The Hitching Post Fountain
A historic Seattle landmark, rescued from use as a stable hitching post, is restored to its purpose by the W.C.T.U. and the Good Templars.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The drinking fountain that now stands on Second street near Columbia and offers refreshment to man and beast alike has an interesting story connected with it. In 1886 the fountain was erected by the Independent Order of Good Templars in front of the Merchants' National bank, almost at the foot of Cherry street on Front. It stood there until the fire swept away the business part of the town. Then, badly wrecked, it was taken away and stored in a wharf on the water front, and left perchance to oblivion, notwithstanding the good service it had done. Last summer, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) and the Good Templars got together and agreed to hunt up the old fountain and erect it at some suitable point. After some difficulty the old fountain was found. It had been appropriated by a stable man, who was using it for the ignoble purpose of a hitching post. He refused to give it up for less than $30. The committee, consisting of Mrs. Frank Lee and George Cotterill, was somewhat discouraged, but consulted a lawyer, who said that the fountain was theirs and could be appropriated by its true owners wherever found. They watched their opportunity, and in its possessor's absence carted it away, spent about $10 in cleaning and painting it, and placed it where it now stands.
“It had been appropriated by a stable man, who was using it for the ignoble purpose of a hitching post.”
Public infrastructure and historic markers are often treated as private property or scrap in Seattle's rapid development cycles. The 'hitching post' indignity highlights a century-old struggle for control over public space and civic memory that echoes in contemporary debates over the maintenance and preservation of downtown plazas.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.