Paul Revere Statue

Fun Facts about Boston's Paul Revere Statue

August 13, 2020 by cryan.com

One of the most popular shots in Boston is the Paul Revere Statue in the North End. Tourist from around the world come and learn about Paul Revere's history.

This view of the Paul Revere Mall with the Paul Revere statue is one of the most popular photo spots along the Freedom Trail.

This view of the Paul Revere Mall with the Paul Revere statue is one of the most popular photo spots along the Freedom Trail.

Fun Facts about the Paul Reveue Statue

The statue was created in 1886 by Cyrus Dallin.

The statue won first prize against other notable designers - Daniel Chester French (Concord Minuteman) and Thomas Ball (George Washington Equestrian Statue in the Public Gardens).

However it took 54 years for the City of Boston to buy and install it.

The clay model of the statue was completed in 1935 After that the statue was on display in the Caproni Galleries on Washington Street and for a while it was exhibited on the Esplanade.

The delays for Boston to purchase it was "for one reason or another." Some people say the delays were intentional because Cyrus Dallin was only 22-years old at the time he won against other famous designers.

Officially set up on the Paul Revere Mall on Thursday, September 19, 1940. The dedication ceremony was on the following Sunday, September 22nd at 2:30 pm.

Speakers at the dedication ceremony included Joseph F. O'Connell, Henry L. Shattuck, and Raymond Kelly. The great-great-great-grandson of Paul Revere was at the ceremony. About 10,000 people were at the ceremony.

The statue cost nearly a half-million dollars. The funding was controlled by the George White Fund

The statue is known as heroic, which basically means it is about one and half life-size.

Orginally some people suggested putting the statue in Copley square, at the foot of Mount Vernon Street - looking west towards Lexington and Concord. Another location some suggested was at the statehouse on the opposite side of the equestrian statue of General Hooker.

The statue base is Milford granite. It comes from Dennis F. McLaughlin. He won the bid at $7,930

Locals still call the Paul Revere Mall the original name: 'The Prado." The official name was changed when the Paul Revere Statue was dedicated.

According to city expenditures documents, to get the Paul Revere Mall up and running, it cost: $382,390.48 for the Land and Construction, the Tablets on the walls cost $16,293.26 and the statue cost $37,424.91.

Quote from the Dedication

Henry L. Shattuck, the orator of the day, said this at the Dedication:

Parody Poem

Mr. Dallin had a sense of humor of the whole ordeal of getting the statue in the proper place. He wrote a parody on Longfellow's famous poem. This is what the sculptor wrote to Mayor Maurice J. Tobin:

'Listen. my children and you shall hear Of the ignoble failure of Boston to rear
The greatest creation of my long career. 
The Equestrian Statue of Paul Revere.
A citizens' committee of well-known men 
Selected my model from a competition of ten.
On July the fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-five.
The committee of which no one now is alive
Made a contract with me all legally signed
To erect in Copley Souare my designed
To honor the hero whose cry of alarm
Aroused every Middlesex village and farm
For the country folk to be up and to arm
Alas! no statue now graces Copley Square
'T is enough to make even an angel swear
But being only human I refuse to despair.
And J hope that means will be found somewhere
So after the lapse of many a year
Due honor be paid to Paul Revere.'
--Cyrus E. Dalbn.

Finding the Statue

The statue is located at the Paul Revere Mall in the North End of Boston. It's located just off of Hanover Street.