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15-536: Corning Fountain is a fountain with sculpture located in Bushnell Park , Hartford, Connecticut . The two-tiered fountain was designed by sculptor J. Massey Rhind and dedicated in 1899. It was given to the city by John J. Corning in memory of his father, John Benton Corning (1811–1896), a Hartford businessman who operated a grist mill on the site. It is 28 feet tall, made of bronze and granite , and features stylized Saukiog and Oneida Indians topped with

30-428: A peacepipe and lifting his hand in a gesture of peace. Below the upper basin are four animal heads as water spouts (a catamount, a bear, a fox, and a beaver). As viewed Sept. 15, 2017 these have been removed. Below the lower basin are four lion heads, which are also water spouts. Water flows over the edges of each tier and into a large concrete basin at the base of the fountain. The text on the bronze plaque in front of

45-607: A result of seasonal flooding and pollution, and especially after damage from the great flood of 1936, the Park River was buried in underground conduits, and a main feature of the park was lost. [1] A pond was later added to return a water feature to the park. Since 2017, the Bushnell Park Pond has been home to Horace, a territorial Great Blue Heron, lovingly named by the local 06103 community to commemorate both Horace Wells , and Horace Bushnell . Today Bushnell Park

60-503: A vote of 1,687 to 683, making it the first municipal park in the nation to be conceived, built and paid for by citizens through a popular vote. But six years later the park still had not taken shape. Reverend Bushnell asked his good friend and Hartford native, Frederick Law Olmsted , to design the layout of the park. Olmsted, however, was occupied at the time with the double-duty of designing of New York City 's Central Park and Springfield, Massachusetts ' Forest Park , and thus declined

75-578: Is a focal point in downtown Hartford , and it is the site of several festivals and music events each year. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970. Jacob Weidenmann Jacob Weidenmann (August 22, 1829 – February 6, 1893) was a landscape architect from Switzerland known for his design of rural cemeteries and public parks. Weidenmann was born in Winterthur , Switzerland on August 22, 1829. He

90-971: The Washington, D.C. Capitol grounds. Weidenmann's Hartford designs include grounds for the American School for the Deaf , Bushnell Park , the Butler-McCook Homestead gardens, Cedar Hill Cemetery , and the Institute of Living . His Midwest designs include the Iowa State Capitol grounds and Chicago's Mount Hope Cemetery . His national work includes landscape designs for the United States Capitol , U.S. Quartermaster Depot, Schuylkill Arsenal , and Hot Springs Reservation. He died on February 6, 1893, and

105-602: The statue of Horace Wells in 1875, sculpted by Truman Howe Bartlett ; the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch , designed by George Keller in 1886 to commemorate those who fought in the American Civil War ; the Corning Fountain in 1899, with sculpture by J. Massey Rhind ; the 1914 carousel in 1974 (with a Wurlitzer #153 Band Organ providing the music); and the performance pavilion in 1995. As

120-618: The base reads, "THIS FOUNTAIN IS / ERECTED AS A TRIBUTE / TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN B. CORNING BY HIS SON / JOHN J. CORNING 1899." Bushnell Park Bushnell Park in Hartford, Connecticut is the second oldest publicly funded park in the United States , after Boston Common, which was established in 1634, and converted to a park in the 1830’s. Bushnell Park was conceived by the Reverend Horace Bushnell in

135-405: The figure of a stag (hart) as Hartford's emblem. The fountain features four bronze Saukiog braves around the lower basin, a center pedestal surrounded by four bronze Oneida maidens, and an upper basin topped by a bronze hart. The Saukiog braves are: (west side) holding a spear; (south side) wearing a feathered headdress and scanning the horizon; (east side) raising a tomahawk; (north side) holding

150-615: The mid-1850s at a time when the need for open public spaces was just starting to be recognized. Today the park comprises 50 acres (20 ha) of green space, and is visited by over one million people each year. Paths through the park contribute to the East Coast Greenway . Hartford in the 1850s was a rapidly growing river town, doubling in population from 1850 to 1860. The city's economy was booming, driven by industries such as publishing, insurance, banking, munitions, manufacturing and river shipping. Like many American cities of

165-478: The offer. Olmsted recommended Jacob Weidenmann , a Swiss-born landscape architect and botanist. Weidenmann's plan for the park included graceful paths and clusters of trees that shielded strollers from the sounds of the city, and enhanced the presence of the Park River which flowed through the park. Later additions to the park include: the statue of Israel Putnam in 1874, sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward ;

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180-591: The river, with their outhouses in the back emptying directly into the sluggish current. Even Rev. Bushnell described it as “hell without the fire.” However, after hearing Dr. Bushnell's presentation in October 1853, the Hartford City Council voted unanimously in November to spend public funds to buy the land that was to become Bushnell Park. Hartford voters approved the expenditure on Jan. 5, 1854, by

195-489: The time, Hartford was enjoying the benefits of the Industrial Revolution . But along with this growth came some growing pains, including crime, crowded tenements, poverty, poor sanitation, polluted water and air. It was in this context that Bushnell presented an idea that had not been suggested in any other American city: the creation of a public park, financed entirely by public funds. Initial public reaction

210-797: Was educated at the Akademie der bildenden Künste , Vienna, where he studied art, architecture, engineering, and botany. After graduating, he worked in Munich , Paris , London , New York City , Panama , and Peru , before settling in the United States in 1856. In 1861 he was named first superintendent of parks in Hartford, Connecticut , where he designed Bushnell Park and Cedar Hill Cemetery . Beginning in 1874 he shared an office with Frederick Law Olmsted , and they subsequently collaborated on projects including Mount Royal Park in Montreal and

225-479: Was skeptical. Hard-nosed business leaders were opposed to removing taxable property from the tax rolls. Furthermore, it was hard to imagine a less likely place for a green, peaceful park than Bushnell's proposed site, which was home to two leather tanneries, a soapworks, pigsties and other livestock–even a garbage dump. A railroad spur ran through it and the smelly Park River, polluted with the city's industrial waste, ran alongside it. Crowded tenements lined both banks of

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