Mountain Drive Fountain

This fountain is located near the corner of East Mountain Drive and Hyde Road. This part of town was recently in the news when a not very neighborly neighbor chopped down a bunch of mailboxes that she found disruptive.

Local sculptor Andy Johnson created the fountain about four years ago. One day after witnessing a man drinking from a hose he had a dream of a community fountain. Permission to build the fountain was granted by Duke McPherson, the owner of the property.

Making a connection between drinking water and drinking wine, the artist created the fountain as a memorial to the Mountain Drive wine stomps, which are still celebrated yearly. The names of the Wine Queens are on the fountain tiles. The names, Bobby and Floppy Hyde, can also be found engraved on stone on the fountain. The Hydes founded the bohemian Mountain Drive community that flourished in the 1950s and 1960s.

Johnson got some of the tiles used in the fountain by crawling into Bill Neely's old, crumbling wine cellar on a hillside, and chipping out the tiles from it.

Photos of some of the tiles with the Wine Queen names can be seen below. Thanks to Ken Bortolazzo (friend of Ed) for the photos.

* See what the Edness contestants guessed for this picture.

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