Trippy
Bunny Fountain, Trumbull
I have a good friend who used to live in Trumbull. When I put together my Trumbull Town Guide, he alerted me to the Bunny Fountain. He wondered, how could I not include the Bunny Fountain on my list of everything in the town of Trumbull?
So I put the Bunny Fountain on my list. Then my friend and his family moved to Woodbridge, leaving me on my own to figure out why the heck the Bunny Fountain exists – both in real life and on this website.
The Bunny Fountain is old. But it wasn’t always a bunny fountain. Which, by the way, is a name that kind of annoys me. The mushrooms are more prominent than the bunnies. It should be the mushroom fountain. Mushrooms and rabbits? Alice in Wonderland anyone? The Wonderland fountain? Nah, Mushroom Fountain.
But back in 1895 when it was created as a gift to the town, when it was located on Nichols Green, it was a trough for horses. It also had a kerosene lamp. No bunnies and no mushrooms. But then horses fell out of favor and in 1931 it was moved to the corner of Huntington Turnpike and Unity Road.
At some point around then, the lamp was removed and the bunnies and mushrooms were added.
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And that’s it. That’s all I’ve got. Trumbull, Connecticut has a non-operational fountain at a mildly prominent intersection with bunnies and mushrooms in it for some reason. I’d like to thank my friend Chris and his wife Lauren for making me park dangerously and hop outside in the rain, only to take a few bad pictures of this thing.
Really doing Trumbull a service.
Debi says
March 20, 2022 at 2:30 pmI literally just did the same thing, parked precariously and took some photos, borrowed some of your details and added them to the @trumbullhistoric Instagram post I put up today. Thank you for your service! :)
Michele Day says
January 20, 2024 at 10:12 amFolks at St. Joseph’s Catholic High School might have more to say and add to your story. My mother was with the Diocese and as a child took me often with her into St. Joseph’s High School. I am a 1966 baby. Our route involved going by “The Bunny Fountain” and often as a young child I requested we go see the bunny fountain because I loved wild bunnies in the yards … I do not recall it being large enough to provide water for horses. Might there be two bunny fountains in the area? Bunnies do multiply lol.
Sandy Bryant says
June 29, 2024 at 10:39 amMy sister and I were just reminiscing about the bunny fountain in Nichols. We lived in Trumbull and went by the fountain on our way to school, to church, to the library, etc. Neither one of us remember the mushrooms. At all. But it’s a wonderful childhood memory.
Steve H says
July 12, 2024 at 5:15 pmBack in the ’60s and early ’70s (my school years there, class of 1971), the Bunny Fountain was at the end of Unity Road, where it intersects with Huntington Turnpike. The fountain had a circular cover over the top and stood on a pedastal, maybe 6-8 feet high, in the middle of the little green in that triangular intersection.
It would often be dripping with soap suds from people pulling pranks. Anyone who was there in 1971 might remember that the spring of that year was a huge tent caterpillar infestation, which denuded all the trees. I remember my car skidding over them, out of control, almost hit the Bunny Fountain on my way to my girlfriend’s house nearby.
Intrigued One says
December 21, 2024 at 6:18 amI agree regarding the name, mushrooms are more prominent. There’s a full write up on the Smithsonian website. I have removed the https from the link below
siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!325644!0