Logan Square
Philadelphia, PA
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
The Swann Memorial Fountain (also known as the Fountain of the Three Rivers) is by Alexander Stirling Calder (who has shown up on these pages before) and designed with architect Wilson Eyre.
The fountain memorializes Dr. Wilson Cary Swann, founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society.
Calder created large Native American figures to symbolize the area’s major streams, the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon.
The mature woman holding the neck of a swan stands for the Schuylkill River
Sculpted frogs and turtles spout water toward the 50-foot geyser in the center, though typically the geyser only spouts 25 ft. The use of swans is an obvious pun on Dr. Swann’s name.
The young girl leaning on her side represents the Wissahickon Creek
The male figure, reaching above his head to grasp his bow as a large pike sprays water over him, symbolizes the Delaware River.
In late 19th century Philadelphia it became all the rage among the reform-minded elite to donate curbside fountains to help bring fresh water to the city. Groups like the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, Women’s Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (WPSPCA), and the Philadelphia Fountain Society paid to install and maintain public drinking fountains for – as the Fountain Society’s mission stated – “the health and refreshment of the inhabitants of Philadelphia, and for the benefit of the animals used by them.”
Frogs and turtles also spray water into the fountain
Dr. Wilson Cary Swann put the need plainly in a speech to supporters in 1870: “The suffering caused by the absence of water in our streets is beyond description.”
In the early days of the Fountain Society that dual appeal was made explicit for benefactors: “The greatest enemy to temperance, morality, and virtue is more or less associated with thirst, ” said Swann in that same speech. “Let these fountains be erected at convenient distances along our streets, and the temptation to resort to drinking saloons will soon be abated and, in time, abolished.”
The crossover appeal among Philadelphians interested in alleviating animal cruelty, promoting temperance, and improving public health resulted in an explosion of fountain installation well into the early 20th century.
According to Fountain Society records, in 1880 there were 50 fountains operating 180 days per year, serving an estimated 3 million people and 1 million horses and other animals.
Though the horse fountain-building fad faded as the 20th century continued, new ones were installed throughout the city into the 1940s.
