The Lithia Fountain was installed on the Ashland Plaza in late 1927. In the 1900s, Lithia Water, which comes from the Pompadour Chief Spring, nearly four miles east of downtown, was the focus of a city-wide development plan that hoped to transform Ashland into a mineral spring-based resort. Under the slogan "Ashland Grows While Lithia Flows," Ashland's citizens passed a $175,000 bond in 1914 to develop Lithia Park and build a pump and distribution system for the highly mineralized water. Although the system was built, the plan largely fizzled, at least in part due to the use of wood stave piping which quickly became clogged by mineral build-up that restricted flow.
Interest in Lithia Water was revived in the 1920s when a local group sought permission to bottle the water for sale, a venture which had minimal success due to the water's pungent taste and aroma. In 1927 the Ashland Chamber of Commerce petitioned the City Council to make Lithia Water available on the Plaza. The Lithia Fountain, built of locally quarried Ashland Granite, was installed later that year.
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