Culbertson Fountain in Paris, Texas
Me sitting on the fountain in Paris, Texas.
Culbertson fountain
The picture above was made about in 1942 when I was in high school.
Paris had a huge fire in 1916 which destroyed the center of Paris as well as most of the other parts of Paris. The Paris fire was the third largest fire ever after the Chicago fire and the San Francisco earthquake fire. The center of Paris had to be completely rebuilt. The fountain was a gift from a Paris businessman and philanthropist, J. J. Culbertson to commemorate the rebirth of Paris after the fire. It took three years to assemble (1924 - 1927).
I remember as a child wanting to walk up the steps to the fountain to watch the pretty fish that were in the water. The fountain has always been a main focal point of Paris downtown. I saw it just this summer when I was visiting in Paris and it is as beautiful as ever.
Thank You, Mr. Culbertson!
posted by kyra lafain @ 11/03/2009 12:30:00 PM
1 Comments:
Mr. Culbertson and his wife also donated the property for the Paris Public Library. Their home before the fire stood on the corner next to where the library is now. The library sits over what was Mrs. Culbertson's rose garden. As the fire neared the center of town, the Culbertson's volunteered to have their home dynamited in an attempt to make a fire break and save the downtown area. Unfortunately, the winds were so high, the effort failed. After the fire, the Culbertson's built a home a block south of the library. They were truly great philanthropists.
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