Moorestown Monuments

Temperance Fountain

Location: In front of Old Town Hall at 40 East Main Street, Moorestown.

Significance - (Commentary courtesy of Paul W. Schopp, Delaware Valley Historian) The Moorestown Chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union formed in February 1886, a month after Major Scott, a famous temperance lecturer, arrived in Moorestown and delivered four lectures. Before the year ended, the chapter comprised about 100 members, who attended meetings every week. Two years after formation, the local chapter purchased the old Chester Township Town Hall, first erected in 1812, and the organization added the Romanesque front section to the existing building. The WCTU held the building for ten years before selling it back to the township, which resumed using it as a town hall. Sometime during the WCTU's tenure in the building, they ordered a "temperance fountain" from the J.L. Mott Company of New York City. This company, which gained prominence from its displays at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, became one of the primary iron foundries casting these decorative fountains. Typical of the WCTU fountains, the Moorestown fountain features low bowls on the sides for dogs, a large bowl facing Main Street for horses, and a smaller bowl placed higher up on the back of the fountain for human beings. The WCTU promoted the consumption of clean, clear water as opposed to alcohol. As a result of the WCTU's efforts, Moorestown went "dry" in 1915 and featured as many as three "temperance hotels" beginning in the late nineteenth century. Although the fountain no longer provides water--it, too, is "dry"--it remains as a permanent reminder of Moorestown's past.

Directions: 40 East Main Street is located on the south side of the street between Mill St. and Chester Avenue in the heart of downtown Moorestown.

Old photo of Horses drinking from Moorestown trough in front of old City Hall

Photo courtesy of Paul W. Schopp

Town Clock

Location: Adjacent to 91 East Main Street.

Significance - This was the location of the William Penn Hotel (1800). It later became the Coles Hotel, an old stage coach stop which was very active before the railroad came through town in 1867. In 1926 the hotel was torn down, and the original portion of the adjacent bank was erected. In the open field on the Chester Avenue side of the clock there is a plaque locating the original site of the old Log Friends Meeting House (1700). The Log Meeting House was the first building for worship in Moorestown. The clock, therefore, is located in perhaps the most historically significant portion of Moorestown.

Directions: Find the corner of East Main St. and Chester Avenue and then look for the clock, a bench and an Historical Marker.