On April 23rd, Kansas City celebrated its Annual Greater Kansas City Fountain Day. This is when all 48 of the cities’ publicly operated fountains are turned back on.
Kansas City is home to more than 200 registered fountains, the only city in the world with more fountains is Rome, Italy. Rome is home to over 3,000 fountains, but most no longer function; because of this, Kansas City earned the name “the City of Fountains.”
Kansas City received the name “the City of Fountains” in 1973 when a Hallmark executive and his spouse took a trip to Italy and found most of the fountains in disrepair. This prompted them to create the City of Fountains Foundation when they returned to ensure Kansas City’s fountains remained in working order.
UMKC history professor David Trowbridge, Ph.D, created “a citywide trail with information about each of the city-owned and maintained fountains.” The tour can be found here, and it consists of the individual history of each fountain in the tour.
Next year, the fountains will turn back on during Fountain Fest on April 19. A press release by the Kansas City Parks and Recreation department marks this as “the official start of fountain season in the City of Fountains!”
There are 10 fountains on the Country Club Plaza that are marked on the tour, these are within walking distance of UMKC’s Volker Campus. These fountains create a very nice environment on the Plaza and are commonly used as picture spots when people go out with friends at the Plaza.
The fountains date back to the 1800s, and originally acted as a trough for horses as they passed through the city. Today, the fountains serve a different purpose, they are everything from memorial fountains to works of art.
Events like Fountain Day in Kansas City help remind citizens of the history of the city and ensure that it is not forgotten.
