Drake Fountain, 1893
Richard Henry Park
East 92nd
Street at South Chicago and Exchange Avenues
Believed to be the first statue in Chicago to commemorate
Christopher Columbus, this monument was dedicated in December 1892, marking the
400th anniversary of the explorers’ voyage to the Americas. The 7 ½ foot bronze figure is of Columbus as
a young man with globe in hand. The fountain is inspired by Gothic architecture
and a small granite columns and curving buttresses rise up 33 feet to the
pointed spire on top.
Originally located downtown near City Hall, the fountain
dispensed into four granite basins what is still listed on the monument: ice
water. A surviving example of Victorian-era public drinking fountains, it was
hoped at the time that it would be an alternative to nearby saloons. The
fountain was moved twice to different downtown locations as the city razed
buildings and redirected the flow of traffic. In 1909, Southeast Chicago
residents complained about the lack of public art in their part of town and
were able to get the fountain move to the location where it still stands. It
was designated a Chicago landmark in 2004.
The fountain was a gift to the city from hotelier John B.
Drake, who was part owner of the Tremont Hotel and Grand Pacific Hotel. His
sons were developers and proprietors of the Blackstone Hotel and Drake Hotel,
both still in existence on Michigan Avenue. Artist Richard Henry Park
(1832-1902) is best known for his Actor’s Monument to Edgar Allen Poe in
the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. He is also known as the
sculptor of a silver statue for Montana’s exhibit at the World’s Columbian
Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Other works in Chicago include Benjamin Franklin in Lincoln Park and
the Charles J. Hull Monument in
Rosehill Cemetery.
Other works that commemorate Christopher Columbus:
Other works that commemorate Christopher Columbus:
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