When Was the Statue of Liberty Built?
According to the Statue of Liberty’s website, the Statue of Liberty turned 100 years old on October 28, 1986. The statue was completed in April of 1886, though, before actually being installed.
The French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was hired to design the sculpture and have it completed by 1876. Even though Bartholdi designed the statue, the physical creation was a combined effort between France and the United States. The United States agreed to build the pedestal, while France was responsible for building the statue and putting it together in the United States.
Since this was a very expensive project for both countries, the financing for the pedestal was finalized in August 1885 with the construction being complete in April 1886.
The statue was transported to New York in June 1885. An official public dedication to the statue was held on October 28, 1886. According to the Statue of Liberty website, the Statue of Liberty truly symbolizes freedom, liberty, justice, and friendship of foreign nations that support fair and equal opportunity for everyone.
Structural Design
Even though Bartholdi designed the statue’s sculpture and received a U.S. patent for the structure, he was aided by French designer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel and structural engineer, Maurice Koechlin.
Eiffel and Koechlin were hired to design the skeletal framework and deal with any structural issues associated with the huge copper structure. According to Inetours website, the statue was constructed using a technique called repoussè. With this technique, the structural form is created by hammering copper inside molds.
The pedestal was designed by Richard Morris Hunt, an American architect. Once the statue was completed in France in July 1884, Hunt’s pedestal was then attached on August 5, 1884. However, funding issues prevented the pedestal from being fully financed until August 11, 1885. The pedestal construction was finally complete on April 22, 1886.
Ellis Island
The Statue of Liberty is famous, in part, because of its location in Ellis Island where immigrants arrive in America and because of what it represents.
When was the Statue of Liberty and the New York Harbor’s connection first established? According to the Inetours website, Bartholdi thought Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the perfect place for the statue to be displayed because it was the first view of the New World.
According to the Statue of Liberty website, the statue represents a freedom symbol for most immigrants as they are migrating to America. In fact, Ellis Island was considered one of the busiest immigration gateways for millions of migrants from 1892 to 1954. Ellis Island is located in Upper New York Bay east of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. On May 11, 1965 Ellis Island became a part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
More Liberty Facts
According to the National Park Service website, the statue has naturally oxidized to create the “patina” green coating, which protects the copper from wearing away. The Statue of Liberty is a little over 305 feet from the tip of the flame to the bottom of the ground. In other words, the height is almost that of a 22-story building.
When it was first constructed in 1886, it was considered the tallest structure in New York. According to the Statue of Liberty website, the thorns on the Statue’s crown represent the seven seas, the feet symbolize freedom from oppression, and the torch represents the passion for freedom.
The original torch was moved inside the Statue of Liberty’s Monument Museum. The new torch has gold plating, a climate control system, and elevators. The torch was reopened to the public in 1886. The face of the statue is considered to be a woman. Classical images of the Liberty have shown it with a female face, and some believe it was modeled after Bartholdi’s mother’s face.