 Samuel Spencer statue (2015) | |
| Location | 130 W Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta,Georgia |
|---|---|
| Designer | Henry Bacon Daniel Chester French |
| Fabricator | Piccirilli Brothers |
| Dedicated date | May 21, 1910 |
| Dedicated to | Samuel Spencer |
TheSamuel Spencer statue is a publicmonument inAtlanta,Georgia. Dedicated in 1910, the monument was designed byDaniel Chester French,Henry Bacon, and thePiccirilli Brothers and honorsSamuel Spencer, arailroad executive who died in 1906. The statue, initially located in front of Atlanta'sTerminal Station, was moved several times over the next several decades, includingNorfolk Southern'sheadquarters inmidtown Atlanta. In 2023, it was relocated to theAtlanta History Center and remained there on display ever since.
Samuel Spencer was arailroad executive who served as the first president ofSouthern Railway,[1] which eventually becameNorfolk Southern Railway in 1982.[2] He died in the early morning ofThanksgiving 1906 in atrain wreck.[2][3] Following this, over 30,000 employees of the Southern Railway donated money to commission a statue honoring their late president.[3] The statue was designed byHenry Bacon,Daniel Chester French, and thePiccirilli Brothers and was unveiled on May 21, 1910, in front ofTerminal Station inAtlanta,Georgia.[2] Five years after this statue's unveiling, these individuals would again collaborate on thestatue of Abraham Lincoln at theLincoln Memorial, which also features a seated figure.[4]
The statue was initially located near the front entrance of Terminal Station,[1] where it would remain until the station closed in June 1970.[2] Following this, the statue was moved several times to locations throughout Atlanta.[2][5] On July 3, 1970, the statue was rededicated outside ofPeachtree station in theBrookwood neighborhood of Atlanta.[2] It remained there until May 1996, when, in preparation for the1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, the statue was moved toHardy Ivy Park indowntown Atlanta.[2] The monument was moved for the third time on May 30, 2009, to a plaza in front of Norfolk Southern's offices, located alongPeachtree Street inmidtown Atlanta.[2][5] But when Norfolk Southern moved into its new Atlanta headquarters building in 2021, they removed the monument since Spencer is a former Confederate soldier.[6]: 42 In December 2023, the monument was now at the Atlanta History Center.[6]: 46 [7]
Media related toStatue of Samuel Spencer at Wikimedia Commons