Administered by City of Fort Wayne Parks Department 705 East State Boulevard Fort Wayne Indiana 46805
Located Orff Park 900 West Main Street, corner of Rockhill Street & Thieme Drive Fort Wayne Indiana
Date:
Designed 1923. Dedicated July 16, 1927
Notes:
Index of American Sculpture, University of Delaware, 1985
Fort Wayne Museum of Art, 1976.
Save Outdoor Sculpture, Indiana survey, 1993.
SOS Assessment Award, 1998.
Image on file.
News Sentinel (Fort Wayne, IN), Aug. 3, 1983.
(On north side, lower right corner of base plaque:) J.S. Heath Company, Waukegan, ILL (On base of sculpture:) LET'S GO SWIMMIN' (On bronze plaque on front of base:) THE OLD AQUEDUCT CLUB MEMORIAL/THE AQUEDUCT/CARRYING THE WABASH AND ERIE CANAL/ACROSS THE ST. MARY'S RIVER WAS LOCATED/JUST NORTH OF THE BRIDGE ABOUT WHERE/THE NICKEL PLATE RAILROAD CROSSES THE/RIVER AND WAS THE PLAYGROUND AND/SWIMMINGHOLE FOR THE WEST END BOYS/COMPLETED ABOUT 1843/PASSED OUT OF EXISTENCE 1880 (On bronze plaque on back of base:) THE OLD AQUEDUCT CLUB/ALL MALE PERSONS BEING FORTY FIVE/YEARS OF AGE OR OVER HAVIN LIVED/WEST OF CALHOUN STREET FORTY YEARS/AND HAVING SWAM IN THE OLD AQUEDUCT/CONSTITUTE ITS MEMBERSHIP./ONCE ANNUALLY JUST BEFORE THE NEW/YEAR THE CLUB MEETS AT A BANQUET AND/RELIVES THE STORIES OF THE OLD AQUEDUCT DAYS/ORGANIZED NOV. 12, 1912 (On relief of aqueduct:) "THE OL SWIMN HOL"/THE BOYS OF THE OLD AQUEDUCT CLUB/(list of 327 names)/PAST PRESIDENTS/YEARS SERVED (list of 10 names)/COMMITTEE ON MEMORIAL 1924-5/(list of 5 names) (On right side of base:) YOUTH COMES BUT ONCE IN A LIFETIME LONGFELLOW/THIS MEMORIAL/DEDICATED AND PRESENTED TO THE CITY/JULY 16, 1927/THE OLD AQUEDUCT CLUB-MORE SWIMMERS/(list of 53 names)/MAN WAS MADE OF SOCIAL EARTH/CHILD AND BROTHER FROM HIS BIRTH/EMERSON unsigned Founder's mark appears.
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
Summary:
Two young men dressed in overalls walk side by side on their way to Fort Wayne's Aqueduct for a swim. The sculpture rests atop a large square base adorned with two bronze plaques, one of which features a relief of the old Aqueduct.
