Look just ahead for a wide, round concrete fountain with a bright blue tiled basin and little sculpted turtles perched on the rim-trust me, those turtles aren’t going anywhere fast!
Now imagine Seattle almost a hundred years ago, when this small patch of park was busy with horse-drawn wagons and early automobiles rattling down the street. Prefontaine Fountain was finished in 1925, and right from the start it was a bit of a showstopper. Picture crowds gathering for its grand opening, the air full of excitement (and probably a whiff of wet concrete). But behind its bubbly beauty is the story of a generous spirit-Father Francis X. Prefontaine, who built Seattle’s first Catholic church. He loved this city so much he donated $5,000 (which bought quite a lot more than a coffee and a donut in those days!) to build this fountain in his honor. The fountain is like a friendly old neighbor-Seattle’s oldest one, in fact-standing watch as the city has changed around it. And although the fountain’s area is now fenced off, you can still spot the blue mosaic tiles, gleaming like the surface of a pond on a rare sunny day, and those turtles, frozen forever in a race they’ll never win. So tip your hat to old Father Prefontaine and his turtle troupe-after all, they’ve been waiting almost a century for this moment with you!
