A Drink of History in Beaumont

The old water fountain has refreshed many of us. But few know its history.

On Christmas Day, the drinking fountain dedicated by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union all the way back in 1910 will celebrate its 101st anniversary. The women’s temperance group was known for its fight for Prohibition, often kneeling and praying outside saloons. But whether the WCTU did that in Beaumont has been lost in the mists of time. About 10 percent of Beaumont’s 412 registered voters were Prohibitionists around the time the fountain was erected.

Hometown fountain

The drinking fountain sits in a tiny, triangle-shaped park at Egan Avenue and Seventh Street. It’s a sliver of grass with some lofty deodar trees for shade and a picnic table. Today, it’s called Veterans Park.

Over the decades, young and old have stopped at the fountain to wet their whistle. Some would take a break from playing ball to sip water at the fountain. Others would stop on their way to Beaumont Library for the waiting adventure of books. Many came to enjoy a moment of reflection in a quiet, peaceful setting.

Prohibition

Nine years after the fountain offered up its first drink, the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution banned the sale or manufacture of alcoholic beverages. That was 1919. But by 1933, the 21st Amended ended the failed experiment with Prohibition. But in our hometown, the echoes of Prohibition still reverberate from long ago when pioneering women fought for their beliefs. A plaque at the base of the stone fountain in town reads:

“WCTU Dec. 25, 1910”

Two more years would pass before Beaumont became a city.

Speakeasies and respite

The days of speakeasies, moonshine stills, and Al Capone faded long ago in America. But if we close our eyes and try real hard, in our mind’s eye we can still envision a hometown of long ago, when farms, orchards and a community were on the cusp of change, and a fountain offered fresh water to all comers just as it does today.

*The Beaumont Blogger would like to thank the San Gorgonio Pass Historical Society for this story idea.