In May 1915, The Chattanooga News featured an editorial about the Fireman’s Fountain and its newest adornments - - alligators. In a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the decision to remove the “melancholy alligators’ from the East Lake Park and Zoo to a more visible site where they could be cared for by Chattanooga officials. Commissioner Betterton’s heart “was touched at the site of those forlorn creatures… and decide to donate them to the head of the fire department to adorn the fireman’s fountain on Georgia Avenue.” The editorial continued, “They will be, in the future Commissioner Betterton’s pets and will probably be used by Judge Fleming as aid in conducting his juvenile court …Talk about the wisdom of Solomon; the disposition of those alligators is nothing short of an inspiration.” But, the other city commissioners did not escape the teasing tone. “When they die…their hides would be suitable for making suitcases for the four commissioners as mementoes of the happy days when the “big four” tackled” the problems facing the city and its residents. Eventually, months later, the alligators were removed by a formal vote and returned to a more “comfortable” environment.
The Fireman’s Fountain required frequent repainting due to its exposure to the seasons, especially during the winter when the flowing water often froze solid. While the icicles looked lovely to the casual eye, the freezing and thawing cycle damaged both the structure’s integrity and its appearance. In 1923, it was decided that the red coat and blue britches simply required too much maintenance. Instead, in March, the painters appeared on-site and began painting the entire memorial - - the fireman, fountain, fence, lamp posts and cannon pedestal - - dark brown with top coat of bronze paint. The new color scheme had been suggested by Mrs. O. K. LeBron and Mrs. J. B. Lauderbach of the Chattanooga Garden Club and approved by the mayor and commissioners.
Suggestions regarding the memorial continued over the next decades. As more people visited Chattanooga during the 1920s, the commissioners considered creating a “rest spot” at the Fireman’s Fountain, complete with park benches and trees. After studying the traffic patterns on Georgia Avenue along with 6th and 7th streets, they tabled the ideas because of the “scurrying automobiles that infest the place.” By 1930, the Kosmos Club, led by Mrs. Lauderback and Mrs. Oscar Mitchell, again appeared before the commission, this time suggesting that the size of the triangle be decreased for traffic safety purposes and that the “spot be beautified” by decreasing the height of the fountain and repainting it either bronze or “perhaps use an aluminum finish.” Sherman Beck and R. H. Hunt who had been retained to redesign the courthouse lawn agreed to consider the request and report back to the commission.
William Crutchfield joined the debate the following year by suggesting that the “ugly old fireman’s fountain” be removed and only a small pool with a simple fountain be retained. He argued that the design of the fountain was more “reminiscent of a country town than a city “with a developing artistic sense.” R. H. Hunt and the city leaders disagreed; the memorial to Henry Iler and Matt Peak remained. Instead, the Chattanooga Council of Garden Clubs agreed to maintain the site and added a special feature - - the decoration of an “evergreen tree as the official Chattanooga and Hamilton County Christmas tree each year. The Junior League offered its assistance with the annual event and Mrs. Cartter Patton, President, was asked to oversee the event.
The Chattanooga Daily Times in October 1942 carried a story regarding the importance of the Fireman’s Fountain to Chattanoogans. As young men and women volunteered to serve in the armed forces, the author shared the story of a “very famous Chattanoogan” who had been involved in raising the money to erect the memorial. The man had left Chattanooga for a world-renowned career but had “never lost his interest in his home town or in the Iron Fireman.” One day he came home and joined friends for lunch across from the memorial. His colleagues later shared that he had walked into the restaurant, turned and smiled at the “fireman” and “an instant later” was stricken, dying hours later. “The Iron Fireman was the last recognizable glimpse he had” of the city he had served faithfully and a reminder to the residents of Chattanooga that “Here were people who knew how to die, that others might live.”
The Fireman’s Fountain remains today as a reminder to “greater love.”
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Linda Moss Mines is the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Historian.