Kansas City is known as the City of Fountains.
There are more than 200 fountains in the metro area. Forty-eight of them are city-owned.
Fountains were originally meant for horses, birds and dogs to drink from.
The first city-built fountain was at 15th and Paseo in 1899. It was moved in 1991 and renamed the ‘Women’s Leadership Fountain.’
In the 1900s women began raising money for fountains that would be sanitary for people to drink from. Specifically, they wanted to avoid diseases from horses.
The City of Fountains Foundation was established in 1973. The founders did not want Kansas City fountains to go into despair like they saw in Italy.
The foundation now works with KC Parks and Rec to restore and preserve aging fountains.
One of the most photographed fountains in Kansas City is the J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain.
Fountains flow from the second Tuesday in April through October, however some fountains run year round.
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