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Mission District in San Francisco City and County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

The Golden Hydrant

 
 
The Golden Hydrant Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2018
1. The Golden Hydrant Marker
Inscription. Though the water mains were broken and dry on April 18, 1906 yet from this GREENBERG hydrant on the following night there came a stream of water allowing the firemen to save the Mission District.

DEDICATED to Chief Dennis Sullivan and the men who fought the GREAT FIRE and to the spirit of the PEOPLE of San Francisco who regardless of their losses brought our city from its ruins to be host to the world with their 1915 Panama Pacific Exposition and the building of our Civic Center.

May their love and devotion to this city be an inspiration for all to follow and their motto "The City that knows how" a light to lead all future generations.

Presented to San Francisco by the Upper Noe Valley Neighborhood Council, April 18, 1966
 
Erected 1966 by Upper Noe Valley Neighborhood Council.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Disasters. A significant historical date for this entry is April 18, 1906.
 
Location. 37° 45.479′ N, 122° 25.677′ W. Marker is in San Francisco, California, in San Francisco City and County. It is in the Mission District. Marker is at the intersection of Church Street and 20th Street, on the right when traveling north on Church Street. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: San Francisco CA 94114, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Miguel Hidalgo (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Mexico's Liberty Bell (A Replica) (approx. 0.2 miles away); Maxime Le Forestier: la Maison Bleue / the Blue House (approx.
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¼ mile away); Randy Shilts (approx. 0.4 miles away); Harvey Milk (approx. 0.4 miles away); Gertrude Stein (approx. 0.4 miles away); Christine Jorgensen (approx. 0.4 miles away); Bayard Rustin (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Francisco.
 
Regarding The Golden Hydrant. What is notable on this marker is what it does not say - nowhere does the word "earthquake" appear. Yet it was this unmentioned earthquake on April 18, 1906, whose estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 shook the city with such devastating consequences, and it was this earthquake that was the proximate cause for the numerous fires. The shaking and the fires combined destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the city at the time.
 
Also see . . .
1. The Golden Fire Hydrant (Atlas Obscura). (Submitted on July 18, 2018.)
2. 1906 San Francisco earthquake (Wikipedia). Excerpt:
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme). ... Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days. More than 3,000 people died, and over 80% of the city was destroyed. The event is remembered as the deadliest earthquake
The Golden Hydrant and Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2018
2. The Golden Hydrant and Marker
in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high on the lists of American disasters.
(Submitted on July 18, 2018.) 

3. The Story Behind San Francisco’s Golden Fire Hydrant That Could. 2022 article by Sohie Bearman in The San Francisco Standard. It begins:
Every year on April 18, the anniversary of the devastating 1906 earthquake-fire that destroyed so much of San Francisco, relatives of survivors, city firefighters and lawmakers gather around a golden object in the Mission District—a fire hydrant, to be exact.

This hydrant may be small, but it’s mighty. As the story goes, when all other hydrants failed in 1906, this one drew on a water source and single handedly kept the Mission District from burning down.
(Submitted on April 14, 2023.) 
 
The Golden Hydrant Marker - wide view, looking south up Church Street. image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2018
3. The Golden Hydrant Marker - wide view, looking south up Church Street.
The Golden Hydrant Marker - looking northeast image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Andrew Ruppenstein, July 14, 2018
4. The Golden Hydrant Marker - looking northeast
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 21, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 18, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 511 times since then and 44 times this year. It was the Marker of the Week April 16, 2023. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on July 18, 2018, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.

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Mar. 28, 2024