The Westcott Fountain

Drive down College Avenue towards campus at any time of day and it will catch your eye, a shimmering beacon of promise, tradition, and higher education. The Westcott Fountain is an iconic image engraved into the mind of every Florida State University student. As a Seminole there are a number of traditions that represent the university: Osceola, Renegade, the Seminole head, the burning spear and even the legendary Bobby Bowden. However, nothing compares to the amount of hope one gets when the Westcott Fountain is in sight. It is a defining image that symbolizes the journey that takes place upon entering life on campus. Westcott Fountain is Florida State. Everything the university encompasses can be found at the corner of Copeland Street and College Avenue.
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You may ask yourself why Florida State University chooses to use a fountain as one of the symbols of its school heritage. Before the 19th century fountains were used as functional sources of drinking water and since the advent of indoor plumbing they have been used mainly as decorations in communal areas like parks and city centers. It’s also common to see people use the fountain for recreational purposes, and at times to drink and swim in them. Fountains function to celebrate its creator, which, in this case, are the students and staff at Florida State University. Fountains bring communities together for their own individual purposes, whether it's a celebration such as a 21st birthday, or to study and engage in some outdoor recreation, the Westcott fountain remembers the heritage of Florida State by creating more of it.
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The memorial bricks that surround the fountain form a circle, which adds to the continuity of the rich tradition. The names of the alumni illustrate how the student body that purchases a brick are an agent of change, while those who jump in the fountain can do so temporarily, as well as for free. This ability to affect the fountain and thus create tradition establishes a permanence of both physical and mental memory where at any moment an FSU student, current and alumni, can remember this symbol of school tradition.

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Westcott was a former Florida Supreme Court justice who left a large part of his estate to what was then the West Florida Seminary in 1887. Westcott gave his estate as a trust donation of $2,000 per year to the West Florida Seminary that later became Florida State University. In December 1936 they renamed the Administration Building to the James D. Westcott, Jr. Memorial Building. The tribute of the class of 1916 and 1917 was the fountain that adds to the Westcott building’s exterior and allows for there to be a permanent structure that is constantly flowing in tribute to the rich FSU heritage and the commemoration of James Westcott.
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The bricks that encircle the fountain hold the names of students as well as personal messages and memorials. This form of physical memory in writing is facilitated by the art of engraving. Permanence is the rhetorical function, which these bricks demarcate with their dates and names. They allow both the prospective and current student to walk upon them and feel the historical significance of their stepping place as they seemingly make history themselves. This gives the Westcott the deep sense of authenticity and tradition that defines a great memorial.
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Westcott is a known spot for many different types of celebrations for the students of Florida State University. These celebrations and traditions include being thrown into the fountain on one’s twenty-first birthday, marriage proposals engraved in the bricks, adding soap to the fountain only to watch it foam up, and many more. Sororities have their bid day celebrations here, where the member’s wait for the new members to find out what sorority they’re in and they all meet at the fountain and take pictures. Many of them also have their “big-little reveals” at this site, taking pictures in matching outfits with the beautiful background behind them. When walking by the fountain, it’s also not unusual to see people lying in the sun in their bathing suits and soaking up the heat on those hot summer days.
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It may come as a surprise to most, but the site of the Westcott Fountain wasn't always as cheerful and beautiful as it is today.
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In 1829, the site was known as Gallows Hill, which was constructed as an execution site. The first person to be hung on Gallows Hill was a woman who was accused of murdering her child, followed by a man who was convicted of unspecified crimes and was also hung at this site.
When Florida State University students were asked about the haunted site, many of them had actually encountered ghosts or other haunted things at night or had heard of people who had. Many say that late at night, the ghosts of the executed still wander the hill that’s now Westcott Fountain, and many have even heard strange noises at night as well.



The Westcott Fountain represents the heritage of Florida State University, but for individuals, it sparks a memory. Many moments are tied to the memorial and it is considered so much more than a physical fountain. The fountain is like an old friend that never graduated, telling stories to generation after generation, always in Tallahassee to welcome you home.