The Watt Fountain

The Watt Fountain is a memorial to Whanganui/Wanganui's first Mayor, William Hogg Watt. A fountain was chosen for symbolic reasons: Watt had gifted Lake Westmere (then his property) to the town as a water supply in the 1870s.

It has been placed in many locations over the years since it was first installed at the intersection of Victoria Avenue and Ridgway Street. Increasing traffic and the planned construction of tram lines in the Avenue meant it was moved to Cooks Gardens in 1906. For several years after this it was kept in Council storage, then being shifted to Queens Park in the 1930s, where it remained for most of the twentieth century until being again relocated to the original location. A new base was provided at this point.