Moments Project – Wells Fountain

Wells Fountain was placed at the head of Main Street in 1890 on land donated by the Carpenter family. The Fountain marks the spot where nationally known sculptor Larkin Mead created a snow angel on New
Year’s Eve 1856. The ephemeral sculpture created a sensation and was subsequently reproduced in marble.
That work is on view at the Brooks Memorial Library.
Mead’s brother William designed the granite foundation to commemorate the event. William Mead, a famous architect who had grown up in Brattleboro, lived in New York City. The fountain bears William Wells’ name, a New York City businessman who also grew up in Brattleboro and paid for the materials and construction of the fountain.
The fountain is Italian in style, and in 1890 provided water for weary horses at the north end of Main
Street. Wells Fountain continued to exist peacefully until 1932 when the Hamilton family, who had bought the Carpenter mansion, decided to build a gas station on the site of Wells Fountain. Land was graded and paved
around the fountain, and for the next 55 years, the fountain dodged traffic as cars pulled in and out of the gas station located right behind the monument.
In the 1980s the state of Vermont wanted to build a courthouse on the land near the fountain. In 1984 town manager Corwin Elwell helped organize townspeople who were in favor of saving the fountain. But it
wasn’t until local lawyer John Carnahan became involved in 1987 that the fountain was taken apart, relocated and put back together in the present safe location away from traffic. The present park was created from private donations in 1988 to highlight the fountain. Mr. Carnahan is a founding member of the Brattleboro Historical Society.