By Robert Lucke
When taking the family for a walk this fall in search of beautiful fall foliage, dont overlook the unlikely for beauty and excitement too.
Just north of Highway two in downtown Havre is a glorious park stretching several blocks that this time of year is alive with color, birds, and a majestic fountain as a centerpiece to it all. It is worth the walk to go from one end of the park to the other, crossing streets along the way.
And then there is the added benefit of the old steam engine that centerpieces one end of the park. For young and old alike, the engine excites the blood and is a great background for a family Christmas card of Havre. Dont overlook the Pomeroy statues in the area of Hands Across the Border.
For a thrill that will excite your family like it has excited families since Havre was Bull Hook Bottoms, get to that area of Havre when Amtrak is arriving or leaving. The noise, the ground shaking as the engine passes and the sudden rush of folks from all over the world milling around the parks is just great. Amtrak leaves Havre for the west each afternoon at 3:33 and heads east around 1:17. Best for viewing is spot the engine coming in from the west in the west yards and watch it as it makes its way to the depot with the great flurry that passenger trains always have.
The fountain in that area of Havre (at the north end of Third Ave.) was built a few years ago by a group of enterprising Havre citizens who felt that Havre needed a fountain in that spot to replace one that had been built there in 1906.
This new fountain has as its centerpiece, a statue of James Hill, founder of the Great Northern Railway and the man Hill County was named for.
Even though the fountain is in the same place as the original, there are some differences. A story in the October 6, 1906, Havre Plaindealer describes the first new fountain.
One by one the pyramids of civic enterprise are being builded and with the work Havre is evolving from a travel stained and begrimaged sentinel of the great west of civilization to a beautiful city crowned with all the improvements modern genius has evolved to make cities habitable and captivating.
Last week there arrived in Havre the long delayed fountain apparatus for the city park. Under the supervision of City engineer McCulloh, it was set up in the spot appointed for it at the intersection of Third Avenue and Main Street, just opposite the Great Northern passenger depot. It is a beautiful place of mechanism. It represents a stork, happy emblem for this profilic country, with wings partly spread and head thrown well back. From its beak issues a stream of water that in the sunshine gorgeously flashes all the variegated hues of the bow of promise. The stream issuing from the storks bill spreads in an umbrella shape and falls into the basin below
It has already attracted great attention and been the subject of much favorable comment. It is proposed next summer to put a number of gold fish in the basin and in their disporting it will furnish nurse maids and their changes amusement between the numbers on the concert program.
These days the fountain still will provide nurse maids and their charges entertainment, and for families searching for beauty, birds, the outdoors, and the lure of excitement of trains going to and from far off places, dont overlook this part of downtown Havre.
