Iron Mike (fountain)

Iron Mike is an 1896 cast-iron fountain in the 400 Block of Washington Street in the city of Oregon, Illinois.

The multi-tier fountain is set into a matte green concrete base. Iron Mike is four feet tall and three feet wide, at its widest point. The fountains lowest tier is a pool for pets and reads “Illinois Humane Society.”

There is a step for children on the south side of the fountain and on the north, street, side, the largest middle tier is made to be accessible to horses. On the rear side of the horse basin is a “bubbler” for adults, it is also reachable by children via the iron step.

In 2021 “Iron Mike” was relocated just a few feet away from traffic in order to preserve it for years to come.

Learn more about the re-dedication project HERE.

Who was Laura Sechler Fesler (1853-1920) and what does she have to do with “Iron Mike?”

“She was a woman ahead of her time. She devoted much of her life to being actively involved in civic betterment and humane causes.
In 1899, while living in Oregon, she was instrumental in organizing the Ogle ‘County Humane Society, and through her efforts the society was able to purchase an Illinois Humane Drinking Fountain for Man and Beast, which was erected on one of the principal streets of Oregon in June of 1901.
She has also been prominent in educational matters of the State for some time. It was she who conducted and paid all expenses of a voting contest in 1907, in the public schools throughout the State, to decide what tree and flower should be adopted by the State.
She originated and pushed to realization a bill, passed at an adjourned session of the Legislature on January 29, 1908. designating the Native Oak as the State Tree and the Native Violet the State Flower, which was approved and became a law February 21, 1908. These labors are but a few among her many good deeds, for she is possessed of an untiring energy, immense capacity for intellectual effort, and her influence for good and her power for accomplishing what she believes will conserve to the betterment of humanity is almost limitless.” From the Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois by Horace & Rebecca Kauffman, 1909.
Thank you to Michal Mae Burnett of the Ogle County Historic Society for the historic description.