Samuel Spencer Monument
Artist: Daniel C. French (b. Cambridge, MA, 1850, d. Cambridge, 1931)
Architect: Henry Bacon (b. Watseka, IL, 1866, d. 1924)

This historic bronze sculpture by renowned American sculptor Daniel Chester French is a memorial to Samuel Spencer, Southern Railway’s first president, and is considered to be the prototype for the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Commissioned in 1909 by Southern Railway employees, the sculpture and its ornate granite base by Henry Bacon were originally located at Atlanta’s downtown passenger train station. After the terminal was demolished in 1972, the sculpture was rededicated on July 3, 1970 at Brookwood Station. Relocated again in 1996 by CODA, the sculpture is the centerpiece of downtown’s Hardy Ivy Park located at the northern termination of Peachtree Street before it turns northeastward at Baker Street.

MATERIALS: Bronze, marble

DIMENSIONS: Sculpture 5’-2 w x 6’-2” d x 6’ h
Pedestal 5’-2” w x 6’-2” d x 12’ h
Base 8’-7” w x 8’-11” d x 7” h
Light poles (2) 30” w x 30” d x 15’-6” h

CONSULTANTS:

LOCATION: Hardy Ivy Park, West Peachtree and Peachtree Streets

COMMISSIONING ORGANIZATION:
Corporation for Olympic Development in Atlanta (CODA)
Installation: 1996

Click here for information about the restoration
of the Samuel Spencer Monument