Location: Wellesley Hills, MA, USA
A drinking fountain was installed in the late 19th century at the intersection of Washington Street and Worcester Road in front of the Elm Park Hotel. The fountain also offered a large trough to quench the thirst of horses and visiting stage coaches. In 1928 the town purchased Elm Park with the intention of building a tower to house a clock and bell given to the town in 1874 (the tower was named in memory of Isaac Sprague).
Although the cast iron drinking fountain/trough at Elm Park was manufactured by Henry F. Jenks, a competitive and better known iron foundry was J. W. Fiske Ironworks which shares the same surname as one of Wellesley’s founders, Joseph Emery Fiske. I have failed to find a common ancestor which would connect the two Josephs’ genealogy.
The years 1914 and 1915 saw an epidemic of the horse disease Glanders in several sections of the Atlantic coast states, and many cities closed their existing trough/drinking fountains, as it was believed that the disease was spread by the common use of bowls or troughs. Drivers were asked, or required by ordinance, to carry with each horse-drawn vehicle a pail for watering horses. The fountain remained to provide facilities for filling these pails.
Henry F. Jenks’ drinking fountain for man and beast was identified as #3 in his foundry catalog. The fountain manufactured in cast iron consisted of a solid base with an annular channel for use as a dog trough. The 4ft high fluted pedestal with attic base hosted arched panels for dedication or bas-relief enrichment. A movable panel in one side offered access to plumbing.
A horse trough, 56 inches in diameter, in the form of a basin (at 4 feet 3 inches above ground level it was a comfortable height for horses to drink with ease) had the capacity to hold a barrel of water (42 gallons).
The centre of the basin contained a jamb from which dolphin mascarons spouted water and drinking cups were attached. Waste water was directed to the dog trough at street level. This design prevented contagious distemper.
The fountain was provided with self closing faucets and the pipes within were constructed to resist freezing in cold temperatures. Fountains were supplied both with and without an ice box attachment as desired. An ice box was placed near the sidewalk underground, which was provided with coils of tin lined pipe on which ice was placed to cool the water flowing through the coils to the outlet of the fountain.
The highly decorated finial with floriated relief and studded band terminated in an orb. The structure was also offered with a gas lantern extension.
Glossary:
- Annular; circular, ring shaped
- Attic base, a column base with two rings
- Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
- Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
- Fluted Shaft, a long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
- Jamb, a projecting vertical post containing sculpture
- Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
- Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
Memorial Drinking Fountains 