The fountain in Meyer Circle on Ward Parkway is pictured in color on an early postcard published by R.B. Harness Greeting Card Company of Kansas City. Trees shown at the basin's edge are no longer standing. The statuary portion of the fountain stood for 300 years in a Venetian square. The cararra marble figure was purchased in Venice in the early 1920s and imported by J.C. Nichols. The Nichols company then constructed an 80-foot pool and mounted the statuary on the central pedestal. (The present top figure is a replica of the original figure, which was destroyed by vandals in the 1960s.) Meyer Boulevard and Meyer Circle are named after August R. Meyer, president of the first Board of Park Commissioners, appointed under Article 10 of the City Charter, adopted Feb. 27, 1892. He is looked upon as the originator of the system of parks and boulevards for which Kansas City is famous. A German-born nature enthusiast, August Meyer made a fortune in mining and smelting before he came to Kansas City. He obtained the services of the creative landscape architect George Kessler and the two of them laid out plans for present and future parks and boulevards that extended all the way from Cliff Drive on the northern bluffs to Meyer Boulevard and Swope Park on the south. Kansas City Times, July 26, 1985.
Reproduction (printing, downloading, or copying) of images from Kansas City Public Library requires permission and payment for the following uses, whether digital or print: publication; reproduction of multiple copies; personal, non-educational purposes; and advertising or commercial purposes. Please order prints or digital files and pay use fees through this website. All images must be properly credited to: "Missouri Valley Special Collections, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City, Missouri." Images and texts may be reproduced without prior permission only for purposes of temporary, private study, scholarship, or research. Those using these images and texts assume all responsibility for questions of copyright and privacy that may arise.
