Vasbinder 1881 Fountain Rededication

Central Park, 2 Park Ave. East, Mansfield, OH

As part of the America 250 Celebration in 2026, the Fountain will be completed restored and rededicated during a special event on July 4, 2026.

At the original 1881 fountain dedication, the featured speaker was pioneer Henry Hedges, who expressed hope in front of thousands of onlookers that the gift would be cared for and bless the community for decades to come. ”Here eye shall be delighted by glittering drops and glistening jets,” Hedges told those assembled. “Joy smiles in the fountain, health flows in the rills, and the ribbons of silver unwind from the hills.”

The Vasbinder Fountain is a Mansfield landmark of the first order. Dedicated on July 4, 1881, it was removed in the late 1950s during the creation of the then-controversial Park Avenue cut-through, and after storage and a temporary placement at Malabar Farm, it was returned to Central Park in 1979. the fountain was donated by David and Jane Vasbinder. The Vasbinders’ parents, Ephraim and Sarah, arrived in Mansfield in 1820, just a few years after the founding of Richland County. The Vasbinders were brother and sister, and lived in a large house on the northwest corner of Park Avenue West and Mulberry Street, now the location of the Park Professional Building. In the 1870 census, David’s occupation was given as “farmer,” and Jane’s as “keeping house.”