TidesNet—Online Collections Entry Detail

DescriptionA late 19th century cast iron water fountain that stands in front of the Tides Institute’s main building at Bank Square in downtown Eastport, Maine. In 1889, three years after a devastating fire leveled Bank Square and Eastport’s downtown and waterfront, the fountain was installed at virtually the identical spot where it now stands. A group of civic minded citizens raised the necessary $125 in funds to purchase the fountain from the J.L Mott Ironworks Company of New York City and bring it to Eastport. The fountain’s water basin is four feet four inches in diameter with a depth of 14 inches. Originally, the fountain had a tall center standard water spout (that has since been lost) and stood five feet eight inches in height. The water fountain remained  at Bank Square until the early 20th century when, with the advent of the automobile, the fountain was relocated to Eastport’s Hillside Cemetery as a decorative, non-functioning fountain. In 2006, the fountain was returned to Bank Square as part of the development of a new civic space in front of the Tides Institute’s main building. A small, adaptive center water spout was installed on the fountain to make it fully functional again. Nine years later, in 2015, the fountain was donated to the Tides Institute by the then owners of the fountain, the local branch #558 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). The local branch was disbanding and the branch felt that the Tides Institute was the best hope to preserve the fountain in the future. The Tides Instittute maintains the fountain. In 2012, the Tides Institute acquired from a Chicago antiques dealer an original copy of the J.M. Mott 1883 advertising catalogue for statuary, fountains, and more that includes the Bank Square water fountain model.