Gentle Giant horse

A bronze draft horse leans into three heavy logs at the gate of the Nevada County Fairgrounds, a monument to the work horses that helped build the Gold Country and the Sierra Nevada.

According to the fairgrounds' own history of the piece, local sculptor Todd Andrews and a partner presented the idea to the fair's then chief executive in 1987, and fundraising began that year. A non-profit, Historical Landmarks, Inc., was formed solely to raise the money, and the monument was funded almost entirely by public contributions, recorded on plaques around it. It took ten years from the first idea to the casting and placing on its concrete base. The fairgrounds website gives 1997 as the year it was erected at the entrance.