Columbia, SC Fountains

The picture above and the following story by Joey Holleman are from the April 26 edition of The State - South Carolina's Homepage.

100-year-old animal fountain will return to Earlewood Park
By JOEY HOLLEMAN - jholleman@thestate.com

A well-traveled, century-old fountain is being prepared for a new/old Columbia home.

The National Humane Alliance fountain will return this summer to Earlewood Park, according to Fred Monk, president of the Earlewood Community Citizens Organization.

The drinking fountain for animals originally came to Columbia in 1907 for use at the busy farmers market on Assembly Street. As trucks took the place of horses in transporting farm goods and the farmers market moved to Bluff Road in 1951, the fountains were moved, one to Earlewood Park and the other to Wateree Court, just above Maxcy Gregg Park.

After many years, the Earlewood Park fountain was moved to the front of Township Auditorium. It was removed in 2009 to make room for renovation and expansion of the building on Taylor Street, and the leaders of the Earlewood group asked county council to allow them to include the fountain in renovations of the park that serves as their community centerpiece, Monk said.

The fountain is a smooth granite structure designed for water to stream from the mouths of lion heads into a round, sink-like basin at horse-drinking level. A lower set of pipes feeds smaller basins for dogs and cats. The plumbing is being renovated so the water will once again be flowing when the fountain takes its proposed place in the plaza between the new community center and the city parks administrative office, set to open this summer.

The National Humane Alliance fountains, in some documents referred to as troughs, have a rich history. The alliance, founded by animal lover Hermon Lee Ensign, contracted to have more than 100 of the fountains built in Maine in the early 1900s. The idea was to give them to cities for uses in areas where horses needed refreshment.

Click here for an updated version of Columbia's fountain by Paul Armstrong, who also submitted the above picture..

Click here for a 2009 memory article about the fountain.