It is as much a part of Maitland's folklore as Les Darcy and the 1955 flood, yet the city's "little black boy" remains shrouded in conjecture and controversy more than 150 years after its arrival.
Maitland educator and philosopher Mark Tindall has sought to set the record straight about the fountain hitching post's origins and cultural significance.
As part of an extensive six-month research project, Mr Tindall examined historical links to black slavery and racism in Australia and America, which he says evolved into a series of popular myths.
The result is a new 162-page book, Maitland's Racist Garden Gnome, to be released on Monday.
The book aims to methodically blow up a series of errors of fact associated with the black boy figurine .
The central myth that Mr Tindall wants to dismantle relates to Jocko Graves - a 12-year-old boy who was the son of a freed African who fought within the regiment led by George Washington in the Revolutionary War.
Legend has it, the boy wanted to fight alongside his father in Washington's army but was too young.
He was given the role of holding the horses while the army crossed the Delaware River. The night was so cold that Jocko was found frozen to death, still holding the tethered horses.
Mr Tindall argues that Jocko Graves was a fictional character who never existed.
He contends that the economist, Earl Koger, created the character for a 1960s children's book titled The Legend of Jocko Graves.
Several decades later, American barber and author Waymon Lefall erroneously perpetuated the legend as fact.
"Amateur history fans have erroneously fused the fountain hitching post with the fictional Jocko Graves legend to create a false narrative that needs to be permanently separated," Mr Tindall said.
While he agrees the locally-listed heritage item is undoubtedly racist, Mr Tindall says it needs to be interpreted in the context of the time it was created - a mass-produced 19th century gimmick used to promote the sale of American tobacco.
Identical figurines have been located across Australia.
"It was installed between 1860 and 1890 with no reported fanfare," he said.
"It was a bit like a Ronald McDonald figure outside a Maccas store today."
Mr Tindall's research revealed the figurine was originally unpainted cast iron and stood on a bale of cotton until it was hit by a truck in 1950.
It was later painted in the colour scheme that remains today.
Mr Tindall hopes his research can ultimately be used as the basis for a PhD project.
In the meantime, he would like to see the fountain connected to a water supply, as the manufacturer intended, and a plaque installed that explained its history.
"I think it should be called Mr G.G (Maitland's racist garden gnome)," he said.
