The fountain was created in 1918 by Indianapolis-based Blakley Granite, Marble and Tile Company in collaboration with the artist Myra Reynolds Richards.

The Murphy Memorial Drinking Fountain is a structure made of Barre Granite,[1] the same stone utilized in the Sailors and Soldiers Monument, which was created in 1888 and stands on the southeast corner of the courthouse square in Delphi, Indiana.

The precise date that the fountain was finished is not known, but it appears installed and operational in a photo taken by Andrew W. Wolever on Labor Day in 1919.

[2] The sculpture by Reynolds depicts a young girl wearing a short one piece dress.

[4] The location for the fountain is based on a long-standing community water source on the southwest corner of the courthouse square.