Weird Island

44. BUBBLERS: Cogswell’s Infamous Fountains


Listen Later

In the middle of downtown Pawtucket, there’s an old, no longer functioning drinking fountain that most people assume is just a statue. But it’s one of only a handful of remaining Temperance Fountains, donated to the city by a man who believed that the solution to drunkenness might just be a glass of fresh, cold water. 

To Visit: Corner of Roosevelt Ave and Main Street, Pawtucket RI | You can map to 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860

Episode Source Material: 

  • Debunking the the bubbler myth
  • Henry D. Cogswell - Wikipedia
  • Boston Daily Globe | September 27, 1893
  • Temperance fountain - Wikipedia
  • “God's Free Gift to Man and Beast” - Henry Cogswell's Temperance Fountains | Rhode Tour
  • Dubuque Daily Herald | March 6, 1885
  • Sandy Creek News | July 28, 1887
  • Frederick Weekly News | May 29, 1884
  • Brooklyn Daily Eagle | July 16, 1883
  • Thompsonville Press | May 5, 1881
  • Stafford Springs Press | October 8, 1885
  • “All Benefactors of Man I Claim as My Brethren”: Henry D. Cogswell and his Fountains of Philanthropy | SPMC
  • Tompkins Square Park Monuments - Temperance Fountain
  • Cogswell Memorial Fountain
  • Temperance Fountain: Nobody Knows How Dry It Was - Heyday DC
  • Jenks Park and Cogswell Tower , Adjoining £80 Broad Street to the north Providence Central .Falls
  • Pawtucket Walking Tour
  • Shenipsit Lake - Wikipedia
  • Temperance Fountain – Washington, DC - Atlas Obscura
  • Prohibition: A Case Study of Progressive Reform | Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929 | US History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress
  • History of Drinking Water Treatment
  • Women Led the Temperance Charge – Prohibition: An Interactive History
  • A Brief History of US Drinking - JSTOR Daily
  • The time when Americans drank all day long - BBC News
  • Access to Free Public Water Fountains Might Have the Temperance Movement to Thank
  • 13 Weird Moments In The History Of Water Fountains | HuffPost Life
  • New York Times | June 11, 1859
  • Mark Twain: The Complete Interviews
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Weird IslandBy Weird Rhode Island

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

176 ratings


More shows like Weird Island

View all
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! by NPR

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!

38,608 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,628 Listeners

Fresh Air by NPR

Fresh Air

38,211 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,290 Listeners

Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcasts

Stuff You Should Know

77,584 Listeners

99% Invisible by Roman Mars

99% Invisible

26,135 Listeners

Criminal by Vox Media Podcast Network

Criminal

37,293 Listeners

Lore by Aaron Mahnke

Lore

44,895 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,381 Listeners

Revisionist History by Pushkin Industries

Revisionist History

59,341 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,438 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,016 Listeners

American Scandal by Wondery

American Scandal

18,899 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,958 Listeners

SmartLess by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett

SmartLess

57,885 Listeners