The Crown Jewel: Completing the Summit

The final months focused on the summit construction and Eiffel's private apartment at the top—a modest space that would nevertheless be the highest dwelling in the world. Thomas Edison would later visit this apartment, signing the guest book: "To M. Eiffel, from one inventor to another."

On March 31, 1889, the structural work was complete. Eiffel, accompanied by a small party including several workers chosen by their peers, climbed the 1,710 steps to the summit. There, he unfurled a French tricolor to cheers from the crowd below and the workers throughout the structure.

"This flag flies for all of us," Eiffel declared, his words repeated down the tower by workers to those below. "French and foreign, rich and poor, all who dreamed in iron and made it real."