The mention of ideal, Natural water in Bagley's bequest suggests a nostalgia for the agrarian, rural past not uncommon in 19th century city dwellers. (See also, The Merrill Fountain.) This pastoral nostalgia idealizes a manicured Nature provided by parks and fountains, well under control by man.

Modelling the fountain after a small ciborium in St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice, the architect seems to add the benediction of the church to what was, apparently, the naturally religious experience of sipping from a water fountain.

In the 1901 photo above, pedestrians gather about the fountain. Fif teen years later, below, there are more cars than people.

In another fifteen years, the fountain would be located at the corner of Monroe and Woodward, in the place of the Merrill Fountain, kitty-corner across Campus Martius.

Note the abandonned Hudson's store in the right background and the darkened storefront s across Woodward.