Court of Fountains, Buffalo, New York, USA

Court Of Fountains - Buffalo World Fair, 1901

The United States held its third world's fair in Buffalo, New York in 1901, shortly after the end of the Spanish-American war. This time period represented the beginning of the United States as an international power, and this World's Fair helped provide legitimacy to this newfound status. It was an unabashed celebration of America's newly obtained Imperial and industrial power in the world. The location in Buffalo was chosen in part because it was next to Niagara Falls. The fair milked this association with a famous natural water feature for everything it was worth. The Westinghouse company again provided the generators that harnessed the water to be used for the fountains, as had been the case in Chicago. The exposition centered on a court of fountains that marked the center of this scheme, and which the architects designed in a Spanish Renaissance style. Karl Bitter sculpted complex ornamentation that highlighted the water fountains and were based on themes ranging from representations of the Earth's natural resources, man's primitive relationship with nature, and presentations designed to celebrate the young nation's achievements.

A 400 foot-high monument called the Electric Tower stood at the head of the court of fountains and was dedicated to the great waterways, byways, and and the power of Niagara Falls. The sculptor Herbert Adams provided his statue of the "Goddess of light" for the peak of this imposing structure. From the base of this fountain flowed eleven thousand gallons of water per minute, which flowed over 70 feet through a series of garden ponds and edges, finally cascading into the reflecting pool below. Flanking this cascade of water was to groups of statuary by George Gray Barnard that symbolized the significance of the great waters for both the Indian and a white man.