Memorial Hall Zinc Statues, Fairmount Park - 1880
Best view of one of the sixteen 3,000 pound zinc decorative eagles on the four pavilions of the Centennial Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. I believe the building in the middle of photo is the Pennsylvania Education Building.
I had once made reference to the fact that these eagles were made in Germany. I cannot find the clipping I read regarding that. The clipping below states that the eagle were fabricated in the Cameron Iron and Zinc Metal Company in New York. A company by that name is on the Internet and listed as being in Texas BTW.
In a previous listing I wrote that I wondered what happened to those eagles. They seemed to be gone in Photos of Memorial Hall by 1900. The answer would appear to be that the decorations were quickly and cheaply made in a rush to the deadline of the opening of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in the summer of 1876. The statues including the statue of Liberty crowning the building appear to have started to fall apart and were a hazard. The eagles with fifteen feet wing spans were removed while Liberty statue was repaired.
Also a clipping about much needed repairs begun in 1881 for the roof, ceilings and skylights of the building.
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