This is the text of the marker which tells the history of this manigifcant fountain and its sculptures:
Swann Fountain sits halfway between City Hall and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. It was built to honor Dr. Wilson Cary Swann and is a focal point of the Benjamin Franklin parkway. Swann was a 19th century doctor who founded the Philadelphia Fountain Society because he believed that the city should have more public drinking fountains for people and troughs for animals.
The fountain was completed in 1924. Alexander Stirling Calder created its sculptures, The three central figures represent Philadelphia's major waterways, the Delaware River, the Schuykill River and the Wissahickon Creek. Swann Fountain is also known as "The River of the Three Rivers."
These nearby rivers were important natural resources in the early days of the city. People used water from the river for drinking, bathing, cleaning and fighting fires. In fact, William Penn specifically chose this spot for Philadelphia because of its locations between the Schuykill and the Delaware Rivers.
The fountain overlooks the Franklin Institute, the Museum of natural Sciences, two historical churches and many, many sculptures, memorials and monuments. In the summer it is breathtaking but in the winter it is sad and lonely as the fountain is emptied.
There are three sculptures, figurative human-lie creatures in the center of the fountain. They represent the Delaware, The Wissahickon. and the The Schuylkill Rivers. The fountain, is therefore also know as the Three Rivers Fountain. The fountain, by Alexander Stirling Calder designed with architect Wilson Eyre, memorializes Dr. Wilson Cary Swann, founder of the Philadelphia Fountain Society. The Society had been planning a memorial fountain in honor of its late president and founder. After agreeing that the fountain would become city property, the society was granted the site in the center of Logan Circle. For greater detail about the individual figurative sculptures, the Wikipedia page on this is pretty comprehensive. You can find it HERE
I found the following HERE and I thought it was worthwhile to copy and paste. "The square has become a circle, the Swann Memorial Fountain by Alexander Stirling Calder, a graceful aerial water ballet, the flower beds among the most brilliant in Philadelphia. It is a medallion in the parkway's necklace of gems."
The following excerpts come from the Smithsonian inventory page for this fountain/sculpture. SOURCE
Description
"Three Native-American figures, representing three rivers: the Delaware, the Schuylkill, and the Wissahickon, recline at the center of circular fountain pool. The two female figures hold swans and the male figure holds a fish. Jets of water spray from the head of each figure. A large water jet sprays water up from the center of the figure group. Out in the surrounding pool, there are bronze frogs and turtles which face the center and spray water towards the figures."
Owner
Administered by City of Philadelphia, Fairmount Park Commission, Memorial Hall, West Park, P. O. Box 21601, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131. Located Logan Circle, 19th & Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Remarks
"Given by the Philadelphia Fountain Society through Fairmount Park Commission and a bequest in 1891 by Maria J. Swann in memory of her husband, Dr. Wilson Cary Swann, organizer of the Fountain Society."