Thursday, August 14, 2008

Breyman Fountain



The Breyman Fountain, donated by Mr. and Mrs. Werner Breyman in 1904, is located at the far west end of Willson Park, west of the Capitol. It was used as a watering trough for horses. There originally was a decorative statue and street lamps on the top. According to the Salem Public Library, the statue has been gone for many decades, but the fountain is believed to be a memorial to the Spanish-American War.

You can see a photo at the above link of the original fountain with the statue, taken in 1905 and with the old Capitol which burned in 1935 in the background.

The fountain is now used as a planter, no longer as a water trough.

6 comments:

Debbie Courson Smith said...

Too bad it's not a watering trough anymore - that would be fun!

Lynette said...

What a wonderful shot, Jill. It's a beautiful piece of history.

Anonymous said...

That is a lovely shot. At least they're putting it to good use - I featured a picture last month of a former water fountain, and the troughs were just full of rubbish :(

Unknown said...

I get a history lesson every time I look at your blog. Thanks for all the info you give.

Steve Buser said...

And just think of all those thirsy horses out there!

Anonymous said...

Jill I'm so loving these photo's of your city and I'm learning such a lot that I'm sure if I was to visit at any time in the future it would all be very familiar to me.

Great photo of the beautiful decorative fountain and thanks for the history to it.