15 Statue of Liberty Stories to Know
Standing in New York Harbor for over a century, the Statue of Liberty has been part of countless moments that made America what it is today. Most people know it as a symbol of freedom, but there's way more to this giant copper lady than meets the eye.
Here's a list of 15 Statue of Liberty stories that show just how wild and interesting this monument's history really is.
The French Almost Went Broke Making It
Building the Statue of Liberty nearly emptied the French bank account. The guys behind it had to throw dinner parties, run lotteries, and put on plays just to scrape together enough cash. It took them more than ten years partly because they kept running out of money halfway through.
Americans Didn't Want to Pay for the Base
France made the statue, but Americans were supposed to build what it stands on. Most people thought the whole thing was dumb and refused to chip in any money. A newspaper guy named Joseph Pulitzer basically had to guilt trip everyone into donating, even getting kids to send their lunch money.
Egypt Said No First
Before Lady Liberty ended up in New York, the artist tried to sell a similar idea to Egypt for the Suez Canal. He wanted to build a huge woman holding a torch there, calling it 'Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia.' When Egypt passed, he just changed the design and brought it to America instead.
The Face Looks Like the Artist's Mom
Nobody knows for sure, but a lot of people think the statue's face is based on the sculptor's mother, Charlotte. He never said one way or the other, but old photos of his mom and the statue's face look pretty similar. Some folks say it might be his wife, but the mom theory wins out.
They Built the Whole Thing in Paris First
The workers put together the entire statue in a Paris workshop to make sure all the pieces fit right before shipping it over. This meant people in Paris got to see the complete Statue of Liberty towering over their neighborhood for months in 1884. Talk about a weird sight on your morning walk.
The Torch Hung Out in Madison Square Garden
Before the full statue showed up, just the torch and hand came to America for the 1876 Philadelphia World's Fair. Later, they stuck it in Madison Square Park where people could actually climb inside the torch and look around. You could literally hang out inside Lady Liberty's torch while it sat in downtown Manhattan.
It Showed Up in 214 Boxes
When France finally sent over the completed statue, it came as 350 pieces stuffed into 214 wooden boxes on a ship called the Isère. Every single piece had a number and label, but putting this giant puzzle back together on the island still took almost a year.
The Crown Has 25 Little Windows
Those spikes sticking out of Lady Liberty's head each have a window you can look through. The seven spikes stand for the seven continents and seas, while the 25 windows represent gemstones from around the world. Getting up there means climbing 354 steps, which is like going up a 20-story building.
Lightning Hits It About 25 Times a Year
The Statue of Liberty basically works as a giant lightning magnet in the harbor. Between the copper material and being 305 feet tall, it gets zapped regularly during storms. The engineers built it to handle getting struck, so Lady Liberty just shrugs off the lightning like it's no big deal.
The Real Torch Is Hidden Downstairs
The torch you see now isn't the original one from 1886. Water kept getting inside the old torch and messing things up, so they built a completely new one in 1986. The original torch sits in the museum inside the statue now, while the new one has better waterproofing and shiny gold coating.
There's a Tiny Room in the Torch
Up in the torch area, there's this cramped little room that was meant for maintenance workers to fix the lights and do repairs. Most people had no idea it existed until fairly recently. During World War I, the government locked everyone out of the torch area for security reasons, and regular visitors still can't go up there.
A Huge Explosion Bent It
German spies blew up a weapons storage area on nearby Black Tom Island in 1916, and the explosion was so massive it actually damaged the Statue of Liberty and broke windows all over Manhattan. The blast bent some of the metal framework and that's why they permanently closed the torch to visitors. One act of sabotage changed how people could visit the monument forever.
It Used to Be Brown
When the Statue of Liberty first arrived, it was the shiny brown color of new copper. The green look everyone knows took about 30 years to develop as the copper got weathered by all that salty harbor air. By the 1920s, it had turned completely green, though some people actually complained about the color change at first.
It Was a Terrible Lighthouse
For 16 years, the Statue of Liberty was supposed to work as a real lighthouse to guide ships into the harbor. The torch was way too dim and positioned too high up to help sailors much at all. Eventually, the government gave up on the lighthouse idea and just let the Park Service take care of it instead.
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