The site for the fountain was determined by the Davenport landscape architectural firm of Reeves and Ramsey in their 1912 design for Water Front Park. The designers' Beaux-Arts plan, sponsored by the city's Levee Improvement Commission, envisioned a monument placed in the center of Main Street flanked on each side by public buildings in parklike settings. A national competition was held for the memorial fountain and it was won by the New York firm of Ware and Ware, and Paul Schulz. They provided a suave, sophisticated design with a fluted column set in a wreath-encircled base placed in the center of the fountain. On top of the column is a bronze lamp, well proportioned to the capital and column below.