The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World was dedicated on October 28, 1886, 130 years ago. It was “a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States and is recognized as a universal symbol of freedom and democracy.”
Here are some fun facts:
Total overall height from the base of the pedestal foundation to the tip of the torch is 305 feet, 6 inches (93.1 m)
Height of the Statue from her heel to the top of her head is 111 feet, 6 inches (34 m)
The Statue has a 35-foot waistline (10.67 m)
Total weight of the Statue of Liberty is 225 tons, or 450,000 pounds (204116.567 kg)
The Statue of Liberty was “designed by sculptor Frédéric Bartholdi in collaboration with engineer Gustave Eiffel” – yes, THAT Eiffel. “Atop its pedestal (designed by American architect Richard Morris Hunt), the Statue” at the entrance to New York Harbor “has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States.”
The New Colossus is a poem written by Emma Lazarus (1849–1887) “in 1883 to raise money for the construction of the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. In 1903, the poem was engraved on a bronze plaque and mounted inside the pedestal’s lower level.” The most famous part is:
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
I have never been to the Statue of Liberty, despite living within 200 miles of it almost all my life. Now I HAVE seen it, on a ferry going from Manhattan to Staten Island several times. But I understand that actually “visiting Liberty Island is one of the most rewarding experiences” one can have. The Daughter expressed a desire to visit there, the last time we were in New York City in 2013, but it didn’t work out.
Indeed, I wish I had gone last century. “For over a decade, the National Park Service has implemented a reservation system. This is very different from the way past generations once accessed the Statue of Liberty. The National Park Service strongly recommends making advanced ticket reservations.”
And I KNOW this to be true: “There are many aggressive, unauthorized ticket sellers who will try to sell tickets to the Statue of Liberty near Battery Park in NYC. These individuals will often try to scam people through misrepresentation and over-charging… Ferries provide transportation to both Liberty Island (site of the Statue of Liberty) and Ellis Island.”
I expect we’ll go there eventually.