Henry Cogswell's Fountains Promoted Temperance

An American dentist named Henry D. Cogswell built free drinking fountains across major U.S. cities because he believed access to cool water would make people consume less alcohol. He aimed to install one temperance fountain for every 100 saloons and personally designed many of the elaborate granite structures. Communities often disliked the grandiose statues, while faulty installations sometimes delivered hot, high-pressure water instead of cool streams. In 1894, a group of self-professed art lovers tore down a Cogswell fountain in San Francisco.

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