History of fountains in the United States

For the general history of fountains, see Fountain. For drinking fountains, see Drinking fountains in the United States.

The first decorative fountain in the United States was dedicated in City Hall Park, in New York City, in 1842. Early American fountains were used to distribute clean drinking water, had little ornamentation, and copied European styles.

In the 20th century, American fountains often ceased to distribute drinking water; they became purely decorative, and were designed to honor events or individuals, as works of urban sculpture or to imitate nature. In the late 20th century, the musical fountain, where the dance of water is controlled by a computer and is accompanied by lights and music, became a form of public entertainment in Las Vegas and other American cities.

1800-1900

Fourth of July in Centre Square (c.1809-12), John Lewis Krimmel, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

Philadelphia built the first citywide water system in the United States, which began operation in January 1801. Underground aqueducts carried drinking water from the Schuylkill River, and twin steam pumps propelled it into a water tower at Centre Square, now the site of Philadelphia City Hall. Scottish-born architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe designed the system along with the Greek Revival pumping house/water tower.[1] Centre Square was converted from a meadow into a public park, and an ornamental fountain was added, 18081809. Sculptor William Rush carved a wooden statue, Allegory of the Schuylkill River (better known as Water Nymph with Bittern), to adorn the Centre Square fountain.[2]

The first monumental fountains in the United States were built to mark the termini of aqueducts bringing fresh drinking water into New York City. A cholera epidemic in 1832 and the disastrous Great Fire of New York, in 1835, persuaded the government of New York City to build the Croton aqueduct to bring abundant fresh water into the city. The Croton Dam, aqueduct, and reservoir were finished in 1841, bringing water 40 miles from the Croton River to New York City. In commemoration, the first fountain in the U.S., the Croton Fountain in City Hall Park, was turned on on October 14, 1842 and jetted water 50 feet into the air.[3] A second fountain in Union Square was also connected to the system.

The first fountains were very simple, without sculpture, and simply spouted water up into the air. They no longer exist, though vestiges of the original water system remain.[4]

In 1848, Boston completed its own new water system, an aqueduct from Lake Cochituate 20 miles (32 km) to the Boston Common, where the first fountain was located. A parade and festival were held to mark the fountain's opening on October 25, 1848. The ceremony included schoolchildren singing an ode written by American poet James Russell Lowell for the event. The ode began:

"My name is Water: I have sped through strange dark ways untried before, By pure desire of friendship led, Cochituate's Ambassador: He sends four gifts by me, Long life, health, peace, and purity."[5]

In contrast to the first American fountains, which were simple and functional, in the 1850s, more decorative fountains were constructed as part of a nationwide effort to beautify American cities by building parks, squares, and fountains inspired by European models.

Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, New York (1873)

For example, the Bethesda Fountain was created to adorn New York City's new Central Park, which project had been begun in 1858 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, to create a vast natural landscape in the heart of the city. In the middle of the park was one formal element: a mall adorned with elm trees and a terrace with views over a lake. In 1863, the park commissioners decided to build a monumental fountain for the central basin in the middle of the mall. The sculptor was a little-known American artist, Emma Stebbins, whose brother was the head of the New York Stock Exchange and President of the Board of Commissioners, who lobbied on her behalf. Her fountain was based on the biblical verse from the Gospel of Saint John, in which an angel touched, or "troubled", the waters of the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, giving it healing powers. She wrote about the fountain: "We have no less healing, comfort and purification freely sent to us through the blessed gift of pure, wholesome water, which to all the countless homes of this great city comes like an angel visitant."[6] It was criticized by some writers when it was opened in 1873: the New York Times called it "a feebly-pretty idealess thing",[7] but gradually the fountain became a popular favorite, featured in many films and in recent times in Tony Kushner's play Angels in America.[8]

1900-2000

Fountains built in the United States between 1900 and 1950 mostly followed European models and classical styles. For example:

After World War II, fountains in the United States became more varied in form. Some, like the Vaillancourt Fountain in San Francisco (1971), were pure works of sculpture. The modernist French-Canadian Armand Vaillancourt built his monumental fountain at Embarcadero Plaza in San Francisco in a cubist style, though it was intended as a political statement - the official title is "Quebec Libre!", and the artist was arrested at the time of the opening for painting political slogans on his own fountain.

Other fountains, like the Frankin Roosevelt Memorial Waterfall (1997), by architect Lawrence Halprin, were designed as landscapes to illustrate themes. This fountain is part of the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington D.C., which has four outdoor "rooms" illustrating FDR's Presidency. Each "room" contains a cascade or waterfall; the cascade in the third room illustrates the turbulence of the years of the World War II. Halprin wrote at an early stage of the design; "the whole environment of the memorial becomes sculpture: to touch, feel, hear and contact - with all the senses."[9]

One of the most unusual modern American fountains is the Civil Rights Memorial (1989) at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, designed by Maya Lin, the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. The Civil Rights Memorial fountain features a low elliptical black granite table, with a thin surface of water flowing over the surface, over the inscribed names of civil rights leaders who lost their lives, illustrating the quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.: "...Until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Visitors are invited to touch the names through the water. "The water is as slow as I could get it," Lin wrote. "It remains very still until you touch it. Your hand carves ripples, which transform and alter the piece, just as reading the words completes the piece."[10]

Significant fountains in the United States

See also Drinking fountains in the United States.
Name Image Location Architect(s) Sculptor(s) Year completed Notes
Bartholdi Fountain
Fountain of Light and Water
United States Botanical Gardens,
Washington, D.C.
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Philadelphia, 1876
Washington, D.C., 1878
Exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
First fountain in the United States illuminated by gaslight.
Bethesda Fountain Central Park,
Manhattan, New York City
Calvert Vaux Emma Stebbins 1873
"Angel of the Waters"
Memorial to soldiers killed and wounded in the American Civil War.
Buckingham Fountain Chicago, Illinois Edward H. Bennett Marcel F. Loyau 1927
The central jet shoots up 150 feet (46 m).
Centennial Fountain
Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Fountain
Chicago, Illinois Lohan Associates 1989
The jet shoots out into Lake Michigan.
Civil Rights Memorial Montgomery, Alabama Maya Lin 1989
Water spills over a stylized table inscribed with a list of significant events in the Civil Rights Movement.
Coleman Memorial Fountain Sacramento, California Ralph Stackpole 1927
Columbus Fountain
Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain
Union Station,
Washington, D.C.
Daniel Burnham Lorado Taft 1912
"The Spirit of Discovery" evokes the figurehead of a ship.
Corning Fountain Bushnell Park,
Hartford, Connecticut
J. Massey Rhind 1899
The hart (deer) is an allegorical figure of the City of Hartford.
Court of Neptune Fountain Thomas Jefferson Building,
Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
John L. Smithmeyer
Paul J. Pelz
Edward Pearce Casey
Roland Hinton Perry
Albert Weinert (relief sculpture)
1895
Thomas Jefferson Building
Depew Memorial Fountain Indianapolis, Indiana Henry Bacon Karl Bitter
Alexander Stirling Calder
1919
Bitter's maquette for the fountain.
Following Bitter's 1915 death, Calder completed the sculpture work.
Donahue Memorial Fountain
The Mechanics Monument
San Francisco, California Willis Polk Douglas Tilden 1901
The fountain survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Dupont Circle Fountain
Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Dupont Memorial Fountain
Dupont Circle,
Washington, D.C.
Henry Bacon Daniel Chester French 1921
Fort Worth Water Gardens Fort Worth, Texas Philip Johnson
John Burgee
1974
Visitors can walk within the fountain.
Fountain of Eternal Life
War Memorial Fountain
Cleveland, Ohio Marshall Fredericks 1964
"Peace Arising from the Flames of War"
Fountain of the Centaurs and The Signing of the Treaty Jefferson City, Missouri Karl Bitter and A.A. Weinman 1927
Fountain of the Great Lakes Art Institute of Chicago Garden,
Chicago, Illinois
Lorado Taft 1913
Fountain Hills Fountain Fountain Lake,
Fountain Hills, Arizona
1970 World's tallest fountain when built, the jet shoots up 562 feet (171 m).
Now world's fourth-tallest fountain, and second-tallest in the United States.
Fountain of the Rings Centennial Olympic Park,
Atlanta, Georgia
EDAW, Inc.
William Hobbs, Ltd.
1996
Created for the 1996 Olympic Games.
Fountain of Time Chicago, Illinois Lorado Taft 1922
"Father Time"
Fountains of Bellagio Bellagio Resort,
Las Vegas, Nevada
WET (Water Entertainment Technologies) 1998
The fountain and light display is choreographed to music.
Gateway Geyser Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park,
East St. Louis, Illinois
1995
Tallest fountain in the United States, and second-tallest in the world.
Located on the opposite side of the Mississippi River from the Gateway Arch, its jet can shoot up 630 ft (192 m), the same height as the arch.
LaFayette Fountain Lafayette, Indiana Lorado Taft 1882 This was the first of Taft's many fountains.
Littlefield Fountain University of Texas at Austin,
Austin, Texas
Morison & Walker
Paul Cret
Pompeo Coppini
Amanda Waldine Tauch
1933
Longwood Gardens Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Open Air Theatre, 1914
Italian Water Garden, 1927
Main Fountain Garden, 1931
Fountain show in the Open Air Theatre.
Meeting of the Waters Fountain[11]
The Wedding of the Waters
Aloe Plaza,
Saint Louis, Missouri
Carl Milles 1940 Detail.
National World War II Memorial National Mall,
Washington, D.C.
Friedrich St. Florian Raymond Kaskey
James Peniston
2004
From above.
Jesse Clyde Nichols Memorial Fountain Country Club Plaza,
Kansas City, Missouri
McKim, Mead & White Henri-Léon Gréber 1910
1960
The fountain was created for "Harbor Hill," the Clarence Mackay estate in Roslyn, New York.
Four larger-than-life equestrian figures represent great rivers: "The Rhine," "The Seine," "The Volga," and "The Mississippi."
It was disassembled, transported, and installed in Kansas City in 1960.
Piazza d'Italia New Orleans, Louisiana Charles Williard Moore
Perez Architects
1978
At night.
Prometheus Fountain Rockefeller Center,
Manhattan, New York City
Raymond Hood Paul Manship 1933
With ice skaters.
Pulitzer Fountain Grand Army Plaza,
5th Avenue & Central Park South,
Manhattan, New York City
Thomas Hastings Karl Bitter
Isidore Konti
Karl Gruppe
1916
"Pomona"
Following Bitter's 1915 death, Konti and Gruppe completed the sculpture work.
Rackham Memorial Fountain Detroit Zoo,
Royal Oak, Michigan
Corrado Parducci 1939
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial West Potomac Park,
Washington, D.C.
Lawrence Halprin 1997
Russell Ager Memorial Fountain Detroit, Michigan Henry Bacon Daniel Chester French 1921
The Sciences and The Arts Fountains Jefferson City, Missouri Robert Ingersoll Aitken 1924
Scott Memorial Fountain Belle Isle Park,
Detroit, Michigan
Cass Gilbert Herbert Adams 1925
The lowest basin has a diameter of 510 ft (160 m).
Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument Indianapolis, Indiana Bruno Schmitz Rudolf Schwarz
Frederick MacMonnies
George Brewster
Nicholas Geiger
1888
"War," designed by Frederick William MacMonnies, carved by Rudolf Schwarz.
Swann Memorial Fountain
Fountain of the Three Rivers
Logan Circle,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Wilson Eyre Alexander Stirling Calder 1924
"Allegorical Figure of the Schuylkill River"
Thatcher Memorial Fountain[12] City Park,
Denver, Colorado
J.R.M. Morrison Lorado Taft 1918
Tyler Davidson Fountain Fountain Square,
Cincinnati, Ohio
August von Kreling
Ferdinand von Miller
Fritz von Miller
Ferdinand Freiherr von Miller
1871
"The Genius of Water"
The fountain was designed by August von Kreling in the 1840s for King Ludwig of Bavaria, but never built. It was cast in Germany in 1870, and shipped to the United States.[13]
Unisphere Flushing Meadows Park,
Queens, New York City
Gilmore D. Clarke 1964
The Unisphere was the centerpiece of the 1964 New York World's Fair.
Vaillancourt Fountain
"Quebec Libre!"
Justin Herman Plaza,
San Francisco, California
Armand Vaillancourt 1971
The plaza from above.

See also

Bibliography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fountains in the United States.

Sources and Citations

  1. "Benjamin Latrobe Designs the first American Steam-Powered Municipal Waterworks," from This Week in History, January 2012, The Schiller Institute.
  2. Head of the Nymph, from Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
  3. Ric Burns and James Sanders, New York, an Illustrated History, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1999, pg. 78-79.
  4. Marilyn Symmes with Maria Ann Conelli, "Fountains as Refreshment", in the collection Fountains- Splash and Spectacle, Water and Design from the Renaissance to the Present. Thames and Hudson, London, 1998.
  5. Quoted by Marilynn Symmes and Maria Ann Conelli in Fountains, Splash and Spectacle. Pg. 45.
  6. Charlotte Streifer Rubinstein, 'American Women Sculptors: A History of Women Working in Three Dimensions, Chicago, 1990, pg. 63-66. Cited in "The Bethesda Fountain in New York City", article by Andrew Scott Dolkart in Fountains- Splash and Spectacle, Water and Design from the Renaissance to the Present, by Marilynn Symmes.
  7. "The Bethesda Fountain", The New York Times, June 1, 1873.
  8. Tony Kushner - Angels in America part two, Perestroika, New York, 1994, pp. 143-146. Cited by Andrew Scott Dolkart in Fountains - Splash and Spectacle.
  9. Halprin, Lawrence, Notebooks 1959-1971, Cambridge Massachusetts (1972)
  10. Zinnser, William, "I Realized Her Tears Were Becoming Part of The Memorial (Maya Lin), Smithsonian 22, no. 6. September 1991 pp. 32-43.
  11. Meeting of the Waters Fountain, from City of St. Louis.
  12. Thatcher Memorial Fountain from Public Art Archive.
  13. Tyler Davidson Fountain, from SIRIS.
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