point for many people trying to reassemble their families. The city holds a ceremony here every April 18th at 5:12 a.m., the moment of the mainshock, attended by earthquake survivors and dignitaries.
In 1998 the fountain went through a complete restoration. The iron had corroded so badly from the inside out, that the fountain had become a danger. It took four months and $160,000.
This plaque was added later.
Chicken Tetrazzini was named after Luisa Tetrazzini, the famous Italian coloratura soprano opera singer. In those days it was common for chefs at great hotels to name their dishes after celebrities. It is not known for sure, who and where the dish was named, but as a San Franciscan I am partial to the story that Palace Hotel Chef Ernest Arbogast created Chicken Tetrazzini in 1904 when Tetrazzini sang to great acclaim in San Francisco and was featured in daily articles in the San Francisco Chronicle. Or maybe Arbogast gave the dish its official name after the 1908 New York debut when Tetrazzini had a second triumph in San Francisco.
Another possibility is that the dish was premiered after Tetrazzini gave her famous outdoor Christmas Eve concert in 1910 before an estimated quarter of a million people at Lotta’s Fountain. That concert came about when two New York impresarios began feuding over which controlled her New York opera contract. When they attempted to get an injunction to prevent her singing in any theater until their legal squabble was settled, Tetrazzini, who loved the worshipful audiences in San Francisco, headed to the City vowing to sing in the streets if she had to. Although no injunction was issued, she carried out her promise with the open air concert that has become legendary.
