Woodward Avenue - Russell A Alger - Fountain - Detroit, Michigan, USA. - National Scenic Byways on Waymarking.com

The Alger memorial is a Smithsonian Art Inventory Sculpture, and mentioned in the WPA, American Guide Series.

This one time fountain now stands drained and empty, but still stands as a memorial to Russell A Alger. The water used to spout from the small Lions mouths at the side of the plinth.

"The Russell A. Alger Memorial Fountain stands on the east side of Grand Circus Park. The monument features a bronze statue of a woman about 7 feet tall wearing a headdress and a flowing gown and carrying a sword and a shield that bears the state seal. Her right hand is raised in greeting. She is the bronze personification of the state of Michigan.

Alger is depicted on the memorial on a bas relief on the granite pedestal, surrounded by laurel. Lion heads on the pedestal spit out water. The base of the memorial is inscribed “Russell A. Alger — Soldier — Statesman Citizen — 1836-1907.”

Alger was a lumber baron and railroad man who rose to become a U.S. senator and later was governor from 1885 to 1887. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for president in 1888. Alger later served as President William McKinley’s secretary of war, and when the president was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz — a Michigan native and former Detroiter — on Sept. 6, 1901, Alger said: “The root of anarchy which has been started in our country and which has resulted in the loss of a president should be stamped out. It is out imperative duty to stamp out the evil.”

Alger died in 1907 and was entombed in Elmwood Cemetery. Alger County in Michigan is named for him.

Five years after Alger died, the Alger Memorial Association was formed in an effort to pay him tribute. The Civil War veterans also worked on the project.

The association selected Henry Bacon and Daniel Chester French for the job. The New York City firm Presbey-Leland Memorials served as contractors, and the statue was founded by the Gorham Manufacturing Co.

There was some controversy over where to erect the statue until it was agreed it would stand in Grand Circus Park. The disagreement delayed the project, and work did not begin until 1919. Two years later, on July 27, 1921, the fountain was officially unveiled, 14 years after Alger had died." Text Source: (visit link)


"Russell Alexander Alger (February 27, 1836 – January 24, 1907) was the 20th Governor and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan and also U.S. Secretary of War during the Presidential administration of William McKinley. He was supposedly a distant relation of Horatio Alger; although Russell Alger lived his own "rags-to-riches" success tale, eventually becoming a financier, lumber baron, railroad owner, and government official in several high offices." Text Source: (visit link)

ARTIST(S): French, Daniel Chester, 1850-1931, sculptor. Bacon, Henry, 1866-1924, architect. Gorham Manufacturing Company, founder.

Program: America's Byways Website: [Web Link] Official Name: Woodward Avenue (M-1)

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