Statues from courthouse fountain up for auction
COSHOCTON − Three statues with a connection to Coshocton County are up for auction.
The statues depicting Hebe, the Greek Goddess of Youth, and two naiads are owned by Mike and Jessie Garinger of Hartford City, Indiana. They are being sold by the Bricker Auction Company of Portland, Indiana. Bids are being accepted through 7 p.m. Feb. 24.
The statues were originally on display with a fountain as part the World's Columbian Exposition at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. The zinc and cast iron works were made by the J.W. Fiske Company of New York City. The water fountain and statues were moved to the Coshocton Court Square sometime after.
Jessie said her grandfather lived in Coshocton and worked at the papermill and bought the statues sometime after the fountain went dormant in 1949. They've been in her and Frank's barn for about 70 years. The main statue is 6 feet tall and the other two are 4 feet tall.
In June 2021, Irene Miller and Steve Fox of Coshocton in Bloom pitched an idea to Coshocton County Commissioners to build a new fountain on the court square. Mary Beck, administrator for the commissioners, said there hasn't been any movement on the project since that meeting.
Beck also said the Garingers had contacted the county about buying the statues about seven years ago, but they didn't have any place to display them.
It's unknown when the fountain was erected, but it's believed to have been sometime in the early 1900s. It ended in 1949 due to maintenance issues. It was taken out and sold sometime in the 1950s, Fox said.
At the meeting, Fox and Miller said the project would be done through donations. The idea wouldn't be to recreate the original fountain, but do something in the same spirit. CIB had reached out to Massarelli's Fountains and Statues of Hammonton, New Jersey. Fox said they don't do custom work, but have some standard fountains that might work.
The prospective placement would be on the Third Street side of the courthouse halfway down the center sidewalk. There is nothing in that spot now.
This article originally appeared on Coshocton Tribune: Statues from courthouse fountain up for auction
