Named for the bible’s Rebekah-at-the-well, Block Island’s own “Rebecca” stands at the center of the Old Harbor traffic circle. This iconic Block Island lady was put in place in 1896 by the local Women’s Christian Temperance Movement, which hoped to curb the consumption of alcohol on Block Island. Temperance fountains were installed in hundreds of communities. The idea was to offer clean water as a healthier option to the ubiquitous refresher of the time, beer. Restoration experts have concluded that Rebecca is in fact Hebe, cupbearer to the Gods at Mt. Olympus, also goddess of youth and the wife of Hercules. Hebe was said to have diluted the wine she was tasked to serve. The white statue was recast in 2001, and it still succeeds in reminding us to consider the negative effects of alcohol consumption.
