Captain Ball's Fountain - Warwick, Massachusetts

Captain Ball's Fountain in front of the Warwick Free Library

The Captain Ball Fountain is an ornate Victorian cast iron drinking fountain designed by Henry F. Jenks and manufactured by the Henry F. Jenks Co. of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. It stands by the Common in the center of the small New England town of Warwick, Massachusetts. The fountain was donated to the town in 1900 by Julia B. Thayer of Keene, New Hampshire.

Described as a fountain “for man or beast”, it is the largest H. F. Jenks fountain made in this style. It provides a constant flow of water, spring fed from the waters flowing down from nearby Mount Grace. The center of the basin contains a jamb from which four mythical aquatic figures spout water. An extra fish head appears at the end of a "jug filler" pipe, which was installed in 1979.

The water from the spouts are for human consumption, although the two drinking cups once attached have long been removed due to new laws banning public drinking cups in 1910. The upper basin acts as a horse trough and designed to be at a height for horses to drink from without the rider having to get down. The base offers an annular channel for use as a small animal trough. Captain Ball's Fountain in front of the Warwick Free Library