At the corner of 20th and Church streets, at the top of Dolores Park, stands a small fire hydrant painted gold. As the San Francisco Standard tells the story, the water mains failed after the 1906 earthquake, but this hydrant still drew water and kept the Mission District from burning.
What the plaque says
A memorial plaque near the hydrant reads, in part: “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.” A 2023 city media advisory said the hydrant “is said to have been the sole water source used by thousands of volunteers responsible for saving the south side of the Mission District.”
The yearly repainting
The Standard reports that the hydrant gets spray-painted gold once a year. Citing the Examiner, it says dentist and historian Doc Bulloch started the ritual in the 1960s. In 2012, the paint buyer accidentally bought silver and didn't notice in the dim early light until a coat was on. The hydrant was repainted gold the same morning.
How the day works
The city's Department of Emergency Management described the 2023 schedule. A commemoration starts at 5:12 a.m., the minute the quake struck, at Lotta's Fountain on Market Street. Afterward, a procession goes to the hydrant for the repainting.
Still on duty
The Standard says the hydrant is still in service. After 1906, the city built the Auxiliary Water Supply System, and hydrant tops are color-coded by source. Black tops are fed by the Twin Peaks Reservoir, red by the Ashbury Street tank and blue by the Jones Street tank.