Thomas H. Swope Memorial Fountain
Owner: Kansas City Parks & Recreation Department
Dates: 1922
Artist/Designer: Wight and Wight
Description:
In 1896, Thomas H. Swope donated two square miles of land to the City of Kansas City for use as a park. Today, Swope Park is home to Starlight Theatre, the Kansas City Zoo and Swope Memorial Golf Course, among others, but is still a work in progress. It has become an important part of the surrounding area and Kansas City.
The Swope Memorial is located on top of a hill overlooking Swope Park near the Swope Memorial Golf Course. The 6-foot tall pedestal fountain sits at the hill's edge. It is framed by a 4-foot wide balustrade of white stone. The fountain was updated in 2003. It is one of two fountains in the Kansas City Parks system that is solar-powered.
84 feet east of the fountain is the granite mausoleum and memorial for Thomas Swope. The mausoleum is U-shaped colonnade in the Greek Doric style. It has twelve 14-foot high columns supporting an entablature. There are inscriptions in the entablature and eight medallions embedded in the entablature representing eight different species of tree found in the park. In the center is a bronze plaque memorial of Thomas Swope. In the center of the floor of the memorial is an inscribed stone under which Mr. Swope was buried in April 1918, about nine years after his passing in 1909. A pair of urns are at the top of each end of the staircase. The bottom of the staircase is flanked by two lions keeping watch over the site.
