LaFayette Fountain facts for kids
Quick facts for kids LaFayette Fountain |
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| Artist | Lorado Taft |
| Year | 1887 |
| Type | marble |
| Dimensions | 4.9 m diameter (16 ft); figure 6 ft × 3 ft × 3 ft (1.83 m × 0.91 m × 0.91 m), pedestal 12 ft (3.7 m) and 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) diameter |
| Location | Lafayette, Indiana |
The Lafayette Fountain is a beautiful fountain created in 1887 by the sculptor Lorado Taft. You can find it on the grounds of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana.
This fountain has several bowls stacked on top of each other. At the very top, there's a marble statue of the Marquis de LaFayette. He was a famous French general who helped America win its independence. In the statue, he holds a sword near his heart and has a cape draped over his left arm.
How the Fountain Was Built
This fountain was one of the first big projects for Lorado Taft. He wrote about how he got the job:
"The LaFayette" was about the first order I had in Chicago as I arrived there with high hopes – and little else – the first day of 1886. It was a copy of Bartholdi's "LaFayette" in New York City that was required of me and one tiny photograph of that figure was all that was given to me for data. I wonder at the temerity of youth, but I had to have the money and that supplies unlimited courage.
Taft was a young artist when he got this job. He had just arrived in Chicago with big dreams but not much money. He needed to make a copy of another statue of Lafayette, and he only had one small photo to work from! It shows how brave and determined he was to take on such a challenge.
The fountain cost $2,200 to build back in 1887. This was a lot of money at the time.
Messages on the Fountain
The base of the fountain has several messages carved into it. These messages honor important people and events related to Lafayette, Indiana, and the United States.
Some of the things remembered on the fountain include:
- Marquis de Lafayette: It honors General Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier de Lafayette. He was born in France in 1757 and fought alongside George Washington in the American Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1782. He died in 1834.
- Artesian Well: The fountain originally got its water from a special well built in 1857. This well was 230 feet deep! People believed the water from this well had healing powers.
- John Purdue: This section remembers John Purdue, who was a very generous person. He gave money that helped create Purdue University.
- Early Pioneers: The fountain also honors the brave people who were the first settlers in Tippecanoe County and the city of Lafayette.
- Courthouses: It lists the different courthouses built in Tippecanoe County. The first was in 1829, the second in 1845, and the third in 1881.
- Soldiers: The fountain remembers the brave soldiers from Tippecanoe County who fought for the Union during the American Civil War.
- William Digby: It honors William Digby, who founded the city of Lafayette on May 27, 1825. He was born in 1802 and died in 1864.
- City of Lafayette: Finally, it states that the fountain was built by the City of Lafayette in 1887.
The original well that supplied water to the fountain was closed in 1936. Now, the fountain gets its water from a different source.
Images for kids
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A closer look at the Lafayette Fountain statue.
