Temperance fountains in the United States Temperance fountain

muddied , ill-tasting drinking water encouraged many americans drink alcohol health purposes, temperance groups constructed public drinking fountains throughout united states following civil war. national woman s christian temperance union (nwctu) s organizing convention of 1874 encouraged attendees erect fountains in places had come from. nwctu advocated public temperance fountains means discourage people entering drinking establishment refreshment.

cast-stone statues of hebe marketed use in temperance fountains. in new york city, james fountain in union square park temperance fountain figure of charity empties jug of water, aided child; donated daniel willis james , sculpted adolf donndorf. in washington dc temperance fountain donated city in 1882 temperance crusader henry d. cogswell. fountain 1 of series of fountains designed , commissioned in belief easy access cool drinking water keep people consuming alcohol. under stone canopy words faith, hope, charity, , temperance chiseled. atop canopy life-sized heron, , centerpiece pair of entwined heraldic scaly dolphins. originally, visitors supposed freely drink ice water flowing dolphins snouts brass cup attached fountain , overflow collected trough horses, city tired of having replenish ice in reservoir underneath base , disconnected supply pipes. other cogswell fountains include 1 still standing in new york city s tompkins square park.

these grandiose statues not received communities placed. washington, dc s temperance fountain has been called city s ugliest statue , spurred city councils across country set fine arts commissions screen such gifts.

destruction of cogswell s fountain in san francisco, 1894. san francisco call.

although d.c. statue survived unscathed, california , market street, san francisco statue of henry d. cogswell , fountain pulled down on new year s eve night of 1893-1894 lynch party of self-professed art lovers including gelett burgess (who subsequently fired job @ university of california @ berkeley), cogswell s 1879 ben franklin statue , temperance fountain in washington square, san francisco remains unscathed day. 1 in rockville, connecticut, thrown shenipsic lake. in dubuque, iowa, statue of cogswell sat in washington park pulled down group of vandals in 1900 , buried under ground of planned sidewalk. next day sidewalk poured , object entombed. however, when new sidewalks laid, statue not found.

simon benson, oregon lumberman, tee-totaler wanted discourage workers drinking alcohol in middle of day. in 1912, benson gave city of portland usd $10,000 installation of twenty bronze drinking fountains. of march 2014, these fountains, known benson bubblers , continue used functional public drinking devices in downtown portland.