Submitted by Susan Hardee Steger
Photo Courtesy of Chuck Hall
January 19, 2016 3:36 p.m.
Cold weather did not stop City of Fernandina Beach employees from giving a fountain, located in front of the historic Nassau County Courthouse, a good cleaning. After the restoration of Centre Street in the 1970’s, the fountain replaced a modern structure that was not well received by city residents when “Centre Street Fernandina” was completed. The fountain was given by the Amelia Island Fernandina Restoration Foundation in honor of Patsy Williams, wife of the late Aubrey Williams, mother of Hugh Williams, and a hardworking dedicated member of the Restoration Foundation.
To view a previous article written by Suanne Z. Thamm on the courthouse fountain, click here.
“After the restoration of Centre Street in the 1970’s, the fountain replaced a modern structure that was not well received by city residents when Centre Street Fernandina was completed”
Hoping to find a photo of the original poorly-received “modern structure,” I turned to the Foundation’s website History tab which, oddly, listed 2 conflicting pieces of information, namely: “Cast iron fountain retrieved from Ft. Clinch, restored, placed in front of Courthouse,” then 6 or so entries down from that comes “Reproduction of the Egmont Hotel fountain installed in front of the Courthouse.” Which fountain do you think is the one standing today?
In 2014 I wrote an article about the fountain and its history. You can find a photo of the original fountain in that article http://fernandinaobserver.org/2014/06/24/the-crane-fountain-near-the-historic-nassau-county-courthouse-in-fernandina-beach/
The reference to the cast iron fountain retrieved from Ft. Clinch should indicate that it was placed in front of the train depot. Some people have claimed that the current courthouse fountain is a reproduction of the Egmont Hotel fountain, but I think that is questionable, since the fountain clearly looks to be a reproduction of the one originally at the city waterworks. But maybe the waterworks fountain was the original Egmont Hotel fountain? Local history is a fascinating topic!
Ahhhh, ah HA! Suanne, I can’t thank you enough for your reply, this is great to know and see. If anyone can track down this continuing mystery, it’s YOU.