A Watering Trough For Horses

The Derby Greenway Committee restored the historic National Humane Alliance Fountain at the Division Street entrance to the Derby Greenway and surrounded it with a beautiful brick plaza and the Derby Hall of Fame, benches, and trees as it begins a second century as a city landmark.

What started out as an effort to learn more about a fountain given to Derby in 1906 has turned into a near obsession to identify all of the similar fountains that were distributed.

The only identifying mark on the Derby fountain (as was the case with all of the fountains) was a simple plaque with the year the fountain was given followed by a simple inscription:

That was just enough information to start the search to find out who Hermon Lee Ensign was and what his Alliance was all about. You can find that information on this page and all the linked pages that we have found or developed.

Mr. Ensign was a philanthropist and humanitarian who left a significant amount of money to the National Humane Alliance, which he founded, that was to be used to provide cities all across America (and beyond) with fountains designed to provide water for horses to be placed in prominent high-volume traffic areas.

Our early research received a major boost when the Newberry Library in Chicago provided us with a pamphlet from the National Humane Alliance, which showed that there were nearly 100 of the fountains distributed.

We want to thank Bill Chilles from the Vinalhaven Historical Society in Vinalhaven, Maine, for the interesting photo at the top of this page of fountains lined up at the quarry in Maine, ready for delivery to various parts of the United States and beyond.

The date on the plaques on those fountains is 1907, a year after Derby had become one of the first cities across the U.S. to receive a National Humane Alliance Fountain.

We now believe that the first fountain was given to Binghamton, NY, in 1902, but that fountain was moved to Rochester in 2019.

If you look carefully, you will see that they are not all identical. One fountain at the left in the photo is different in having a cylindrical upper pedestal compared to the rectangular one found on the others and in Derby.

A 1910 version is pictured at the left. In an article about the fountain in Seneca, Kansas, there is a reference to a "second size" fountain, which refers to the fountains with the smaller cylindrical tops.

It appears that Derby's fountain and all the others were quarried on Vinalhaven, which is an island off the coast of Rockland. Joseph R. Bodwell, who went on to become the 40th governor of Maine, opened several small quarries starting in 1852 that eventually became the Bodwell Granite Company, pictured above.

We have been in touch with Vinalhaven resident and descendant of the owners of the quarries, James Dickey.

He is currently manufacturing missing pieces for the fountain in Vicksburg, Mississippi, which was currently being restored. Mr. Dickey was also leading an effort to restore the quarry and turn it into a museum focusing on the work of the quarry. Take a look at the Bodwell Granite Company and the Vinalhaven Quarry Restoration Project at https://www.bodwellgranite.com/ to learn more.

Mr. Chilles and other members of the Vinalhaven Historical Society have been doing research on the Granite Company and the fountains produced there.

We shared our information as we continue to expand on the history of the fountains, with new ones being reported regularly. We continue to add to the collection of pictures and stories, but we may never get them all.

There were about 150 fountains distributed, and we have pictures of 116 of them. Click here to find an interactive Google map with all of the locations for fountains distributed by the Alliance. It includes pictures, street views, and even the years when the fountains were given.

2006 Restoration

The restoration of the historic National Humane Alliance Fountain took a major step forward when three new lions head spigots were delivered to Mayor Tony Staffieri.

The fountain was originally given to the city in 1906 and installed at the corner of Seymour and Atwater Avenue (image at top of this page).

It had been largely forgotten for decades before being moved to the Division Street entrance of the Derby Greenway by the Public Works Department in 2006 as the first step in a planned restoration, which has now been completed.

When first given to the city, the fountain provided water on three levels:
- There were four bowls at the base of the fountain for small animals.
- Above that was a large circular bowl that provided water for horses. That bowl was fed by the three lions heads through which water was pumped into the large bowl and
- Humans undoubtedly quenched their thirst from the rapidly flowing water coming from the spigots.

Over time, the lions heads were stripped from the fountain, which had been moved to Founders Common years ago.

After years of researching the history of the fountain, city officials were fortunate to find that Rapid City, South Dakota, had a similar fountain that was restored after 50 years of abuse.

As in Derby, the fancy sculpted bronze lions heads had been stolen. Rapid City turned to local artist and sculptor John Lopez to recreate the missing pieces.

Though better known for his western-themed work as well as his presidential sculptures, Lopez faithfully reproduced the new lions heads to the original design, and Rapid City restored its fountain.

Click here to learn more about John Lopez and his work. In late 2006, Derby commissioned him to reproduce the lions heads for Derby's fountains, and they were delivered in March, 2007.

Derby Public Works Director Ron Culmo and Mayor Tony Staffieri inspect the new lions heads for the Fountain.

South Dakota sculptor John Lopez designed the new bronze lions heads.