The Statue of Liberty was welcomed to New York’s harbor on October 26, 1886, as a celebration of liberty and democracy and a gift to the United States from France. While the nation has grown and changed in the last 135 years since Lady Liberty’s arrival, the symbolism she represents still holds true. Celebrate our most iconic landmark turning 135 with these 25 fun facts!
1. The statue’s full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
2. It was a gift from France given to America in 1886.
3. The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
4. The statue measures 93 meters and weighs 204 metric tons.
5. Visitors have to climb 354 stairs to reach the statue’s crown.
6. There are 25 windows in the crown.
7. From 2014-2109, over 4.2 million people visited the statue in each year.
8. The seven spikes on the crown represent the seven oceans and the seven continents of the world, indicating the universal concept of liberty.
9. The statue’s face was said to be modeled after the sculptor’s mother, Charlotte.
10. The statue’s original torch was replaced in 1984 by a new copper torch covered in 24k gold leaf.
11. Lady Liberty is standing among a broken shackle and chains with her right foot raised, depicting her moving away from oppression and slavery.
12. The Statue of Liberty became the symbol of immigration during the second half of the 19th century, as over nine million immigrants came to the United States with the statue often being the first thing they saw when arriving by boat.
13. The Statue of Liberty features a table cradled in her left arm. July 4, 1776, is engraved on the tablet. This is the day when the Declaration of Independence was adopted.
14. On windy days when winds can reach 50 mph, the statue can sway as much as 3 inches.
15. Thomas Edison wanted to install a large phonograph inside the statue with speakers that were loud enough to be heard as far as the northern part of Manhattan.
16. The statue is made of copper.
17. It was originally reddish brown but turned green over the years.
18. General William Tecumseh Sherman was the person to select the location for the statue.
19. The Statue of Liberty is struck by approximately 600 bolts of lightning each year.
20. The underwater portion of the statue is actually in the state of New Jersey and not New York. Liberty Island is an exclave, meaning it’s officially part of New York that’s entirely surrounded by New Jersey.
21. It would cost around two million dollars to build the Statue of Liberty today.
22. The disassembled statue was shipped to the U.S. from France in 350 different pieces. It required four months to put together.
23. Although the statue was designed by Bartholdi, the inner structure was built by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
24. The torch was accessible until 1916. On July 30, German agents sabotaged New York in an event known as the Black Tom explosion. The explosion damaged the statue’s arm and torch with flying debris.
25. Suffragists interrupted the statue’s opening day. They rallied against the image of a woman that supposedly symbolized freedom because women did not have the right to vote at the time and wouldn’t for another 34 years.
