Swann Memorial Fountain facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Swann Memorial Fountain |
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| Fountain of the Three Rivers | |
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| Artist | Alexander Stirling Calder |
| Year | 1924 |
| Type | Sculpture |
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Philadelphia Register of Historic Places
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| Location | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
The Swann Memorial Fountain is a beautiful Art Deco style fountain and sculpture. It is also known as the Fountain of the Three Rivers. You can find it in the middle of Logan Circle in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
This famous fountain was created by Alexander Stirling Calder with architect Wilson Eyre. It was built to honor Dr. Wilson Cary Swann. He was the person who started the Philadelphia Fountain Society. This society had planned for a long time to build a memorial fountain for their founder. After agreeing that the fountain would belong to the city, they were given the spot in Logan Circle.
Contents
What do the sculptures mean?
Calder used an old idea of "river god" sculptures for the fountain. He made large Native American figures to stand for the main rivers and creeks in the area. These are the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon.
- The young girl leaning against a swan that sprays water represents the Wissahickon Creek.
- The older woman holding a swan's neck stands for the Schuylkill River.
- The male figure reaching for his bow, with a large fish called a pike spraying water over him, symbolizes the Delaware River.
You can also see frogs and turtles on the fountain. They spout water towards the center. The main water jet in the middle can shoot up to 50 feet (15 meters) high. However, it usually sprays about 25 feet (8 meters). The artist used swans in the design as a fun way to play on Dr. Swann's name. Wilson Eyre designed the pool and all the water jets.
Fun facts about the fountain
During warm weather, it's a long-standing tradition for people in Philadelphia to swim in the fountain. For a short time in 2006, swimming was not allowed. But by 2009, the ban was removed, and people could swim there again.
The Swann Memorial Fountain is not just the center of Logan Circle. It's also the middle point of the Ben Franklin Parkway. This parkway has sculptures by three generations of the Calder family.
- Alexander Stirling Calder's father, Alexander Milne Calder, designed the statue of William Penn. This statue is on top of City Hall at one end of the parkway.
- Stirling Calder's son, Alexander Calder, created the Ghosts mobile sculpture. This artwork is at the Philadelphia Museum of Art at the other end.
Because of this, some people in the area jokingly called the three sculptures "the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost."
For many years, beautiful Paulownia trees surrounded the fountain. These trees have since been replaced.
The fountain in pop culture
The Swann Memorial Fountain has been mentioned in songs and shows!
- The pop punk band The Wonder Years mentioned it in their song "Logan Circle." The song starts with "They turned on the fountain today at Logan Circle."
- The Philadelphia emo band Algernon Cadwallader has a song called "Spit Fountain" about it.
- The fountain is also shown in the Philadelphia level of the video game Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2.
- It even appeared in an episode of the TV show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Images for kids
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The figure representing the Wissahickon
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The figure symbolizing the Delaware
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Children playing in the fountain
See also
In Spanish: Fuente conmemorativa Swann para niños
