| Benjamin Franklin | |
| Italic Title: | no |
| Artist: | Unknown |
| Type: | Sculpture |
| Material: | Sculpture: Bronze Base: Granite |
| Subject: | Benjamin Franklin |
| Metric Unit: | m |
| Imperial Unit: | ft |
| City: | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Coordinates: | 37.8008°N -122.41°W |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 13 |
Benjamin Franklin - also known as the Benjamin Franklin Memorial, Benjamin Franklin Statue and Cogswell Historical Monument[1] - is an outdoor sculpture in Washington Square, San Francisco, California.[2]
The smaller-than-life-size bronze statue of American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, by an unknown sculptor, stands upon an ornate granite base, that contains a time capsule. There are inscriptions on all four sides of the base. Spigots once dispensed drinking water into three stone basins. The spigots have been removed.
Created as a Temperance fountain by crusader Henry D. Cogswell, the monument was originally installed at Kearny and Market Streets in 1879. In 1904, it was relocated to Washington Square.[3]
In 1979, 100 years after its creation, a time capsule that was hidden in the statue's base was removed and opened, and contained Cogswell's personal papers. A new time capsule, to be opened in 2079, was installed.[4]
The statue is visible behind Richard Brautigan and Michaela Le Grand on the original cover of Brautigan's 1967 novel Trout Fishing in America.