Firefighters Fountain

Penn Valley Park, is a 130-acre park bordered by Southwest Tfwy. and Broadway, and 31st Street and Pershing Road. Overlooking Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the park was developed in 1904 on land through which the Santa Fe Trail had passed. The park is home to The Firefighters Fountain, the Scout, the Pioneer Mother, The Hiker, the 3 acre Washlington Lake, a 2-mile fitness trail, a dog park, tennis courts, ball fields, a skate park , Just Off Broadway Theatre and the Liberty Memorial. It is a popular spot for concerts and festivals during the summer months.





Firefighters Fountain, 31st & Broadway, Kansas City, MO. Located Penn Valley Park the Firefighters Fountain is a memorial to those firefighters who have fallen in the line of duty throughout the city’s history. Larkin Aquatics was commissioned to design the water fountain and associated landscaping while Tom Corbin was chosen as the sculptor. The fountain was completed and dedicated in 1991. The finished fountain features two sculpted bronze firefighters pointing a hose. The sculptures are surrounded by a basin of water approximately 80 feet in diameter and holding 76,000 gallons of water, making this outdoor fountain one of the largest in Kansas City. Water shoots from 48 brass nozzles that are real nozzles used on fire truck hoses. The fountains water sprays create a striking resemblance to water being sprayed from a fire hose.





A series of short pillars is located in a semi-circle behind the fountain. Etched into the granite are the names of every firefighter in Kansas City who has died in service.



In the center of the pillars, there is the figure of a firefighter with his head bowed.







You are now on the Santa Fe, California, Oregon Trail that began in Independence. 290,000 started from this trail, and 90% made it. The little town of Westport just south of here was built along the Santa Fe Trail as an outfitting center providing foodstuffs, wagons, animals and other provisions for wagon trains heading west. A wagon could be outfitted for about $850.