Unknown First Family fountain statue (18 ft)

Fairbanks, Alaska, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

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Unknown First Family is an 18-foot bronze fountain sculpture by Malcolm Alexander at the centre of Golden Heart Plaza, downtown Fairbanks, Alaska, with water cascading over it into a surrounding pool. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports it was unveiled on 25 July 1986.

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Unknown First Family fountain statue (18 ft)

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Site-level location · 64.8444° N, 147.7194° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

At the centre of Fairbanks’ riverfront plaza stands an 18-foot bronze fountain sculpture called Unknown First Family, with water cascading over it into a surrounding pool.

Golden Heart Plaza lies on 1st Avenue beside the Chena River, between Cushman and Lacey Streets. Festival Fairbanks says it stands where the centre of gold-rush activity occurred, and the American Planning Association lists it among its Great Places in America, noting more than 70 bronze plaques that form a register of names of Interior Alaska families, organisations and institutions.

The sculpture is by Malcolm Alexander. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner says the park was dedicated and the sculpture unveiled on 25 July 1986 before 1,200 people. ExploreNorth, a Fairbanks photo-and-history site, quotes Alexander at the opening as saying the work portrays “the family of all mankind, the family of Fairbanks, and the nuclear family,” and should symbolise “the pride and dignity of this great land” for families present and future. The planning association describes it as dedicated to all the Alaska families of the past, present and future.

The water was once put to a public vote. According to the News-Miner, the plumber who installed the fountain and the architect disagreed in September 1986 about how high it should flow, and residents voted for a week among dribbles, ankle-high water and waist-high water. Fifty-six of 81 votes went to the dribbles, which the paper, in 2014, described as flowing from the base in warmer months.

The plaza also has a 33-foot clock tower.

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A bronze fountain statue stands at the centre of a riverside plaza with bronze plaques, a clock tower and a ramp down to the Chena River. A 2014 News-Miner account says water flows from its base in warmer months. Festival Fairbanks describes summer concerts and winter lights.

ACCESS

Golden Heart Plaza, 1st Avenue on the Chena River between Cushman and Lacey Streets, downtown Fairbanks. Festival Fairbanks describes it as hosting summer concerts and winter lights.

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