San Francisco Renames Street in Honor of Beloved Alligator

San Francisco just gave one of its best-known residents a send-off usually reserved for musical legends and elected officials—with a street now bearing his name. Roughly 2,000 people gathered Sunday in Golden Gate Park to honor Claude, the albino alligator who spent 17 years greeting visitors at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The memorial, billed as "Claude Forever: A Celebration of Life," ended with Music Concourse Drive ceremonially rechristened "Claude the Alligator Way." State and city officials joined fans for eulogies, brass-band hymns, and a New Orleans-style second line around the concourse. Among the other interesting features of the memorial was an almost life-sized Claude-shaped loaf of sourdough bread, the New York Times reports.

Claude, who died Dec. 2 of liver cancer shortly after turning 30, drew an estimated 22 million visitors over his tenure, according to the academy. Speakers including Assembly Member Catherine Stefani and state Sen. Scott Wiener cast the rare white alligator as a kind of city mirror—unconventional, noticeable, and embraced because of it. Mourners, some in funeral veils and Claude T-shirts, lined up to sign a giant alligator tribute and pose with stuffed Claude toys. Notes left for him ranged from the simple—"You are the coolest reptile ever"—to reflections on how his difference helped people feel seen.

Academy spokesperson Jeanette Peach said the institution had never held a memorial of this scale for an animal in its collection, which still includes about 60,000 live creatures. Claude, born on an alligator farm in Louisiana before being sold to a Florida alligator park and zoo, was purchased by the academy in 2008. Claude's remains will join the academy's scientific holdings, but his public role—part mascot, part quiet ambassador—appeared to loom larger. "This city of misfits and originals recognized him as one of our own," Stefani said. "His difference wasn't hidden or corrected. It was honored."