{"id":394971,"date":"2026-09-09T17:46:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/394971\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T17:46:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T17:46:16","slug":"historian-forrest-banks-to-speak-about-history-and-significance-of-tootie-mcgregor-fountain-wgcu-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/394971\/","title":{"rendered":"Historian Forrest Banks to speak about history and significance of Tootie McGregor Fountain | WGCU News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Tootie McGregor Fountain sits in the parking lot of the Fort Myers Country Club on McGregor Boulevard. But from its installation in 1913 until it was dismantled in 1952 to make way for the approach to the Caloosahatchee Bridge, it occupied the intersection of five streets in downtown Fort Myers. <\/p>\n

The Southwest Florida Historical Society is hosting historian Forrest Banks to speak about the fountain\u2019s history and significance as a tribute to the female pioneer who changed the topography of the riverfront, paved McGregor Boulevard and helped turn Fort Myers into a tourist destination at the turn of the 20th century.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

Dr. Marshall Orlando Terry proposed the fountain as a memorial to his wife, Tootie, in a letter to the Fort Myers City Council dated December 6, 1912. <\/p>\n

MORE INFORMATION:<\/p>\n

The Tootie McGregor Fountain is Fort Myers\u2019 first public artwork. It was installed at the intersection of Cleveland Avenue, Anderson Avenue (now Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard), McGregor Boulevard, Main and Carson streets during the summer of 1913 and later moved to the Fort Myers Country Club in the 1950s to make way for the approach to the Caloosahatchee Bridge.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

The fountain was originally designed as a trough from which horses and dogs could drink.<\/p>\n

The fountain features a palm tree rising from a rocky base that emerges from a smooth bowl that originally served as a horse trough. The base, trunk and polished orb at the top were carved from pink granite quarried in northern Georgia. The palm fronds are made of bronze, as are the five venomous snakes that once served as waterspouts. Two of the snakes are water moccasins (also known as cottonmouths); two are eastern diamondback rattlesnakes; the fifth is a coral snake.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

The fountain’s five venomous snakes (two cottonmouths, two eastern diamondback rattlers and one coral snake) once served as waterspouts.<\/p>\n

No information has been found that identifies the species of palm featured by the fountain. However, based upon the feather-like, dark green fronds at the top and the pattern of unique diamond-shaped leaf scars covering the stout brown trunk, it appears that it is a canary date palm or Phoenix dactylifera. If so, it is a curious choice since Tootie McGregor Terry was closely associated with the Royal Palm Hotel, which she restored to prominence after acquiring it in 1907.<\/p>\n

Similarly, no information has been located that identifies the fountain\u2019s sculptor, the significance of the smooth orb located at the top of the tree or why Dr. Terry or the sculptor chose to adorn the rocky base with venomous snakes indigenous to Florida.
The fountain weighs 24 tons and cost $5,000 in 1913 (which would equate with roughly $250,000 today).<\/p>\n

\"Newspaper<\/p>\n

Photo by Nate Brooks and Bob Duffey courtesy of Fort Myers Old Photo<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Fort Myers Old Photo<\/p>\n

Newspaper clipping showing workers removing fountain in 1952 to make way for approach to the new Caloosahatchee Bridge<\/p>\n

After being stored in pieces for more than three decades, it was reassembled by late North Fort Myers sculptor Don (\u201cD.J.\u201d) Wilkins in 1983. Incident to his commission from the Fort Myers Beautification Advisory Board, Wilkins set the fountain in the center of a 40-foot-diameter reflection pool and piped the water through several bronze bullfrogs set at the pool\u2019s perimeter. Nearly a decade later, he removed the shaft inside the trunk of the palm tree so that water cascaded into the base and receiving pool from the top of the tree.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historic Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historic Society <\/p>\n

Early photo of Tootie McGregor Fountain at Five Points intersection in downtown Fort Myers.<\/p>\n

History of the Fountain<\/p>\n

Dr. Marshall Orlando Terry proposed the fountain as a memorial to his wife, Tootie, in a letter to the Fort Myers City Council dated Dec. 6, 1912.<\/p>\n

In consideration for the fountain, the city agreed to light the fountain \u201cwith not less than five incandescent electric lights of 32 candlepower each,\u201d provide water \u201cin sufficient volume for carrying full capacity of its fountain,\u201d and place the fountain at \u201csome prominent point\u201d within the city\u201d to be approved by Terry and the City Council.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historical Society <\/p>\n

Under the direction of its president, Olive Stout, the Civic League chose Five Points as the location for the fountain. <\/p>\n

Under the direction of its president, Olive Stout, the Civic League chose Five Points as the location for the fountain. As it was a broad intersection formed by the confluence of Cleveland Avenue, Anderson Avenue (now Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard), McGregor Boulevard, Main and Carson streets, Stout and the League felt that the site provided the space and visibility that the fountain deserved. (From the Fort Myers Press, January 23, 1913.)<\/p>\n

\"Drawing<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

Drawing of Five Points intersection; legend states that fountain was dedicated in 1915 even though its installation was completed in 1913 in time for the first anniversary of Tootie McGregor Terry’s death. <\/p>\n

The location also paid homage to the fact that McGregor Boulevard bears her first husband\u2019s name. The City Council renamed the former Riverside Drive (and before that, Wire Road) for Ambrose McGregor in exchange for Tootie McGregor\u2019s offer to pay the costs of improving the thoroughfare from Whiskey Creek to Punta Rassa if the city and county would improve the road from Whiskey Creek to Monroe Street.<\/p>\n

The fountain was completed sometime during the summer of 1913.<\/p>\n

The Fort Myers Press reported in its July 10, 1913 edition that \u201cnearly all the material for the McGregor memorial fountain is in the ground and ready to be set in place. Workmen who have been sent here by the designers of this beautiful granite shaft and fountain have placed the heavier pieces in position for erection, which work will be undertaken in the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

About a week later, the newspaper indicated that work was progressing well, but nothing of the fountain\u2019s completion or dedication (if any) made it into the publication.
However, the fountain was clearly finished by August 17, 1913 because there appeared in the Press a brief note indicating that \u201cthe Terry memorial fountain was draped by a beautiful bouquet of ferns and roses all day Sunday, it being the first anniversary of Mrs. T. McGregor Terry\u2019s\u201d death. (From the Fort Myers Press, Aug. 19, 1913.)<\/p>\n

Longtime resident James Butler relates that in addition to a horse trough, the fountain served as a turn-about in the Five Points intersection and a drinking fountain for dogs. <\/p>\n

\"Dog<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historic Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historic Society <\/p>\n

Dog bowl is visible in this historic photo at the lower right of the fountain’s granite base.<\/p>\n

The water bowl for dogs is still visible and can be found to the left of the dedication at the base of the fountain.<\/p>\n

While the fountain was still standing in 1948, historian Karl H. Grismer reported in \u201cThe Story of Fort Myers\u201d that it was bereft of its \u201clights and the heads of snakes from which water used to gush.\u201d <\/p>\n

Four years later (in 1952), the fountain was dismantled to make way for the crossover to the Caloosahatchee Bridge. The palm tree in the center was moved to the Fort Myers Country Club, roughly 250 feet from its present location. At least three of the five snakes were placed in storage.<\/p>\n

The fountain was ultimately reassembled by local sculptor D.J. Wilkins between 1983 and 1984 at the request of the Fort Myers Beautification Advisory Board. Incident to the fountain\u2019s restoration, Wilkins added a 40-foot diameter receiving pool and replaced the bronze copperhead snake at the base of the palm trunk. But rather than piping water through the original snake fountain heads and risking their theft or further deterioration, Wilkins directed jets of water through bronze bullfrogs sitting on upturned leaves.
\u201cIn 1992, we removed the shaft,\u201d said Wilkins, \u201cand piped the water to the top and over the fronds.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tootie<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

WGCU Arts Reporter Tom Hall <\/p>\n

When he reassembled the fountain in 1984, local sculptor Don “D.J.” Wilkins added a 40-foot diameter receiving pool fed by jets of water directed through bronze bullfrogs sitting on upturned leaves. <\/p>\n

Since its restoration, the Tootie McGregor Fountain has graced the front of the Edison Restaurant in the clubhouse of the Fort Myers Country Club, with the city once more providing lighting, water and a prominent location within Fort Myers. However, the view of the fountain was obstructed in 2014 when a railed ramp was added to the Edison Restaurant for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historical Society <\/p>\n

Photo taken shortly after fountain’s installation was completed in August of 1913. <\/p>\n

The Woman for Whom the Fountain is Named<\/p>\n

Tootie McGregor was born Jerusha H. Barber, a woman\u2019s whose real life is the stuff of a Charlotte Bronte or Nathaniel Hawthorne romance novel.<\/p>\n

Born in 1843 to a middle class Cleveland judge by the name of Epaphras Barber, she fell in love during high school with Marshall Terry, a struggling medical student who was so poor he didn\u2019t dare ask for her hand in marriage. Jerusha\u2019s love went unrequited as Terry set off to seek his fortune, serving in the Spanish-American War and eventually becoming the surgeon general of the state of New York.<\/p>\n

Jerusha didn\u2019t wait for him. She met and married a young salesman by the name of Ambrose McGregor. Ambrose combined ambition with hard work as he set about making a name for himself. His young bride helped, pinching pennies and sewing Ambrose\u2019s clothes in the newlyweds\u2019 rented apartment above a local grocery store.<\/p>\n

Ambrose succeeded in spectacular fashion, eventually becoming the president of Standard Oil.<\/p>\n

\u201cTootie\u201d and Ambrose had one child, a son they named Bradford. The boy was sickly, and his doctors advised the couple to winter in Florida where the temperate climate would have a beneficial effect on Bradford\u2019s health. The couple could have wintered anywhere, but they were lured to Fort Myers by the region\u2019s excellent tarpon fishing.<\/p>\n

In 1892, they purchased the west half of the Seminole Lodge for $4,000 from Thomas Edison\u2019s estranged phonograph company business partner Ezra T. Gilliland. Over the next eight years, Ambrose bought more than 30 local properties, invested in citrus, and bankrolled a young real estate developer by the name of Harvie Heitman in the construction of a couple of downtown buildings, including Fort Myers\u2019 first brick building, a two-story structure on the site of Heitman\u2019s first store at the northwest corner of First and Jackson streets.<\/p>\n

The oil tycoon died of cancer on October 28, 1900, at the age of 58. He left Tootie a very wealthy widow. With an estate estimated to be worth more than $16 million, Tootie became one of the 10 wealthiest people in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Southwest Florida Historical Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Southwest Florida Historical Society <\/p>\n

One of only two surviving photographs of Tootie McGregor Terry <\/p>\n

In September of 1902, Bradford married his high school sweetheart, Florence Quintard. He died two days later.<\/p>\n

With both her husband and son now deceased, Tootie could have packed up and moved back to Cleveland, or anywhere in the world. But she remained faithful to Fort Myers. Further, she decided to take an active role in the development of the city.<\/p>\n

She is remembered most today for her efforts to improve Lee County\u2019s roadways, including having Riverside Drive paved all the way from Monroe Street to Punta Rassa. In addition to paying for the paving itself from Whiskey Creek to Punta Rassa, she agreed to put in all necessary bridges and culverts and contribute $500 annually to maintain the new road for five years after construction was finished.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, Tootie did not live long enough to see the roadway started or completed, but second husband Dr. Marshall Terry honored his wife\u2019s wishes, even purchasing a barge and a number of three-ton trucks for purposes of delivering and hauling the shell necessary for construction of the paved roadway. (From the Fort Myers Press, Sept. 18, 1913.)<\/p>\n

But Tootie\u2019s contributions to the city\u2019s development and promotion to the outside world far outstripped the mere paving of old Riverside Drive. She almost single-handedly established Fort Myers as a tourist destination characterized by top-flight, world-renowned hotels.<\/p>\n

In 1904, Tootie collaborated with Ambrose\u2019s local business partner, Harvie Heitman, on the construction of a hotel at the corner of First and Hendry streets to be named \u201cThe Bradford\u201d in honor of her son.<\/p>\n

Three years later, she rescued the city\u2019s financially troubled landmark, the Royal Palm Hotel, doubling its size and inducing property owners from Monroe east to Billy\u2019s Creek to construct a concrete seawall 200 feet north of the existing bank of the Caloosahatchee and fill in the gap with sand and shell dredged from the river bottom.<\/p>\n

\"Tootie<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of historian Ken Rager<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Ken Rager <\/p>\n

Tootie McGregor Terry drives a post in the seawall outside the Royal Palm Hotel. <\/p>\n

She later purchased the Riverside Hotel, as well.<\/p>\n

Her trio of hostelries attracted numerous celebrities and millionaires to Fort Myers. Many followed her lead and that of Thomas Edison, making Fort Myers the site of their winter homes.<\/p>\n

But she did not forget her native Cleveland. In \u201cPioneer Families of Cleveland,\u201d author Gertrude Wickham writes that Tootie \u201cwas a very bright, attractive woman and was much use to the world.\u201d She partnered with her sister, Sophia Barber McCrosky, to found one of that city\u2019s first private nursing homes. The sisters conceived it as a place for \u201cgentlewomen who could no longer care for themselves.\u201d Also named for Ambrose, the A.M. McGregor Home was incorporated in 1904, opened in 1908 with 25 residents, and still serves Ohio\u2019s elderly today.<\/p>\n

After Bradford\u2019s untimely demise, Marshall Terry re-entered the picture. He had never married and was still carrying a torch for Tootie. They married on December 12, 1905 in the Bradford Hotel.<\/p>\n

The following year, the couple donated 40 acres of land to the city for use as a golf course. However, because of the poor sandy roads that served it, the country club never took off and some two decades later, the land was converted into a spring training facility for the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians and Fort Myers Palms. Today, this tract bears the name of Terry Park, and it played a pivotal role in bringing Major League Baseball spring training to the city of Fort Myers.<\/p>\n

Tootie and Marshall enjoyed six years together. She died on August 17, 1912, at her summer home at Mamaroneck-on-the-Hudson in New York.<\/p>\n

Following Tootie\u2019s death, Terry assumed responsibility for completing the road work that his wife had undertaken and decided to donate a fountain to the city in honor of his late wife, inscribing it with her own words, \u201cI only hope the little I have done may be an incentive to others to do more.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read more about Tootie McGregor Terry and her impressive accomplishments in Tuthill and Hall, \u201cFemale Pioneers of Fort Myers: Women Who Made a Difference in the City\u2019s Development\u201d (Editorial Rx Press, 2015), pp. 59-66.<\/p>\n

\"Oil<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Fort Myers Mural Society<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Fort Myers Mural Society<\/p>\n

Oil painting of Tootie McGregor Terry <\/p>\n

Fun Facts.<\/p>\n

To understand the depth of Tootie McGregor Terry\u2019s frustration with Fort Myers\u2019 system of \u201croads,\u201d it is helpful to know that when she and Ambrose first came to town in 1892, not one street was paved or even graded.<\/p>\n

First Street (which was called Front Street at the time) was nothing more than a sandy, weed-grown open space that meandered between two irregular rows of unpainted, cheaply constructed wood frame general stores, saloons, livery stables, blacksmith shops and houses.<\/p>\n

The only sidewalk was a shell walkway that William H. Towles and James E. Hendry laid in April of 1886 in front of their store at First and Jackson. At the time, the Fort Myers Press stated that \u201cour streets and sidewalks at present are a disgrace to the town.\u201d<\/p>\n

Towles and Hendry also installed an oil-burning streetlamp outside their store when it became clear in June of 1887 that Thomas Edison wasn\u2019t going to carry through on his promise to \u201clight Fort Myers.\u201d But the townspeople still had to use lanterns whenever they ventured outside after dark.<\/p>\n

There were but three bridges in Fort Myers, one over Whiskey Creek, a second spanning Billy\u2019s Creek and a wooden foot bridge that crossed Manuel\u2019s Branch. None spanned the Caloosahatchee River itself.<\/p>\n

And the roads leading into and out of town were virtually non-existent, consisting of two sets of deep ruts created by oxcart wagon wheels that cut through clutching sand and clinging mud. People referred to these trails as \u201cWish to God\u201d roadways because regardless of which set of ruts the traveler chose, he always \u201cwished to God\u201d he had taken the other set.<\/p>\n

The county commissioners addressed the problem in late 1900 by purchasing shell for 15 cents a barrel and then hiring laborers to fill in the oxcart tracks from Billy\u2019s Creek to Buckingham. Two feet wide and six inches deep, the new \u201csurface\u201d did not make the road passable during rainy season and over time, the shell disintegrated and disappeared in the mud and sand. To compensate, logs were laid crosswise over the ruts, giving rise to the nickname \u201ccorduroy roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the shell inspired the City Council in 1901 to propose a bond issue to improve the streets, but when the proposal was defeated at the polls, the City Councilmen borrowed the money necessary to purchase 20,000 barrels of shell on their own personal notes. To get the shell needed, Calusa Indian mounds up and down the river were levelled, but this only provided enough shell to create a 15-foot wide strip down the center of First Street from Billy\u2019s Creek to Monroe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis narrow strip was so \u2018marvelously smooth\u2019 and such an improvement over the old sandy waste,\u201d writes local historian Karl H. Grismer in “The Story of Fort Myers,” \u201cthat the property owners immediately demanded that the entire street be covered. So did the property owners elsewhere in the business section.\u201d<\/p>\n

But nothing happened to the roads in town for another 12 years.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the movement to get concrete sidewalks for the business section was launched in the summer of 1904 by William H. Towles, Harvie Heitman and George F. Ireland. They were finally laid in 1906 by Manuel S. Gonzalez, who left his mark \u201cM.S.G. \u2013 1906″ in the concrete.<\/p>\n

But notwithstanding these \u201cimprovements,\u201d Fort Myers was still a cow town. Literally. Due to the influence of the town\u2019s powerful cattle barons, cows were still allowed to roam freely through the streets until Sept. 4, 1908, when an ordinance was finally adopted mandating that cattle and milk cows alike be penned up. From New York, Dr. Terry wrote: \u201cI am delighted beyond expression,\u201d echoing the sentiment felt by hundreds of other Fort Myers residents and visitors.<\/p>\n

But several more months would follow before the ordinance was extended to hogs, and outside of town, hogs were permitted to wander freely for several more years, much to the vexation of Tootie and her husband, Dr. Marshall O. Terry.<\/p>\n

And this was the state of affairs when Tootie proposed in February of 1912 to pave the 20-mile stretch of Riverside Drive from Whiskey Creek to Punta Rassa if Fort Myers and Lee County would pave from Whiskey Creek to Monroe Street.<\/p>\n

Tootie and Dr. Terry were ahead of their time. They not only understood that a paved McGregor Boulevard would open all the invaluable land it abutted to development, but that good roads leading into and out of town were needed if the town was to develop as it should.<\/p>\n

Because the latter were not provided until the 1920s, Fort Myers almost missed out on the growth experienced by other Florida cities during the real estate boom that began toward the end of World War I.<\/p>\n

Support for WGCU\u2019s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.<\/p>\n

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