Tesla Statue: American Side - Niagara Falls, NY
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 43° 04.917 W 079° 04.267
17T E 657012 N 4771720
A statue of Serbian-American inventor and electrical engineer Nikola Tesla, who first commercially harnessed the power of Niagara Falls, is located in Goat Island, Niagara Falls, Canada.
Waymark Code: WMMK07
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 09/30/2014
Views: 14
Nikola Tesla was a Serbian American inventor and electrical engineer. During the late 1880's he was locked into a controversy with Thomas Edison about the future of electricity. Edison was a strong advocate for the distribution of direct current (DC) whereas Tesla, with equal vigor, believed that only alternating current (AC) was a viable option.
The current war was ultimately resolved when Tesla, working with George Westinghouse and the General Electric Company, built the first hydro-electric power plant in Niagara Falls. Tesls's AC system enabled the distribution of power from Niagara Falls over great distances and thus started the electrification of the world.
On July 26, 1976, a statue of Nikola Tesla was dedicated in Niagara Falls, NY. It was given to the United States by the former country of Yugoslavia. The bronze statue is now located on Goat Island which separates the American Falls from the Canadian Falls. The statue was created by Croatian sculptor Frano Krsinic.
Nikola Tesla is depicted sitting while reading a paper which is in his lap. Figure is mounted on top of polished black granite base. The right side of the base is inscribed:
TESLA'S INVENTIONS INCORPORATED
INTO NIAGARA POWER STATION 1896 - THE
BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MARCH
OF ELECTRIC ENERGY
The far side is obscured by a construction fence. It is inscribed:
TO COMMORATE ONE HUNDRED AND
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF NIKOLA TESLA'S
BIRTH AND TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN
INDEPENDENCE - THE PEOPLE OF YUGOSLAVIA