Thomas Edison has come to stay in Milan, in the form of a handsome bronze statue, a close replica of the Edison statue now representing Ohio in Statuary Hall of the Capitol Building in Washington, DC. Fabricated by sculptor Alan Cottrill of Janesville, Ohio, he added a phonograph(Edison’s favorite invention) in Edison’s left hand for the statue in Milan. Edison’s right hand holds high his great invention, the incandescent light bulb.
Thanks to Edison Birthplace Trustee Don Gfell, who had spent years getting the original statue to Washington, he then worked extremely hard to bring a similar statue to Milan. Mr. Edison is standing atop an Ohio buckeye (OH…..IO!) He is in front of the historic Milan Township Hall on the Square. Please come to Milan to see him and don’t forget to stop and take a tour of his birthplace, just down the street a few blocks.