On the Trail of Port Jefferson’s Biddle Fountain

In 1898 an ornate fountain was installed on the corner of what is now East Main Street and Prospect Street in front of the in Port Jefferson by John Biddle, a wealthy piano maker. Twenty years later, the fountain disappeared and the current congregation at the church is looking to find or replace it.

According to a recent article in the Port Times Record written by Kathleen O’Sullivan, Biddle was a musician who came to Port Jefferson from New York with his wife in 1854 for the fresh air and to make his fortune.

"The fountain... was 'christened' with between 1,500 and 2,000 people present," O'Sullivan wrote. "There was a parade, and bands played."

Pete Jansson, the current pastor at the Baptist Church told Patch that in restoring the building to its former glory, he is looking to put the celebrated fountain back where it once stood.

There’s only one problem.

“To this day no one knows what happened to the fountain after it was removed,” wrote O’Sullivan in her article.

According to historian Ken Brady, the fountain was removed in 1919 when the roads were widened and sidewalks were installed. The fate of the fountain itself is still a mystery.

Now, the church, is looking to see if there’s community support in putting another fountain in front of the church.

If they can get the community to rally around it, the church will start fundraising to either build a new fountain or, better yet, find and restore the original one. Even though they have high hopes of tracking it down, they know it may be a lost cause.

The thinking is that it might be in someone’s backyard or disassembled and sitting in a crate somewhere.

“That’s a long shot,” Jansson admitted to Patch. “The next best thing would be to find something to replace it.”

The image of the Biddle Fountain in this article is from the historical archive of the Village of Port Jefferson. The original photo and others can be seen here.

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