This fountain was built on the site of the first artesian borehole in Paris carried out from 1833 to 1841. At this site, the Grenelle slaughterhouses were located at the time. The engineerLouis-Georges Mulot directed the work, helped by François Arago, his name was given to the place where the fountain is located. Water was found at 548 meters. The catchment, conveyed in an underground pipe, sprang from a monumental metal tower 42 meters high, built in 1858 on the Place de Breteuil, a few hundred meters away. It was destroyed in 1903.