Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.
From the record
“The Snow Fountain and Clock is a historic public monument at the southern junction of North Main and East Main Streets in Brockton, Massachusetts, USA. The monument was given to the city in 1902 by George G.”
Wikipedia article Snow Fountain and Clock, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 138 National Register listings published here for Plymouth County · listed in 1977 · category: Object.
National Register reference number.77000197- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
TJniversalist Society. - Since the settlement of Rev. Mr. Surt, in 1864, the pulpit of the Universalists of Brockton has had a varied experience, and the supply been somewhat irregular. Rev. Stephen L. Rorapaugh was pastor from May, 1864, to Dec. 16, 1806, when he resigned, though he continued preaching till March 24, 1867. The next pastor was the Rev. Isaac M. Atwood, from May, 1807, to 1872. Rev. S. S. Hcbard, April, 1872.
Several changes took place in the affairs of the society from 1872 to 1877. About that time Rev. Samuel L. Beal removed to Brockton from Provincetown, and gathered a new organization of members of the disbanded society, and preached in the old Universalist Church, which was then unoccupied, where he remained for a few months, and then removed to the Grand Army Hall, East Elm Street, where he remained for two to three years. His first great effort was to organize a Sunday-school, which he did on the 5th day of June, 1877. In 1880 this society removed to Cunningham Hall, formerly the old Universalist Church, where he continued for about three years. On the 9th of November, 1880, a new and legal organization of the society took place, under the name of New Universalist Society. The success uf the society has been largely through the efforts and labors of Rev. Mr. Beal, who had gatliercd au assembly representing nearly one hundred families, and a Sunday-school having a library of about one thousand volumes. Mr. Beal was an active and earnest man in the pulpit. He was also deeply interested in temperance and other reforms in the city, and labored vigorously with tongue and pen to check the tide of intemperance and vice, and often with telling effect. Mr. Beal did faithful service on the school committee in 1882. Rev. Mr. Beal retired from the service of this church in August, 1883.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 454 fires within 5 miles of Snow Fountain and Clock
between 2005 and 2020, burning about 199 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Debris and open burning
207
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
135
Recreation and ceremony
41
Misuse of fire by a minor
32
Smoking
26
Arson/incendiarism
7
Natural
5
Fireworks
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 909 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Snow Fountain and Clock between 1852 and 1975: 483 Plantae, 234 Fungi, 177 Animalia, 12 Protozoa, 2 Unrecorded, 1 Chromista.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by (MARSDEN, H W), A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
12 workings within 5 miles of Snow Fountain and Clock: 9 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant.
3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Brockton, the town this property stands in, in 26 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 8 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 heavy rain, 3 lightning.
The reports record 60 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
Numerous trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds throughout Brockton. This includes trees and wires on Warren Avenue in front of the Boys and Girls Club, near the high school, on Route 14, on French and Perkins Avenues, and on Ash Street. One of these trees fell on a dentists office on South Street in the Campello neighborhood.
A line of thunderstorms moved across parts of central and eastern Massachusetts with wind gusts to 40 to 50 mph. In Lowell, two children received minor injuries when a tree fell on them after it was uprooted by winds gusting to an estimated 50 mph. In Southboro, large tree limbs were downed. In Swampscott, a tree fell on an automobile. In Belmont, Cambridge, and Watertown, tree limbs and a few power lines were reported blown down. In Brockton, two large tree limbs were knocked down. In downtown Boston, a street sign was blown down and hit a man on the head.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Description of the property
The Snow Fountain and Clock stands in the middle of Winthrop Square, at the intersection of North and East Main Streets. Although the present apron is asphalt, contemporary reports suggest that it was originally surrounded by cobble- stones and a granite curb. The surrounding neighborhood is mixed commercial, residential and institutional. The south half of the base of the object is a semi-circular, 12' diameter, granite horse trough. The trough has a sculptured cyma recta profile with a molded lip and full round returns on the side. It is now used as a planter. The north side of the base has three granite steps that lead to a granite drinking fountain. The asphalt covered granite curb may have been a fourth step.
This small basin has a cyma recta profile topped by a smaller cavetto profile. On the east and west sides are dog troughs. The water was supplied from sculptured dog heads. Above this first stage is the clock structure, which rests on a square granite base with an egg and dart cornice. On the east, west, and north sides are roccaille. On the north side is a dedication plaque. Above the plinth of the base is a cyma recta, bound icanthus torus, and cavetto. The square column is proportioned and fluted with a semi-spherical stop flute at the bottom. Above the astragal, the capital is horizontally ridged with slender volutes running out to the corners. The abacus is exaggerated to support the clock.
The four sides are ridged horizontally and flare out to the four thirty diameter clock faces which have raised bronze numerals. At the corners are shields with top volutes and spears that conceal incandescent bulbs. The four sides recede quickly to the finial with incandescent bulbs along the ridges.
Clock: E. Howard & Company BUILDER/ARCHITECT fountain: Milnes & Chalvers, Cont. The Snow Fountain and Clock is significant as an important local landmark, and as an example of civic munificence by an important Brockton citizen. The Snow Fountain and Clock was presented to the City of Brockton by the Indus- trialist George G. Snow in 1902. He was a prominent Brockton shoe manufacturer, whose house stood just east of the fountain on East Main Street. The clock and fountain quickly became an important local landmark to Brockton citizens, as well as to horses and dogs. The clock was so important that in 1950, when the clock was no longer functioning, the City erected a modern clock across on the facade of North Main Street so travelers could continue to mark their time at Winthrop Square.
The clock is once again in working order and will continue to serve a useful purpose to the community.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 77000197, 11 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.
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