It's the David Stroup Fountain in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Stroup was a 19th century candy merchant in Bloomsburg who left money for a fountain. The fountain was cast, probably not a mile from where I'm currently sitting, by the J. L. Mott Iron Works in the Bronx, and was erected in Bloomsburg in 1892. The fountain began to deteriorate in the 1950s and was removed in 1966. Two local residents began restoring the fountain as best they could in 1982. In the early 2000s the original plans were found (links to pdf) and the fountain was completely rebuilt, except for a crane on top, in 2002. In 2005 the crane was found and restored to its rightful place. You can almost see it as the bird spits a line of water in the bottom photo.
I wasn't expecting an interesting back story. I thought it was a pretty fountain that needed its picture taken.
Bloomsburg seems like an enjoyable little college town. I had stopped there once before, but this time I walked around a bit to stretch my legs before driving the rest of the way back home.
Believe it or not there's only one more post from last fall's trip. It will be out of order because I have yet to take a picture of what I collected back in Grove City.
Great pictures. That is a pretty fountain with an interesting backstory. You find all sorts of interesting things.
Posted by: Dane | 22 May 2009 at 06:51 PM
If only I knew these things were interesting when I find them.
Posted by: Joe | 24 May 2009 at 10:43 PM