Eiffel Tower (Paris, Tennessee)
Encyclopedia
Paris, Tennessee
Paris is a city in Henry County, Tennessee, United States, west of Nashville, on a fork of the West Sandy River. In 1900, 2,018 people lived in Paris, Tennessee; in 1910, 3,881; and in 1940, 6,395. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 9,763. It is the county seat of Henry...
. Built in the early 1990s, this structure is a model of the Eiffel Tower
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Origin at Christian Brothers University
Engineering students at Christian Brothers UniversityChristian Brothers University
Christian Brothers University is the oldest collegiate degree-granting institution in the city of Memphis. The university is run by the Christian Brothers, a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. John Baptist de la Salle, the patron saint of teachers...
originally constructed the tower to commemorate the 1990 Memphis in May
Memphis in May
Memphis in May is a month long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival itself is split into four main events: The Beale Street Music Festival, the kick-off event which showcases a mix of local and national music acts, International Week, a group of events dedicated to the country that is...
festival. Each year, the festival honors a country, and 1990 focused on France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
According to Brother
Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools
The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Roman Catholic religious teaching congregation, founded in France by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle and now based in Rome...
Patrick O'Brien, a public relations official for the university at the time, "[the tower] was the centerpiece of one of our most popular quads". Regardless, the wooden tower was a temporary structure. Moreover, it could not remain at the university because students began to climb it even though it could not support their weight.
Finding a new home in Paris
In April 1991, the Paris-Henry County Chamber of Commerce sponsored "Paris U.S.A.", an event created to celebrate the shared charm of the fifteen United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cities named for the French capital. Representatives from 5 Parises accepted their invitations to enjoy Paris U.S.A. in Paris, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
.
During the fall of that year, Brother Patrick O'Brien remembered the celebration and asked Paris if it would be interested in accepting a scale replica of the Eiffel Tower. The city accepted, and the job began.
Initial construction
The tower was designed to scale by Tom Morrison, professor emeritus of civil engineeringCivil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
; Jim Jacobs, assistant professor of mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
; and Roland Raffanti, engineering lab technician, from Christian Brothers University. According to Brother Patrick O'Brien, Morrison designed the model's design based on the original drawings of Gustave Eiffel
Gustave Eiffel
Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a French structural engineer from the École Centrale Paris, an architect, an entrepreneur and a specialist of metallic structures...
. Tennessee's tower is a nearly perfect 1:20 scale of the original.
Built through the labor of more than 10,000 hours donated by CBU students, faculty, alumni, and friends, the tower contains 500 pieces of Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir
Douglas-fir is one of the English common names for evergreen coniferous trees of the genus Pseudotsuga in the family Pinaceae. Other common names include Douglas tree, and Oregon pine. There are five species, two in western North America, one in Mexico, and two in eastern Asia...
and 6,000 steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
rods. The monument was assembled in CBU's Buckman Quadrangle.
After CBU dismantled the tower, the parts were delivered to Paris in February 1992 and given two coats of paint. The Paris Public Works Department reassembled the tower in Memorial Park.