Details
Title Drinking fountain, Washington Square. [graphic].
Date ca. 1870
Physical Description 1 photographic print: albumen on stereograph mount; 9 x 18 cm. (3.5 x 7 in.)
Description View of the first public drinking fountain erected by the Philadelphia Fountain Society in the spring of 1869 on the sidewalk at 7th and Walnut Streets near Philadelphia's Washington Square. An eagle with outstretched wings perches on a tablet at the top of the fountain inscribed: Philadelphia Fountain Society, Instituted A.D. 1869. Below the tablet are an upper and lower water troughs for the use of horses and dogs. A high wrought iron fence separates the trees and benches of the park from the sidewalk. The Society paid William H. Radford $70.00 for his work on the fountain's plumbing; $100 to Robert Wood & Co. iron workers for making the eagle; and $242.75 to Broders Walsh & Co. for their stonework.
Notes Philadelphia Fountain Society records at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Manuscript collection #2045 Fairmount Park Art Association, boxes 49-50.)
Reproduced in The Print and Photograph Department of the Library Company of Philadelphia's Center City Philadelphia in the 19th century (Portsmouth, N.H.: Arcadia Publishing, 2006), p. 119.
Arcadia caption text: This c. 1870 view subtly captures a defining element of Washington Square. The square, bounded by Sixth, Eighth, Walnut, and Spruce streets, was known for its superior variety of trees. The grounds, once a potter’s field, had been transformed by the mid-19th century into a city arboretum of over 60 species. The square also held the distinction of being the site of the first public drinking fountain. Erected by the Philadelphia Fountain Society in the spring of 1869 at Seventh and Walnut streets, the fountain contained an eagle by the prominent Philadelphia ironwork firm, Robert Wood & Co., as well as provided water troughs for horses and dogs.
Digitization funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (PW-506-19-10), 2010-2012.
Subject Philadelphia Fountain Society.
Drinking fountains -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia.
Geographic subject Washington Square (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Walnut Street (Philadelphia, Pa.) -- 700 block.
Genre Albumen prints -- 1860-1880.
Stereographs -- 1860-1880.
Location Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| stereo - unidentified - Parks & squares [P.9644.29]
Accession number P.9644.29