The ''Swann Memorial Fountain'' (also known as the ''Fountain of the Three Rivers'') is an

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

located in the center of Logan Circle in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

.Hayes, Margaret Calder, ''Three Alexander Calders'', Paul S Eriksson Publisher, Middlebury, Vermont, 1977 p 162

Creation

The fountain, by

Alexander Stirling Calder Alexander Stirling Calder (January 11, 1870 – January 7, 1945) was an American sculpture, sculptor and teacher. He was the son of sculptor Alexander Milne Calder and the father of sculptor Alexander Calder, Alexander (Sandy) Calder. His best-kn ...

designed with

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Wilson Eyre Wilson Eyre Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in t ...

, memorializes

Wilson Cary Swann Wilson Cary Swann (1806March 21, 1876) was an American physician, philanthropist, and social reformer. Born in present-day Alexandria, Virginia, he moved to Philadelphia in 1847, and spent the rest of his life there. Swann held around 40 slaves, ...

, founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society. The Society had been planning a memorial fountain in honor of its late president and founder. After agreeing that the fountain would become city property, the society was granted the site in the center of Logan Circle.

Description

Adapting the tradition of “river god” sculpture, Calder created large Native American figures to symbolize the area's major streams, the

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon. The young girl leaning on her side against an agitated, water-spouting swan represents the Wissahickon Creek; the mature woman holding the neck of a

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

stands for the Schuylkill River; and the male figure, reaching above his head to grasp his bow as a large pike sprays water over him, symbolizes the Delaware River.Fairmount Park Association, ''Sculpture of a City – Philadelphia’s Treasures in Bronze and Stone'', Fairmount Park Association, Walker Publishing Co., Inc, NY. NY 1974, pp 230-239 Sculpted

frogs A frog is any member of a diverse and largely semiaquatic group of short-bodied, tailless amphibian vertebrates composing the order Anura (coming from the Ancient Greek , literally 'without tail'). Frog species with rough skin texture due to ...

and

turtle Turtles are reptiles of the order (biology), order Testudines, characterized by a special turtle shell, shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Crypt ...

s spout water toward the 50-foot (15 m) geyser in the center, though typically the geyser only spouts 25 ft (8 m). The use of swans is a pun on Dr. Swann's name. Eyre designed the basin and the interlacing water jets, including the central geyser.

Swimming

During warm months,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

in the fountain is a long-standing Philadelphia tradition. In the summer of 2006, the City of Philadelphia began enforcing a swimming ban with a nearly constant security presence, but the ban was eliminated in 2009.

Connections to nearby sculptures

Besides serving as the center of Logan Square, the Fountain also stands as the midpoint on the

Benjamin Franklin Parkway Benjamin Franklin Parkway, commonly abbreviated to Ben Franklin Parkway and colloquially called the Parkway, is a boulevard that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city as of 2020. The parkway is named ...

, which includes also sculptures by two other generations of the Calder family. Stirling Calder's father,

Alexander Milne Calder Alexander Milne Calder (August 23, 1846 – June 4, 1923) (MILL-nee) was a Scottish American sculptor best known for the architectural sculpture of Philadelphia City Hall. Both his son, Alexander Stirling Calder, and grandson, Alexander Calder ...

, designed the statue of

William Penn William Penn ( – ) was an English writer, religious thinker, and influential Quakers, Quaker who founded the Province of Pennsylvania during the British colonization of the Americas, British colonial era. An advocate of democracy and religi ...

atop the tower of

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

at the southeast end, while, at the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is an List of art museums#North America, art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at ...

on the northwest end, the mobile ''Ghosts'' is by

Alexander Calder Alexander "Sandy" Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobile (sculpture), mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, hi ...

, Stirling Calder's son. This led to a local wit referring to the three sculptures as '' the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.''

Nearby vegetation

For many years the fountain was framed by a magnificent circle of

Paulownia ''Paulownia'' ( ) is a genus of seven to 17 species of hardwood trees (depending on taxonomic authority) in the family Paulowniaceae, the order Lamiales. The genus and family are native to east Asia and are widespread across China. The genus, o ...

trees, which have since been replaced. The garden is beautifully planted and maintained by The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society www.PHSonline.org

Depictions in music

The fountain was mentioned in songs by the

pop punk Pop-punk (also punk-pop, alternatively spelled without the hyphen) is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of punk rock with power pop or pop music, pop. It is defined by its fast-paced, energetic tempos, and emphasis on classic pop s ...

band

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...

. The song "Logan Circle" from their album ''

The Upsides ''The Upsides'' is the second studio album by American rock band the Wonder Years, released through No Sleep Records and Run For Cover Records on January 26, 2010. The album was recorded with producer Vince Ratti at Skylight Studios in Fairless ...

'' opens with "They turned on the fountain today at Logan Circle"; there are several references to the fountain and the city of Philadelphia in the band's lyrics. It is the subject of the song "Spit Fountain" by Philadelphia

emo Emo () is a genre of rock music characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of hardcore punk and from the Washington, D.C., hardcore scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore. The bands ...

band

Algernon Cadwallader Algernon Cadwallader is an American Midwest emo and math rock band from Yardley, Pennsylvania. They were originally active from 2005 to 2012. In 2022, the band regrouped and began touring again. ''Stereogum'' referred to the band as the "heroes ...

. It is also featured in the Philly level of ''

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 ''Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2'' is a 2000 skateboarding video game developed by Neversoft for PlayStation and Natsume for Game Boy Color. Published by Activision, it is the second installment in the ''Tony Hawk's'' series of sports games, and was ...

'' and in an episode of the television show ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'', also known colloquially simply as ''Always Sunny'', is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and co-developed by Glenn Howerton for FX (TV channel), FX. It premiered on August 4, 2005, and stars Charl ...

'', "Dennis Reynolds: An Erotic Life". File:Swann Fountain-27527-2.jpg, The Wissahickon File:Swann Fountain-27527-3.jpg, The Schuylkill File:Swann Fountain Delaware.JPG, The

File:Swann Fountain-27527.jpg, Children playing in the fountain

References

{{Coord, 39, 57, 28.62, N, 75, 10, 14.95, W, type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Philadelphia Fountains in Pennsylvania Landmarks in Philadelphia Outdoor sculptures in Philadelphia 1924 sculptures Benjamin Franklin Parkway Bronze sculptures in Pennsylvania Philadelphia Register of Historic Places Logan Square, Philadelphia Sculptures in Philadelphia Sculptures of turtles Sculptures of men in Pennsylvania Sculptures of women in Pennsylvania 1924 establishments in Pennsylvania Monuments and memorials in Philadelphia Sculptures of Native Americans in Pennsylvania Sculptures by Alexander Stirling Calder Nude sculptures in Pennsylvania Sculptures of birds in the United States Sculptures of frogs Art Deco sculptures and memorials