Lafayette Fountain is an 1887 fountain by sculptor Lorado Taft, in the grounds of the Tippecanoe County Courthouse in Lafayette, Indiana. The fountain is composed of a number of tiered bowls with a marble statue of the Marquis de LaFayette on top. He holds a sword next to his heart in his right hand and has a cape draped over his left arm.
Taft wrote about this early commission (perhaps his first) of his that:
The fountain cost $2,200.
The Inscription reads: (On eight panels on pedestal, raised letters:)
(panel 1:) <br> In HONOR OF GENERAL <br> MARIE JEAN <br> PAUL ROCH YVES <br> GILBERT MOTIER <br> DE LAFAYETTE <br> BORN IN <br> AUVERGNE <br> FRANCE <br> 1757 <br> FOUGHT WITH <br> WASHINGTON <br> FOR AMERICAN <br> INDEPENDENCE <br> 1776 TO 1782 <br> DIED 1834 <br>
(panel 2:) <br> ARTESIAN <br> WELL <br> CONSTRUCTED BY <br> TIPPECANOE <br> COUNTY <br> COMMENCED <br> APRIL 22, 1857 <br> COMPLETED <br> FEBRUARY 18, 1858 <br> DEPTH 230 FEET. <br>
(panel 3:) <br> IN MEMORY OF <br> JOHN <br> PURDUE <br> WHOSE <br> MUNIFICENCE <br> GAVE <br> NAME TO <br> PURDUE <br> UNIVERSITY <br> BORN 1801 <br> DIED 1876. <br>
(panel 4:) <br> IN HONOR OF <br> THE <br> EARLY <br> PIONEERS <br> OF THE <br> COUNTY <br> AND <br> CITY. <br>
(panel 5:) <br> TIPPECANOE <br> COUNTY <br> COURTHOUSES <br> FIRST <br> ERECTED 1829 <br> SECOND <br> ERECTED <br> 1845. <br> THIRD <br> ERECTED 1881. <br>
(panel 6:) <br> IN MEMORY OF <br> THE <br> GALLANT <br> SOLDIERS <br> OF <br> TIPPECANOE <br> COUNTY <br> WHO FOUGHT <br> FOR THE UNION. <br>
(panel 7:) <br> IN MEMORY OF WILLIAM <br> DIGBY <br> FOUNDER OF THE <br> CITY OF <br> LAFAYETTE <br> MAY 27, 1825. <br> BORN 1802 <br> DIED 1864. <br>
(panel 8:) <br> ERECTED BY <br> THE <br> CITY OF <br> LAFAYETTE <br> 1887.
Water for the fountain was originally supplied by a 230-foot well beneath it, which was installed in 1857 and whose waters were believed to have curative properties. The well was capped in 1936, and the fountain's water now comes from elsewhere.