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The 36 foot, 58-ton steel column once held up the South Tower and became a makeshift memorial for 9/11 victims during the recovery effort.

"It became a symbol when you came in here," said NYPD Officer James Buscemi. "You always saw that beam. It was one of the largest beams here and it became a symbol for us to know that we have to keep working and recover as much as we can recover."

After being taken in a solemn procession down West Street, the column was hoisted into place, where it will be kept in a climate-controlled pavilion, to help with preservation. It will later become a part of the September 11th Memorial and Museum.

"The last column will stand as a symbol of the best of what we saw in ourselves in the aftermath of the attacks," said Lynn Rasic of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. "It's literally adorned with tributes, insignias, Mass cards, and really displays the unity and the coming together that people felt in the aftermath of the attacks."

"The last column took on such important meaning back during the recovery," added Joe Daniels of the September 11th Memorial and Museum."It really became emblematic of such effort and compassion that was put into cleaning up this site and remembering the fallen. It's been treated so carefully and reverentially and now by bringing it back we're showing the progress on the site we're literally building the museum around it."

The column was removed from the site in 2002. It spent the last seven years being preserved in a hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport.

Many say the column's return marks a big step in returning the site to glory.

"The beam itself shows the strength of New York coming back here, the towers growing; the steel beam is going to be part of this memorial," said NYPD Officer Arthur Leahy, whose brother James, also a police officer, was killed in the attacks.

"It took on it's own persona, it took on its own meaning," said FDNY Battalion Chief Steven San Filippo. "What did it mean for everyone? It meant something different for everyone. For me, it was a symbol of hope. It's great that it's coming back, for me this is a new beginning."

"Seeing it come back just means progress, means that we are moving ahead, we are thinking about tomorrow," said Le Lelpi, whose son was killed on September 11th. "They are going to have a beautiful memorial and museum here when we are finished."

Memorial organizers say it is on schedule to be done by the 10-year anniversary of the attacks. The museum is expected to be finished the following year.