2. Alexander Lyman Holley in Washington Square Park

Located 5th Avenue and Washington Place in Washington Square Park, this statue is dedicated to Alexander Lyman Holley, credited in the plaque with being “Foremost Among Those Whose Genius and Energy Established in America and Improved Throughout the World The Manufacture of Bessemer Steel This Memorial is Erected by Engineers of Two Hemispheres.”

Alexander Lyman Holley (1832-1882) brought the Bessemer steel process to America. Holley was from Lakeville, Connecticut, that but the first Bessemer Steel process was conducted in Troy, New York, 150 miles north of the city. Troy was becoming the iron and steel capital of the east during the 19th century and it was here that Holly went into partnership with Troy’s John A. Griswold and John F. Winslow to obtain the Henry Bessemer patent. Griswold and Winslow were already famous at this time, having built and financed the iron plates for the ironclad USS Monitor in 1862, along with John Ericsson. Holley died in Brooklyn.

The Washington Square Park statue of Holley was sculpted by John Quincy Adams Ward, known for his statue of George Washington at Federal Hall and George Washington on his horse in Union Square.