CHESTERTOWN — The centerpiece fountain in downtown Chestertown known as “Lady in the Park,” topped with the Greek goddess of youth Hebe, is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
Pictured here on Friday, Aug. 2, Tess Jones, wearing a “Birthday Girl” sash, pours water from a pitcher into a cup just as the goddess figure at the top of the three-tiered fountain in the background.
Robert Wood & Co. of Philadelphia designed and cast the parts for the ornate fountain, probably between the years of 1866 and 1878, but it wasn’t installed in Fountain Park until 1899 after the Ladies Improvement Society, later to become the Chestertown Garden Club, purchased it from a Wilmington park.
According to newspaper accounts at the time, the Improvement Society was a group of civic-minded women, married to some of Chestertown’s most prominent businessmen. The “ladies” wanted to improve the appearance of the old town square, and they contributed $1,200 for the fountain’s purchase.
The women also designed plans for a new park with rows of shrubbery, newly planted trees and pleasant walkways. In the center was placed the fountain, which was unveiled with great ceremony at a dedication on Aug. 15, 1899. The event was covered by three local papers, the Kent News, The Transcript and The Enterprise.
— Photo by Trish McGee