All Creatures Big and Small

Cohen's Humane Fountain

​Savannah has had some very generous philanthropists but Percival Randolph Cohen is one of the least recognized but more generous. He was the CEO of the Savannah Compress Company. His philantrophy would be wide and deep. At his death he sealed his prominence as one of Savannah’s great men.
 
He left $50,000 in his will to build Cohen’s Old Man’s Retreat to house thirty-one retired railroad workers or men in need of a home to stay after they could no longer work. He wanted to build a facility 'where men would not die old and lonely". The building was big and beautiful. Today the building is home to Cohen’s Retreat Restaurant and other shops on Skidaway Island Road. He also left $63,000 to the Bethesda Home for Boys, to build one of their residential homes. It is named Cohen Cottage and still stands today.
 
Cohen also left a gift of $40,000 to the Froebel Circle, named after the founder of the kindergarten movement, German Frederick Froebel. The group was founded by local innovative educator and activist Nina Pape. The work of the Circle was to be directed toward increasing the health and happiness of underprivileged children. This gift made it possible for the Circle to erect a building known as the Cohen Shelter for Little Ones on Tybee Island. The largest building on their campus.  On April 15, 1929, the cornerstone, that included a box containing corn, wine, and oil, emblematic of plenty, the spirit of joy, and the spirit of peace, was laid. The box also contained a copy of the Savannah Morning News, a copy of Mr. Cohen’s will, a history of the Froebel Circle, a coin of the year 1898, and a coin of the year 1928.127 The summer camp for needy children is still active today.
 
Cohen also left $1,500 in his will to the city of Savannah for a drinking fountain for horses and mules that were the workhorses for transporting cotton to and fro on Factor’s Walk. One can imagine he often watched the horses on hot days trudging along and felt compassion for them. The only problem was that when he included the fountain in his will and, by the time he died, things had changed. We were quickly moving into an automobile culture and horses and mules were to be found on farms, but not urban areas. The city hired one of its best architects, Henrik Wallin, to design the fountain. He’d designed various buildings around town including the Armstrong House (which would become the birthplace of Armstrong Atlantic State University), the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Wallin Hall, and the major renovation and redesign of First Baptist Church to name three. To solve the problem of the fountain for animals that were no longer seen on the streets of Savannah, he designed it with a birdbath on top and water for dogs underneath. Initially, the Fountain stood in the middle of the wide, brick-paved intersection of Bay and Whitaker Streets. But in 1945, as automobile traffic increased, the city moved the Fountain to Victory Drive and Bull Street.
 
Through his will, Cohen cared for the less fortunate. His will offered respite for the old, the orphaned, and impoverished children. The concept of taking under-privileged children to the beach for two weeks to experience the benefits of fresh air, exercise, and the beauty of nature was innovative for that time. Remarkably, Cohen’s mandate also included a gift to the animals. And one could infer from its title Cohen Humane Fountain. He was a member of the local chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He thought it humane to include the animals in our concerns and care. Today, many thousands pass this gift for work-animals everyday, but few will know the heart of the man who gave it to Savannah.

​Percival Randolph Cohen was laid to rest in Laurel Grove Cemetery on April 21, 1927 at the family site. Cohen's grave reads, "The memory of the just is blessed".

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Cohen's Retreat for Old Men

Cohen Shelter for Little Ones on Tybee Island