Drinking fountains in Philadelphia

Fountains in Philadelphia (1874) by Granville Perkins. Counter-clockwise from top: First Fountain; Tyler Memorial Fountain; Washington Square Fountain; Lemon Hill Spring; Goldfish Pond Fountain; Peace Fountain; Rittenhouse Square Fountain; Mercury Fountain. Center: Mott's Cast Iron Fountain (Horticultural Center)

Public drinking fountains in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, have been built and used since the 19th century. Various reform-minded organizations in the city supported public drinking fountains as street furniture for different but overlapping reasons. One was the general promotion of public health, in an era of poor water and typhoid fever.[1] Leaders of the temperance movement such as the Woman's Christian Temperance Union saw free, clean water as a crucial alternative to beer. Emerging animal welfare organizations, notably the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, wanted to provide water to the dogs and working horses of the city on humanitarian grounds, which is why Philadelphia's drinking fountains of the era often include curb-level troughs that animals could reach.[2]

  1. ^ Peitzman, Steven J. (2016). "Typhoid Fever and Filtered Water". Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. Archived from the original on May 27, 2020. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hahn was invoked but never defined (see the help page).