Original architect John Russell Pope designed the fountain to emulate a Roman monument, and chose a lion's face to depict the "beast" portion of the fountain, with a stone sculpture of the face on one side and a bronze plaque of it on the other. He then selected Vermont marble to be used for the shaft of the fountain, while pink granite was used for the base, basin walls and bollards. A large basin with bronze chains was placed in the front for horses, while the backside of the fountain had a water fountain for people. Once designed, the fountain was placed in front of the Somerset County Courthouse.
After some years of use, the fountain had become non-operational for decades. Because of the prominent location of the fountain, the people of the county recently wanted to have it repaired. The architects of Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch in Princeton, NJ, were commissioned to restore the fountain. "After it originally worked, the county stopped using it as a fountain, and decided to use it as a planter," said Christa Gaffigan, project architect of Ford Farewell Mills & Gatsch. "Then they stopped using it as a planter, and it really became deteriorated over time."