Lady Liberty is Something Almost Every Visitor Wants to See

Lady Liberty is something almost every visitor wants to see. The statue is located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. It is a mile and a half southwest of Manhattan. It is just off the New Jersey coast. Castle Clinton serves as the boat dock for boarding the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. Circle Line ferries leave Battery Park seven days a week for the ten-minute ride to Liberty Island.

Lady Liberty has lifted her lamp since 1886. Her multimillion dollar restoration was finished in 1986, in time for the statue’s centennial celebration. The huge statue is a national monument. It portrays liberty as a woman stepping free of broken shackles. She extends a flaming torch in her right hand. In her left hand she carries a tablet. The tablet represents the Declaration of Independence.

The statue is 151 feet tall and stands on a pedestal. The tip of the torch is 305 feet above ground level. Lady Liberty is the work of French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi. Bartholdi spent ten years working on the project. Copper sheeting was shaped over carved wooden forms. This was done by hammering the sheets by hand. Bartholdi built the statue in France, section by section. It was shipped to New York where it was put together on the island.

The statue was a gift from the people of Frence to the people of the United States. The original statue cost over $250,000. The money was provided by contributions from residents in more than 180 French communities. The statue and its pedestal were paid for in part by donations from Americans. Many schoolchildren made contributions.

Over the years, the statue’s copper exterior suffered from exposure to the weather. Many other repairs were needed. This brought about the massive restoration job. Your visit to the statue includes an elevator ride that stops at a balcony. This runs around the top of the statue’s pedestal. Here you can look out in all directions. It’s a great view on a clear day. There are descriptions telling what you are looking at. If you want a view from an even higher spot, you can climb 168 steps to reach the observation platform at Lady Liberty’s crown. It offers a wonderful view of the harbor, Ellis Island, and both the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines.

You also will want to visit the American Museum of Immigration. This is in the base of the Statue of Liberty. There are exhibits telling the story of immigration to the United States. These relate how the statue came to be the symbol of the United States. In this museum, as well as on the statue’s pedestal, is the famous poem about Lady Liberty. Written by Emma Lazarus, it includes the well-known lines: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

Just north of Liberty Island is Ellis Island. From 1890 to 1943, Ellis Island was the primary immigration center in the United States. Millions passed through here. The ships on which they arrived first went by the welcoming arms of Lady Liberty. At the peak of immigration, more than one million newcomers were processed here in a year. The immigration center was moved to Manhattan when Ellis Island was closed. Ellis Island became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. It was opened to tourists eleven years later by the National Park Service.