The statue, in bronze, was twenty feet high, surmounting a granite pedestal thirty feet high. Columbus' left hand held to the chest, right hand extended at his side and legs astride. The monument forms the design for souvenirs of the Exposition which the profits of sales were to be used to pay back the $50,000 they borrowed.
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This 1902 photo shows the Christopher Columbus statue laying on the ground waiting to be melted and reused. |
The statue was removed and placed in storage in June of 1897. In September of 1902, it was proposed to recycle the statue and use the metal for a pending statue to honor President McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. That, in fact, was done!
Compiled by Neil Gale, Ph.D.