Waco, Texas

Kate Friend Fountain Functional Again from WCCC.TV - City of Waco on Vimeo.

The fountain now called the Kate Friend Fountain in Waco, Texas is actually a National Humane Alliance Fountain given to the city way back in 1909. Friend came from Alabama in 1869 and became actively involved in the Waco community founding the Waco Women's Club, the parks system, the Community Chest and an animal shelter. The Waco Tribune reported that she had paid for the fountain, but the fountain was donated by the NHA. Perhaps she was the one who requested the fountain for Waco or maybe paid for some of the costs surrounding the installation.

In the 1930s the fountain was moved to the animal shelter on Circle Drive and in 1982 it was restored through the efforts of Frances Sturgis and a gift from William Darden and returned to its original location at City Hall and the Heritage Square renovation. As you can see in the video above, the city's parks and recreation department has now done a remarkable job in fixing some plumbing issues and getting the fountain working again.

Congratulations to Waco for preserving this unique piece of local and national significance.

For some of the newspaper clippings, click here.

For more on the National Humane Alliance Fountains click here.