October 17th, 2010 - Ames Brothers Pyramid

This monument has been on my to do list since I got my camera. Had some time today so I finally made the drive over.

From Roadside America:
Oliver Ames was the president of the Union Pacific Railroad. His brother Oakes was a Massachusetts congressman and the Railroad's point man in Washington. The two made millions selling shovels to gold-seekers in California, then used the profits to take control of the Railroad, then wildly inflated its construction costs to bilk taxpayers out of an estimated $50 million. Oakes secured Washington's cooperation by bribing his fellow congressmen. When the fraud was uncovered in 1872, Oakes quickly died and Oliver followed a few years later.

The pyramid was the Union Pacific's way to polish the tarnished reputations of its ex-officials. Built in the early 1880s -- after the scandal had subsided -- it stood near a remote railroad town where passengers were encouraged to get off (and look at the pyramid) while the engines were changed. The Railroad hired big-deal architect Henry Hobson Richardson to design it, and a sign at its base proclaims it to be, "perhaps the finest memorial in America." Sculptor August St. Gaudens chiseled large portraits of Oliver and Oakes that were set into the pyramid near its apex (St. Gaudens was in line to design the Lincoln penny, too, but he died too young). Oliver faces west toward California, Oakes faces east toward his pals in DC. "

Hope you all have a great Sunday!

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