What Is That Thing? That Giant Rock With A Propeller In Harrison

HARRISON, NY — While there are dozens of monuments for Amelia Earhart around the country, the one in Harrison is the only one she was alive to see herself.

The tribute to the aviation pioneer, entrepreneur, journalist, celebrity and civil rights advocate was dedicated in 1932, just five years before her plane disappeared over the Pacific. The commemoration was installed by Earhart's adopted hometown to mark her famed 1932 transatlantic flight.

It would be easy to mistake the marker that features an aircraft propeller placed on a huge boulder as an early failed attempt at early flight, but closer inspection reveals just how much this hometown hero meant to the community. The meticulously manicured monument space is evidence that the tribute won't be relegated to becoming just another forgotten park statue abandoned to pigeons anytime soon.

Harrison pulls out all the stops to celebrate its favorite adopted daughter. In fact, to celebrate the 80th anniversary of American pilot Amelia Earhart’s last flight, the Harrison Public Library hosted a nearly yearlong series of programs dedicated to Earhart in 2017. The former Harrison resident was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, but she is perhaps best known for disappearing mysteriously in 1937 while attempting to fly around the globe.

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