By Daniel Hinchen, Reader Services
Walking just a few minutes south down the Fenway from the MHS, one arrives at the main entrance to the Back Bay Fens. At the intersection of the Fenway and Westland Avenue stands the Johnson Gates, more commonly known as the Westland Gate.
Erected in 1905, the Westland Gate is composed of a pair of large marble piers with columns on each corner and bronze lion head fountain spouts on each face. Beneath two of the spouts are marble basins. Flanking the piers are balustrades and two marble benches. The piers are constructed of white marble, while the balustrades and benches are Tennessee pink marble. While the fountains used to function and served as a water trough for animals, this use discontinued in 1919 due to an epidemic among horses.
The gates were originally dubbed the Johnson Memorial Fountain after a wealthy Boston businessman, Jesse Johnson, whose widow, Ellen Cheney Johnson, donated the money to fund their construction in his memory.
Architect Guy Lowell was commissioned to design the fountain. Lowell is better known as the architect who designed the Museum of Fine Arts just a bit further down the road. In addition, Lowell designed several buildings on the campus of Harvard University, the New Hampshire Historical Society in Concord (which also features a sculpture by Daniel Chester French, who designed the John Boyle O’Reilly memorial on the Fenway), and the New York State Supreme Courthouse in New York City.
The fountains underwent their first restoration in 1980, at which time inconsistencies in the stone were addressed and the whole gate received a protective treatment to resist graffiti. A rededication ceremony was held in August of that year. There was a subsequent restoration in 1990. Since then, the fountains have remained untouched, though as of 2008 the Westland Gate and other fountains around the city are on a list of projects to be repaired by the Parks Department.
While the MHS does not have any material relating specifically to the Westland Gate/Johnson Memorial Fountain, there are plenty of items authored by Guy Lowell. Check ABIGAIL to see what there is!