A 126-year-old fountain that once provided water for animals in downtown Carbondale is back in the city after a century, though officials are looking for a missing piece to complete the granite relic.
Carbondale took possession of the large fountain late last month, transporting it from a property in Kingsley to the city’s Department of Public Works garage in hopes of someday placing it at a proposed pocket park near City Hall at the site of the former Hotel Chellino on River Street, Mayor Michele Bannon said.
“I hate to lose pieces of our past,” Bannon said. “When we have a big surprise when we find them, and we’re able to reap the benefits of somebody’s generosity to give them back to us, it’s almost like it was meant to be, and we’re so grateful for that.”
To complete the fountain, the city is still looking for an ornamental, roughly cube-shaped pedestal that sat in the middle of the fountain’s bowl.
An early 1900s postcard of a fountain at Main Street and Lincoln Avenue in Carbondale. (COURTESY OF MAYOR MICHELE BANNON)
The fountain was donated a century ago by the National Humane Alliance, which was like an early humane society, to take care of animals, Bannon said. The granite fountain has a large upper bowl that would have provided water for horses, with bowls in its pedestal for smaller animals like cats and dogs.
A group dedicated to mapping the fountains and their history called “National Humane Alliance Fountains” wrote on its Facebook page that there were about 150 fountains given to communities between 1902 and 1913. The group’s mapping, which documents fountains across the United States, includes Carbondale’s.
According to an article in the May 19, 1921, edition of The Scranton Republican, the fountain was presented to the city in 1909, and by 1921, it was one of just a few watering places for horses in Carbondale. The fountain was especially convenient because it was located near an outdoor market in the city, and during the summer, farmers would take their horses to the market, according to the article.
However, residents complained to the city during a May 1921 council meeting that the fountain was impeding vehicle traffic and raised the question of whether the city should move it. Automobiles were rapidly growing in favor at the time, and the fountain made it difficult for motorists to navigate the turn from Lincoln Avenue, according to the article.
This fountain was donated to Carbondale in the early 1900s to provide water for horses and other animals before a businessman purchased it and relocated it to his property in Susquehanna County. It remained for the past century. Carbondale now plans to refurbish it as part of a planned pocket park at the site of the former Hotel Chellino on River Street. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
This fountain was donated to Carbondale in the early 1900s to provide water for horses and other animals before a businessman purchased it and relocated it to his property in Susquehanna County. It remained for the past century. Carbondale now plans to refurbish it as part of a planned pocket park at the site of the former Hotel Chellino on River Street. (CHAD SEBRING/STAFF PHOTO)
In the coming years, Edgar Ely, a prominent city businessman and jeweler, bought the fountain from Carbondale and relocated to his property in Kingsley, Susquehanna County, near Ely Lake. When a city resident told Bannon about the fountain’s existence, Bannon called the fountain’s owner — Joan Esherick, who was the great-great-niece of Ely — and Esherick and her family decided to give it back to Carbondale.
To return it to the city, Jamie Wright, the owner of Carbondale-based JS Wright Excavating and Underground Utilities, said he strapped the estimated 3-ton fountain to an excavator and lifted it into a Carbondale DPW dump truck. The city had contacted Wright for help, and he volunteered his services. It was a slow, time-consuming process because the fountain was so heavy, and being in a wooded area added to the difficulty, Wright said, explaining he had to return with a bigger excavator to move it.
“It’s a beautiful piece,” Wright said. “It’s part of history in the town, here in Carbondale, and we brought it back home.”
The fountain is overall in great condition, although it needs to be cleaned up and has a spot that needs to be touched up, Bannon said. Oley Industries, a local ready-mix concrete supplier with a location in Simpson, offered to donate the concrete for a foundation, she said. Monuments by Parise, another local business with a location in the city, is going to come and inspect the fountain to help the city ensure it looks its best when it’s someday installed, Bannon said.
Bannon plans to place the refurbished fountain in a pocket park at the site of the former Hotel Chellino on River Street next to the Sixth Avenue bridge, though that likely won’t happen for a few years.
The state Department of Transportation plans to replace the Sixth Avenue bridge in 2027, and the city would build the pocket park once that’s complete. The Hotel Chellino, once a swanky feature of Carbondale’s downtown, was demolished in early 2023 as part of the bridge project. The building had fallen into disrepair, and its foundation was part of the river wall.
Bannon is optimistic that the fountain will eventually be functional at the pocket park.
“Being able to replace losing the Chellino with another icon from the community, it’s holistic — it makes everything whole and complete,” Bannon said. “The Chellino may be gone, but we have something different going in its place to be able to be an icon and a focal point of that area. It’s almost like it’s meant to be.”
Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the top, pedestal-like portion of the fountain is asked to call Bannon at 570-282-4633.