Tesla statue.

Tesla Clutches Golden Lightning Bolt

On November 16, 1896, Buffalo became one of the first cities powered by Nikola Telsa's alternating current, and the first to be powered by electricity generated somewhere else (Niagara Falls). So when local Tesla enthusiast Marty McGee was on vacation and overheard people badmouthing Buffalo, he decided that the way to burnish the city's image was to erect a Tesla statue.

Also, he was concerned that more and more people, hearing the word "Tesla," just thought of a car.

Unveiled in September 2020, sculpted by Mark DeGraffenried, the bronze statue stands in tiny Nikola Tesla Park -- the only such named park in America -- across the street from where Tesla was the guest of honor at the "Power Banquet" of 1897. To depict the inventor's harnessing of electric power, Tesla clutches in his raised right hand a golden lighting bolt.

McGee's next project, with an uncertain completion date, is to add a replica Tesla coil next to the statue.

Tesla Clutches Golden Lightning Bolt

Address:: 2 N. Division St., Buffalo, NY
Directions:: Downtown. In a little park on the northeast corner of N. Division St. and Main St. (which is only open to streetcar traffic).
RA Rates:: Worth a Detour

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