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Old State House Fountain
Serving as the centerpiece in
Arkansas's exhibit at the 1876 Centennial
Exposition in Philadelphia, this
fountain was cast by an Alabama foundry
that was forged cannons for the
Confederacy during the Civil War. The fountain
traveled to Little Rock by
train after the Exposition and was eventually placed on
the State House front
lawn in late 1878, remaining dry until the installation of city
water in 1880.
This fountain honors Arkansas's most
distinguished soldier of World War I. On
October 10, 1918, an American
platoon came under fire from a German unit near
Verdun, France. Private
Herman Davis of Mississippi County attacked the machine
gun single-handedly,
silencing four enemy gunners. Awarded the United States
Distinguished
Service Cross, French Medaille Militaire and French Croix de Guerre,
Private
Davis was cited for extraordinary heroism by American General
John J. Pershing.
In 1954, the Herman Davis Memorial Association, using gifts
from many
schoolchildren, restored the Old State House Fountain to working
order, thought
not to its original condition. |
