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Swann Memorial Fountain, Philadelphia

 

The Swann Memorial Fountain in Philadelphia's Logan Square is in the middle of several stories, all of them connected.

To start with, its official name is Fountain of the Three Rivers, honoring the Delaware, the Schuylkill and Wissahickon Creek. It stands midway between City Hall with its statue of William Penn, site of Philadelphia's first reservoir and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, site of Philadelphia's second reservoir.

P1140369P1140370The fountain was dedicated in 1924, with a charming variety of turtles and frogs spraying water from the main pool (popular with kids in hot weather) toward the central figure, whose water shoots up as high as 50 feet.

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The main figures, each spouting water, represent the rivers. At left, below a male figure with a spouting fish is the Delaware, at right a woman holds a spouting swan representing the Schuylkill. A young girl, leaning on a swan represents the Wissahixon; because of wind-blown water I have no clear image of her.

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The swans in the fountain are a kind of visual pun. The fountain was built by the Philadelphia Fountain Society as a memorial to its late founder and tireless fountain promoter Dr. Wilson Cary Swann.

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The fountain's third story is about the Calder family of sculptors; it has caused some to jokingly refer to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The 36-foot-tall William Penn Statue that tops City Hall was created by Alexander Milne Calder, whose son, Alexander Stirling Calder created the fountain. If you turn away from City Hall and look down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, you can see the mobile "Ghosts" by his son, also Alexander Calder.

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The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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