Creston

Illinois alone had LH drinking fountains, donated by Carl Parker in memory of his mother, Amanda Sutherland Parker, who had grown up in the Garden Plain area of Whiteside County. The original plan was to place the fountains every ten miles across Illinois, but water supply made that impractical, so they were instead given to towns and cities. Seventeen fountains were donated, and the 1914 Progress Report said that nine were then being placed. Although the fountains were given free of charge, recipients had to rename the street used by the Lincoln Highway through town as Lincoln Way, mark the entire route through town with painted LH signs, and agree to pay the cost of installing and maintaining the fountains. The pedestal design included a drinking bubbler on top and a spigot on the side for filling a pail, and along the inside edge of the bowl were the words “In Memoriam,” so that all who stooped to drink would see it.

Creston, Illinois · United States