Little Giant Gold Hydrant

A female friend of mine abbreviates everything and sends me her message.
Female Friend: «Happy VD, Manabu!»
Me: «Thanks! I’ll be careful!» on Valentine’s Day.
Then, last month,
Female Friend: «I love DP!»
Me: What!!! What did she mean? Oh yeah,
«That’s great! I love Dolores Park, too!»
When I walked along Dolores St near the park, I noticed that most of the houses on the eastern side of Dolores St. were Edwardian and the ones on the western side of the street were Victorian. No wonder. Most of the Victorian houses on the eastern side of the street in Mission District were burned down when San Francisco had 1906 earthquake and the fire. Mostly because of the fire.
Then, why can I see some Victorian houses on the «both side» of Dolores St. near 20^th St. I had this question for a long time.
The mystery has been solved. The answer is «Little Giant Gold Hydrant»
Little Giant Gold Hydrant is located on the south-​western corner of Dolores Park, near the «Church and 20^th St.» Muni J Line station. Little Giant is like Michael J.Fox. Short but great
The 1906 earthquake was so strong that many hydrants failed and the fire was still burning on the next day. On the April 19^th, 1906, a young boy named Paul Belser could not go to University of California due to the quake destruction so he decided to help refugees move to Twin Peaks. When he was back from Twin Peaks, he and his friends found that this hydrant on the corner of Church St and 20^th St. had water. A miracle.
At that time, even the firefighters thought there was no water available in this area so they abandoned a steam engine on the corner of 20^th St and Guerrero St. Paul and his friends picked up the hose and came to this hydrant. They ripped the doors of a house off and use them as shields from the heat. They stopped the fire at 20^th St and Valencia St.
Isn’t it great to have not only smart but also brave students in the Bay Area?
Since then, this hydrant is painted gold on April 18^th every year. People come here around 7:00a.m., then use a gold paint spray to appreciate this source of the miracle.
When I visited this Little Giant, it was a beautiful day. The view of the city was spectacular then I thought, «How did people feel when they were watching this beautiful city was burning? It must have been really painful.» And when I touched Little Giant, I could almost hear in my head what Paul had heard from his friends.
«Hey! There’s a hydrant on Church with water in it. If we can get this hose up there, we can flight the fire!»
Or am I just using headphones too much?

A little city landmark that I stumbled upon while searching for places to visit in San Francisco. It wasn’t much but it’s interesting to see this shimmering gold hydrant standing out in the corner of the street.

How could this local landmark not be a 5 star!

To most people, fire hydrants are a nuisance. They crush little glimmer of hope when you see an empty spot while looking for street parking. This hydrant, though, is a gem that deserves all the honor it can get.
The Little Giant Gold Hydrant has always eluded me on Dolores Park Sundays. Only recently did I spot it out the corner of my eye and rushed my friends over to check it out.
A beautiful story of perseverance and hope accompanies this guy on a plaque. The font is a bit hard to read and will require some squatting, but it’s well worth it.
The gold color beautifully shimmers during sunset. As of 10÷27÷13, it’s wearing a funky little coconut hat. For saving one of the most beautiful cities in the world, this guy deserves all the recognition he gets.

Its gold, it’s a savior, its located at one of the greatest parks around. Read up on the history and take a few moments to idolize it. Do it now!

When I came across this while searching Local Flavor, I had to check it out.
Such a great back story (
) and well worth a visit, especially since it’s so close to the Bench in Dolores Park. (
).
I absolutely love that they continue to honor it annually. Amazing.

A little piece of San Francisco 1906 Earthquake and Fire right next to Dolores Park! Take a little bit of time from your park day and check out this Golden Fire Hydrant. Why Gold, you ask? Well because during the aftermath of the earthquake fire was rampaging the city. This hydrant was used to stop the fire from getting past 20^th St. Every April 18^th this hydrant is given a fresh coat of Gold paint. In 2012 it was accidentally painted Silver, whoops!

A magical fire hydrant, to be sure. A must see. It’s a great history lesson /​anecdote.

This is probably the most-​celebrated fire hydrant in the world. The Little Giant deserves its accolades for doing its part to keep the historic buildings in Noe Valley, the Mission, and the rest of this side of the city, preserved after the 1906 post-​earthquake fires engulfed much of the rest of San Francisco.
There is an annual early morning ceremony here on the anniversary of the earthquake (usually on April 18 or 19), where the hydrant receives flowers with the fire department on hand. Along with the Lotta’s Fountain ceremony, it is a great reminder of San Francisco’s history and resilience. Next time you are in Dolores Park, swing by and give the hydrant a hearty thanks, but out of respect, keep your dog at bay.

Best fire hydrant in SF! Thanks Little Giant, we owe you BIG!