There are two backstories for the Benson bubblers, the iconic drinking fountains you’ll find scattered across downtown Portland. Both are charming in their own way.
The first folklore says that local businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson wanted to keep loggers, many of whom were likely his employees, out of the saloons during lunch by quenching their thirst on the streets instead. Another tale traces back to a little girl at a Fourth of July parade who was so thirsty that she cried, tugging at Benson’s heartstrings.
Either way, he ended up donating $10,000 to the city to install 20 of Albert E. Doyle’s four-armed fountains by 1917. The first one went in at Southwest Fifth Avenue and Washington Street. Another is still flowing outside his historic house, now located on the PSU campus.
Today, water flows through 52 Benson bubblers, 74 one-bowl variations, and a single three-bowl fountain at Ankeny Plaza. You’ll also find one at Maryhill Museum of Art in the Columbia River Gorge and in Portland’s sister city Sapporo, Japan.
