Clio Fountain

Clio Fountain. . , In 1916 during the Indiana Centennial Week, the Clio Club, a women’s organization, presented to the city of Connersville a fountain., The fountain was designed by Lorado Taft of Ohio at the cost of $1,200.00. The Clio Club labored faithfully for three years to raise the funds for the fountain. The fountain was placed in concrete pavement just in front of the Thomas Maley residence where two avenues met, Central and Virginia., The fountain originally stood in the middle of the intersection. Several years later, when horsedrawn vehicles were being replaced by motor vehicles, the fountain was moved northward. In recent times the fountain stands further north of that point, probably where the stone walk extended from the Maley home to the point., In 1988, Johanna Barber and Vinita Bastian working together with the Community Pride Community of the Chamber of Commerce, Fayette Garden Club, The Questers, and Historic Connersville, donated countless hours to restore the fountain for the Hoosier Celebration ’88., For nearly a decade (1917~1927) the local girl scouts decorated the fountain with the lights at Christmas and watered the flowers regularly under the leadership of Mrs. E.J. Horsley., With the passage of time, Indiana weather, bumps here and there from motor vehicles, and the deterioration of the original material, the fountain was no longer recognizable. The original beauty of the sculpture faded., In 2007, funds were donated to create a replica fountain and to start an endowment to main the fountain in perpetuity. On May 5, 2008, Connersville City Council officially named the new Carrara Marble Fountain the Clio Fountain in honor of the 1916 philanthropic gift of the Clio Club to the city.