The Park’s fountains and memorials

Explore the Ruggles Fountain: its history, architecture and restoration →

The first fountain

The Park’s earliest fountain story begins with a proposal that was never built. In 1846, the lot owners tabled a costly design inspired by Rome. Two years later, a more modest fountain was erected, establishing water and sculpture as a focus of the garden.

In 1866, a bronze water nymph replaced the statue on the fountain at the center of the Park. A photograph captioned “The Old Fountain” preserves a view of the arrangement before the Park’s center changed.

A new center for the Park

In 1918, the central fountain was removed to make room for the statue of Edwin Booth as Hamlet. The Players had organized the memorial to its founder, with the cooperation of the Park’s Trustees. The statue was unveiled on November 13, 1918.

Sculptor Edmond T. Quinn modeled the bronze, and architect Charles W. Romeyn designed the pedestal. At the dedication, John Drew, president of The Players, honored Booth and the artistic community he had brought together.

The nymph moves east

Rather than disappear from the garden, the water nymph became the centerpiece of a smaller fountain facing the eastern entrance. Layers of white and gold paint were removed, revealing the statue’s pewter-colored surface.

Architect Charles I. Berg designed twin bluestone-and-limestone fountains flanking the central walk, each with a semicircular basin and pedestal. One reused the original bronze nymph, giving it a new setting among trees and shrubs; the other was dedicated to dynamic trustee John B. Pine.

Ruggles remembered at the west

At the western fountain, a marble shaft and bronze portrait medallion honored Samuel B. Ruggles. Quinn, who had also created the Booth statue, made the portrait. John R. Strong, Ruggles’s grandson, gave the memorial.

An earlier commemorative stone had been placed at the western gate in 1875. Together, the stone and the fountain brought the founder’s name and likeness into the landscape he had established. A photograph of the west fountain shows the memorial as it appeared by 1921.

A history that continues through care

Water returned to the Ruggles Fountain in 2026 after work on its basin, stonework and water system. The restoration story carries this history forward: the memorial we inherit still needs people with the skill and resources to care for it.

2011

Looking for the earlier nymph

The story of the older fountain continued well beyond Pine’s book. In April 2011, Town & Village reported Trustee Tom Pike’s effort to recover the nymph sculpture, which had been removed from the Park in 1983 and placed in the National Arts Club’s care for restoration.

At the time of that article, the sculpture’s whereabouts and condition were unresolved.