Dallas Fair Park 7 - Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain. (original) (raw)

7. Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain

Located between the Vietnam memorial and Music Hall, the Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain was originally stationed at the Frank P. Holland Court in 1916. The fountain moved to the front of Music Hall when the building opened, then traveled to its current spot during the 1970s. More commonly known as The Gulf Cloud, the fountain pays tribute to Captain Sydney Smith.

Sydney originally came from Alabama before joining the Mississippi Confederate Army. At the age of twenty-four, he moved to Dallas and stayed there. He became Secretary of the State Fair Association in 1887 when Holland resigned from his post after only one year. Sydney gave up the position in 1888 but returned in 1897. He remained the secretary until 1912 when he passed away.

Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain
Postcard courtesy www.rootsweb.com/ %7Etxpstcrd/

Sydney Smith Memorial Fountain
Photo courtesy Drriss & Marrionn*

Partly funded through marketing special Sydney Smith badges, the fountain was made to honor the captain and his contributions. It stands twelve feet high, weighs five tons, and has a diameter of thirty-five feet. The bronze centerpiece depicts a mother and three daughters, each figure symbolizing a different feature of Texas. The mother represents the plains, the girl on the right stands for the mountains, and the one on the left lying down refers to the Gulf. The winged figure symbolizes the gulf cloud, which will eventually provide rain for the land.

The centerpiece was the work of sculptor Clyde Chandler, a native of Indiana who moved with her family to Dallas in 1886. Ten years later, she attended the Massachusetts Normal Art School in Boston. When she left school, Clyde returned to Dallas began teaching freehand drawing at St. Mary's College. The Dallas Art Association gave her a scholarship in 1903, which she used to study at the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois under the guidance of artist Lorado Taft. After traveling with him to Italy, she began work as a sculptor. Clyde once again returned to Dallas, but she also had a residence in Chicago. After completing The Gulf Cloud, the sculptor permanently moved to her northern home.

*****Author's Note:
All the pictures that are not mine are either public domain or creative commons. I provided the photographer's name.

| References: 1.Bigtex.com 2.Dallashistory.org 3.Dallas Morning News Archives 4.Fairpark.org 5.Slate, John H. Historic Dallas Parks. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. 6.Tshaonline.org 7.Watermelon-kid.com 8.Wikipedia.org 8.Winters, Willis Cecil. Fair Park. Arcadia Publishing, 2010. | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |

Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and vintage or recent photos, please contact us.