Central Park Balto Statue

The Balto statue in Central Park honors the sled dog who led the final leg of the 1925 serum run to Nome, Alaska, delivering diphtheria antitoxin through a blizzard to save the children of the isolated Arctic town.

The bronze sculpture by Frederick Roth was installed in December 1925, just ten months after the famous serum run. Balto himself attended the unveiling ceremony. The statue's nose and back have been polished gold by the millions of children who have petted and climbed on it.

The 1925 serum run covered 674 miles across frozen Alaska in five and a half days, using relay teams of sled dogs. Balto and his musher, Gunnar Kaasen, completed the final 53-mile leg through a blinding blizzard to deliver the medicine.

The Balto statue is one of the most touched sculptures in the world. Children instinctively climb onto Balto's back and rub his nose, and the bronze has developed a distinctive patina from a century of affectionate contact.

The Balto statue honors the most famous dog in American history, a sled dog whose courage in an Arctic blizzard saved the children of Nome and whose bronze likeness in Central Park has been loved by the children of New York ever since.