Historic Fountain Shines Again on Anderson County Museum Grounds
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
When it was installed downtown in 1906, the Robert Anderson Memorial Fountain was a bright light in downtown Anderson. The fountain was a signature symbol of the Electric City, built through citizen efforts at the cost of $1,800.
But by World War II, the underwater lights were no longer fully functional and by the mid-1940s the fountain illumination went dark.
On Friday night, when the Anderson County Museum, the home to the fountain since 2002, the lights on the icon blazed to life at a 9 p.m. ceremony on the edge of downtown.
The lights, which will now shine brightly every evening, restore the former glory to the nearly completely restored historic structure closely resembling the downtown mainstay many remember.
But it took citizen action and more than three decades to complete.
Named for Revolutionary War Colonel and State Militia General Robert Anderson, the Civic Association of Anderson, led by President Pearl Fant, organized the effort to have the fountain created. The designers of the piece were T. A. Wigington and C. C. Cole.
Parts of the fountain were constructed in Anderson by the Anderson Foundry and Steel Company while the cherubs were ordered from a company in New York. Minus the water basin, the fountain weighs in at about 5,500 pounds and is just over 16-feet tall. According to the museum, the fountain is considered one of the first outdoor sculptures in the world to have underwater lighting, and is listed as a historic outdoor sculpture by The Smithsonian Institute.
Such fountains were central to downtown design in the United States in the last half of the 19th century, but few have survived and even fewer, if any, have underwater lighting.
After moving around to different locations on county square in downtown Anderson for decades, the fountain was moved into storage and nearly lost when the "new" courthouse was built in 1993.
From there, the fountain's journey grows a bit hazy. For a while it may have been in storage, but some reports say many of the disassembled pieces of the fountain were discovered in a field in poor condition and then moved to the museum. Fortunately, all pieces, save one cherub and the original dedication plaque survived.
Residents of Anderson raised between $50,000-$100,000 in the early 2000s to move and restore the fountain on the grounds of the museum, but the return of lights was not part of the process.
Nearly 20 years later, it became obvious that the fountain needed a more complete restoration to survive for another century.
In 2021, the Warren Lasch Conservation Center at the Clemson University Restoration Institute in North Charleston, the group that restored the Civil War-era submarine the Hunley, took on the meticulous process of restoring the fountain to its original glory.
The restoration and reassembly of the fountain at the fountain was nearly complete and unveiled in July of last year.
The only thing left to complete the fountain is the restoration of one of the three cherubs. That little angel is expected to be back in place by later this year.
Anderson County Council helped with the nearly $200,000 needed for the project, which includes the restoration of underwater lights.
The Anderson County Museum is located at 202 East Greenville Street, in downtown Anderson. The Fred Whitten Gallery and Whitner’s Emporium Gift Store hours are Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Roper Research Room is open 1 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and by appointment with the Curator. ACM is handicap accessible and admission is free. Donations are always welcome. For more information, contact the Museum at (864) 260-4737.
