Baby Hercules Fountain - Salem, Oregon - Converted Fountains on Waymarking.com

This fountain features a historic cherub known as "Baby Hercules." It was installed in the center of a turnaround path in front of the Kirkbride Building at Oregon State Hospital circa 1900. In 1950, construction of Siskiyou Hall and conversion of the turnaround path into a parking lot led to dis-assembly of the fountain. The cherub statue was placed in storage. At a later point, the statue was taken out of storage and installed at the corner of Center and 23rd streets, but was vandalized within 24 hours of installation. It was repaired, again installed at the corner, and again vandalized. The statute was then installed behind the hospital superintendent's cottage until the state re-purposed the cottages, placing the statute back into storage for several decades.

In 2011, the state razed Siskiyou Hall and re-landscaped the park area west of the Kirkbride building. The Baby Hercules fountain was re-installed in approximately the same location where it was originally a working fountain. But rather than running water to it, the state chose to install it within a circular, aggregate basin that provides the appearance of a water collector.

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Setting: Outside Place: Oregon State Hospital campus Use: Decorative

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