(COLORADO SPRINGS) — If you’ve found yourself curious about why Nikola Tesla is painted on the mural at the corner of Colorado Avenue and 21st Street, the answer is simple: for a short time, Tesla called Colorado Springs home for his experiments.

In 1899, Tesla built an experimental station that sits near Memorial Park on North Foote Avenue. Through the funding of the wealthy, like John Jacob Astor who would later die on the Titanic, Tesla was able to fund his venture. He hoped to transmit electricity from downtown Colorado Springs to the top of Pike’s Peak, and from there to Paris, France.

“Colorado Springs is chosen because of its unique setting, its atmospherics, its dry climate,” Matt Mayberry with the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum said. “We have lots of thunderstorms [and] he’s fascinated by electricity… and I think that was part of the attraction.”

Tesla doesn’t stay in Colorado Springs long, less than a year. “For the development of the site, operating the site, he leaves a caretaker behind to kind of watch it, that goes unpaid,” said Mayberry.

The City was able to recoup some of its money by selling parts of the experimental lab at auctions, which is why you don’t see it today.