Justin Conley of Bellevue was on a mission with a splash of mystery recently as he explored North Park in McCandless.
Conley was looking for Pittsburgh’s own Fountain of Youth, a historic stone and concrete springhouse tucked into the hillside in the expansive public park in Allegheny County.
The springhouse is easy to spot and set back about 100 feet off Kummer Road. Parking is permitted along a small gravel section.
“I’ve been going around North Park looking at different places and didn’t hear about it until a few weeks ago,” Conley said. “I thought it sounded like a very interesting myth that the area has.”
The prominently etched “Fountain of Youth” name stone was replaced by a Girl Scout in 2009 after the original stone had fallen off years before.
No official explanation of why this springhouse was named Fountain of Youth exists and, sadly, eternal youth won’t really happen if you visit — in fact, the water is unpotable. But it’s fun for visitors to explore the remains of the springhouse that was modeled after a Roman springhouse sharing the same moniker as Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine, Fla.
“I just love the old-school architecture and the brickwork, masonry and the way it’s built into the hillside. That’s super cool,” Conley said. “I bet once this was some people’s only source of fresh water.”
Fountain founding father
Allegheny Parks Senior Park Ranger Deaglan McManus said the fountain came about because of the late architect Henry Hornbostel, the county’s former director of parks. Hornbostel, known for his eccentricity, was at the park’s helm when the fountain was constructed in 1938. It was built from stone likely quarried within park boundaries.
The official park report that same year kept the details on the fountain brief, recording: “Construction of a spring house designed as a Grotto at the Kummer Road. This is typical in every detail of a Roman cavern.”
Hornbostel designed the North Park Boat House when the park expanded during the 1930s.
“I suspect he (Hornbostel) took something simple, a natural spring on a hillside below the golf course, and used it as an opportunity to construct something quirky,” McManus said.
McManus added it’s not confirmed exactly who built the fountain. It may have been built by park employees or as part of numerous Works Progress Administration (WPA) projects that were constructed during the 1930s.
In its heyday, the springhouse had a pump offering fresh water to anyone.
In 1953, the spring broke down completely. It was repaired, but in 1955, the Pennsylvania Department of Health found coliform organisms present in the water.
“I imagine that didn’t make anyone feel any younger,” McManus said.
In 1959, a repair bill of $10,649 (around $122,600 in today’s money, according to McManus) was sky-high for the times.
The Fountain of Youth closed by the early 1960s — no exact date is known — after the spring water was discovered to be polluted, resulting in a “mildly laxative” effect on those who drank the water, McManus explained.
Preserving the fountain
Conley said he’d like to see park officials do more with the historical site.
“It’d be nice if they would put a bridge here or something here. It could be really nice. Maybe a placard, too, because with a name like Fountain of Youth, you have questions,” Conley said.
McManus said the park plans to provide an entry on Clio (an online app for nationwide historical entries) for the site and, once it is published, visitors will be able to find a link on the North Park History website or via the Clio app.
“It is among our most popular historic sites in the park that visitors inquire about. The most frequent question we get is ‘Where is it?’ ” McManus said.
The spring still flows, and water can be heard dripping when ducking inside the dimly lit, graffiti-laden and slightly musty grotto area.
Erica Lowry of McCandless has been to the fountain more than a dozen times.
She knew about it when she was a teenager attending North Allegheny High School and said kids used to party there — and maybe some still do.
“It’s fascinating. It’s cool because you think of all the people that would go there,” Lowry said. “My two sons thought it was cool.”
Lowry said the structure has a mysterious quality that visitors seem to appreciate.
“It’s amazing how it’s held up, and there are so many people from here who have no idea about it. I take everyone there. It’s so unique,” said Lowry. “I love the rawness of the one in North Park, and it’s a cool part of Pittsburgh that’s unique.”
Looking out from the inside of the Fountain of Youth springhouse in North Park. (Joyce Hanz | TribLive)
North Park Trailrunners volunteer and avid hiker and runner Edna Spang of Pine has visited the fountain countless times and guides hikers to the site about once a month.
Spang finds the structure fascinating.
“It’s very mysterious. I took my son there more than 18 years ago. This was before the Girl Scout project had revived it. We would always pick up the garbage there. To go inside, it really is an experience,” she said.
Spang and her hikers always arrive with bags to collect trash left at the springhouse.
“It’s sad when we arrive and there’s new graffiti,” she said.
Park officials said ongoing vandalism and graffiti are frustrating.
“It’s contributing to the deterioration of this unique structure. Removing the graffiti from the stone is a time- and resource-intensive project,” McManus said. “We do often have to pick up litter, everything from chip bags to water bottles to, at one time, a shrine to Danny DeVito complete with lit candles and framed photos. Thankfully, we got to this before the candles lit anything else on fire.”
To visit North Park’s Fountain of Youth, GPS to 10127 Kummer Road, Wexford, PA 15090.
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