PRR Station Eagles

The majestic eagle perched on the Viaduct at East 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Ave is actually a relic from the previous Grand Central Terminal, which stood here from 1898-1910. The eagles numbered 10 or 11 (accounts differ). This eagle was discovered at the Capuchin Theological Seminary in Garrison, NY.

This eagle was "discovered" in 2003 by Don Quick, president of the Architectural Iron Company of Milford, Pennsylvania. Don had restored the Bronxville eagle in 1997 and when he came across this eagle on a family visit to the Space Farms and Zoo Museum, he immediately recognized it as being an eagle from Grand Central Station. A plaque nearby the eagle mistakingly identified it as coming from an old post office building in New York City, but the museum owners were excited to find out the eagle's origination and quickly changed the plaque. A question remains as to whether this is the missing Mt Vernon eagle or an 11th eagle from the old station building.

This is not the view enjoyed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis when she fought so hard to have the building preserved.

Sadly, McLane passed away before this eagle was dedicated on Aug 23, 1986

Another beautiful location for an eagle, overlooking the LI Sound.

New York City Station Eagles November 2010 issue of Railfan & Railroad magazine has a 6 page feature article on the Eagles
PRR STATION EAGLES
Hoisting the eagle down to a flatbed for transport. October 28, 1963 with the official start of the Penn Station demolition. The three officials with suits and hard hats looking at the lowering; on the right is LIRR President Thomas M. Goodfellow, on the left is J. Benton Jones - VP of the PRR and center is Irving Mitchell Felt - President of Madison Square Garden (and thus the name "The Felt Forum"). Photo: Newsday	NY Times July 14, 1966 edition. It shows an eagle being lowered from one of the last remaining facades to be demolished.	Pennsylvania Station New 1910 One can see the eagle’s original perch above the main entrance Penn Station c.1959
The Keystone: Spring 1998 Article: John E. Chance	Article references Adolf Weinman sculptures: Eagles and "Day and Night"	Figures of Day and Night, including the 2 smaller eagles adjacent to the figures, were for years located at Ringwood State Park in New Jersey.
The NY TIMES pictured a "Figure of Day" in the New Jersey Meadowlands dump. This DAY would account for the third figure known to exist. The two previously known DAYS were in the statuary groups in Kansas City and Ringwood State Park, NJ (now at the NJT Newark Training Facility) so it appears that all figures of DAY have been accounted for. March 25, 1998 NY TIMES	The Day and Night relief on the LIRR Concourse at Penn Station. NJT Training Facility Newark, NJ About 8 or 9 years ago, New Jersey Transit obtained the statuary and had it restored by Steve Tatti. Since then, the statuary has lanquished outside of the NJT Training Facility building in Newark. Latest word is that the statuary might be placed at the new facility that NJT is planning at Penn Station.	"Figure of Night" Brooklyn Museum Universal Studios in Orlando
The other stone eagle on the left of the Penn Station entrance. Note its real feathered companion. 9/11/2010 Photo: Al Castelli	One of the stone eagles outside Penn Station on 7th Ave. This building is 2 Penn Plaza. 9/11/2010 Photo: Al Castelli	One of the two original stone eagles outside the current station. They adorned the original Penn Station. This is to the right of the station's current 7th Ave. entrance. 9/11/2010 Photo: Al Castelli
COOPER UNION, Ringwood, NJ & Manhattan, NY
Hoisting of the eagle onto the rooftop. Photo: "Courtesy of Cooper Union"	Manhattan Campus, NY 1990 Photo: Dave Morrison	Green Campus in Ringwood, NJ
During the mid 1960s, this eagle was donated to Cooper Union, and it was only later learned that sculptor Adolph Weinman was an alumnus. Originally it was placed on the grounds of the school's Green Campus in Ringwood, New Jersey. It was later moved to a courtyard of the Manhattan Campus and a few years ago, it was moved to one of the schools adjacent building rooftops.
SMITHSONIAN Washington, DC
The Smithsonian eagle as it appeared at the US Pavilion of Expo 67, later returned to Washington. Photo: National Archives of Canada.	Smithsonian eagle with kids on it. Note: the Smithsonian eagle and the Cooper Union eagle are the only two mounted on diamond shaped bases. All others are on square bases	Smithsonian plaque with erroneous "pink granite" wording. Supposedly later changed.
Early 1900's edition of Monumental News stating that all of the Penn Station statuary was carved from Knoxville Marble.	Smithsonian Institution letter stating that the quarry stone is indeed marble and not granite.	A letter that I wrote to Newsday setting forth the story of the quarry stone. Dave Morrison
PENN STATION EAGLE - Kansas City, MO
		Boy Scouts of America, Headquarters Kansas City, MO Eagle statuary 05-22-08 Photo: Dave Morrison
Vinalhaven, ME
	They got an eagle under the erroneous assumption that the "granite" was quarried in Vinalhaven, Maine. When it was later discovered that the "granite" was supposedly quarried in Milford, Mass., Vinalhaven decided to keep the eagle anyway and dedicate it to the local granite industry. Much to their chagrin, the quarry stone is marble.	September 5, 1966
MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY, Kings Point, NY
	There are two at the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. A nearby plaque identifies the eagles as being carved from Pink Granite quarried in Milford, Mass. Wrong, they are marble.	Kings Pt plaque erroneously referring to pink granite
MARKET ST. BRIDGE, Philadelphia, PA
Four eagles are on the corners of the Market Street Bridge in Philadelphia, PA. The HQ of the PRR was located nearby.
VALLEY FORGE ACADEMY, Valley Forge, PA
The Valley Forge eagle was originally owned by Walter Annenberg, who later donated it to the school in memory of Academy boys who had given their life in the nation's wars.
HAMPDEN SYDNEY COLLEGE, Hampden Sydney, VA
The Hampden Sydney College received an eagle because William Lashley, who was VP of PRR Public Affairs, was an alumnus of the school.
PENN STATION EAGLE - LIRR Hicksville, NY
Newsday Article 06/08/2010	Hicksville PRR Eagle	Close up view of the deteriorated beak - summer 2009 Location: Hicksville, NY
Vaja Gabashville grinding new beak 8/28/2010	Grinding work on the new beak was being performed today by Sculptor Vaja Gabashville, who works for Steve Tatti. He plans on finishing the grinding/shaping work tomorrow. After the beak is fully shaped, the stone will be finished to match the stone of the eagle.	Eagle cleaning
New beak side view 8/30/2010	Newsday Blog 08/31/2010
The eagle and its pedestal and plaque. The eagle was placed here in 1965 at the request of the Hicksville High School's Latin 4/10/2008 Photo: Al Castelli	This plaque is affixed to the pedestal of the Penn Station eagle outside the LIRR's Hicksville , NY station. The Hicksville High School's Latin Club sponsored the eagle's placement at the station. Hence, the Latin inscription. 4/10/2008 Photo: Al Castelli	The location of the Hicksville eagle with an LIRR train pulling into the station. 9/16/2010 Photo: Al Castelli
A front view of the Penn Station eagle outside Hicksville Station 9/16/2010 Photo: Al Castelli	Detail of the eagle's back. 9/16/2010 Photo: Al Castelli	A 3/4 view of the Penn Station eagle outside Hicksville Station 9/16/2010 Photo: Al Castelli
25th ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY BOOKLET LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD HISTORICAL SOCIETY/HICKSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL May 15, 1990
Cover	Page 2-3	Page 4-5
Page 6-7	Page 8-9	Page 10-11
GRAND CENTRAL STATION EAGLES
The majestic eagle perched on the Viaduct at East 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Ave is actually a relic from the previous Grand Central Terminal, which stood here from 1898-1910. The eagles numbered 10 or 11 (accounts differ). This eagle was discovered at the Capuchin Theological Seminary in Garrison, NY.		David Morrison (l) and Wes Cowan, one of the hosts on History Detectives which aired on August 20, 2007 (Season 5, Episode 9). That segment dealt with the Grand Central Station eagles.
Bronxville, NY
Bronxville eagle on Lexington Ave entranceway		This is the eagle that is now over the Lexington Ave entranceway. It was placed there by the MTA because it was a new entranceway and thus did not impinge upon the building's landmark status. Photo mid 1990s.
"SPACE FARMS" Sussex, NJ
The Space Farms eagle and the erroneous plaque that they had beside the eagle, prior to learning that the eagle was from GCT.	This eagle was "discovered" in 2003 by Don Quick, president of the Architectural Iron Company of Milford, Pennsylvania. Don had restored the Bronxville eagle in 1997 and when he came across this eagle on a family visit to the Space Farms and Zoo Museum, he immediately recognized it as being an eagle from Grand Central Station. A plaque nearby the eagle mistakingly identified it as coming from an old post office building in New York City, but the museum owners were excited to find out the eagle's origination and quickly changed the plaque. A question remains as to whether this is the missing Mt Vernon eagle or an 11th eagle from the old station building.
Cold Spring Harbor, NY
		These two eagles are on the grounds of St. Basil's Academy and are not "matched" as are the eagles at the Vanderbilt Museum. One eagle is on top of a rock cliff beside the entrance roadway and is painted black. The other eagle is further down the road and set back from the roadway, somewhat in the woods. This eagle has a bronzed appearance.
VANDERBILT MUSEUM, Centerport, NY

These two eagles are immediately inside the main entrance gate of the Vanderbilt Museum in Centerport, NY. This was the former home of William K. Vanderbilt, Jr. These eagles were placed here in 1910 and both are mounted on rather extravagant pedestals. These eagles are coated with some sort of black preservative.
Garrison, NY
	The left photo shows the Garrison eagle over the 42nd St./Vanderbilt Ave, NYC, NY entranceway. In my opinion, this eagle bastardizes the landmark status of GCT. This is not the view enjoyed by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis when she fought so hard to have the building preserved. Garrison, NY overlooking the Hudson River. It was a most apropos location, but one had to walk through the woods to get to the eagle. I imagine that it looked beautiful from the vantage of a boat out on the river.
North Tarrytown, NY
	North Tarrytown, aka Philipse Manor, which later became Sleepy Hollow, NY.	New York Daily News by David McLane 10/31/1965
SHANDAKEN - Mt. Vernon, NY
		This was the eagle purchased by David McLane in 1966 for 100 bucks. It was one of the two eagles located in Mt. Vernon. Sadly, McLane passed away before this eagle was dedicated on Aug 23, 1986
Kings Point, NY
		This one is on the private estate of the late Edwin S. Marks. Another beautiful location for an eagle, overlooking the LI Sound.