The Statue of Liberty: An American Icon And A Great Place To Visit

There is something magical and mysterious about the Statue of Liberty. It is a striking symbol of American freedom, a new world where people could be free to worship as they pleased, speak their minds without fear of persecution, and even come and live as they chose.

The statue has been an iconic symbol of New York for over 130 years. The copper-green monument measures 93 feet from base to torch and stands 111 feet high from ground to pedestal; it weighs in at 200 tons. It was once voted one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most, (if not the most) famous monuments in the world. Anyone visiting New York City can see her, but not everyone knows that Lady Liberty has her own secrets.

Secret 1 : She might not even be a lady at all. The Statue of Liberty was once split into pieces. It's really hard to picture it, but the statue actually arrived from France on June 17th, 1885. In over 300 copper pieces, the precious cargo was traveling in 214 crates on the friendship. Is there the iconic arm holding the torch wasn't there, however, it was standing in Madison Square Park for six years to help raise money to sponsor the pedestal when the ship carrying the statue arrived, 200,000 people came to welcome it to the US. The official dedication ceremony took place on October 28th, 1886 with President Grover Cleveland presiding over it.

Secret 2 : It was one of history's first crowdfunding campaigns. First French sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi raised funds in his country to build this statue. It wasn't actually sponsored by the local government when it was finished, the sculptor offered it as a gift to the US. On one condition they would build a pedestal for the federal government. Didn't like the idea, so the status of the statue was unclear for a few years. Then American newspaper magnet. Those have Pulitzer stepped in. He basically started one of the first massive crowdfunding campaigns in history, promising every contributor an honorary shout out in his newspapers. Even though 80% of the donations were small ones from middle class citizens, Pullitzer managed to collect the necessary amount from over 120,000 donors. By the way, the famous sonnet, the New Colossus, which can still be found on a bronze plaque inside the statue, was also part of the fundraising campaign.

Secret 3 : The Statue of Liberty wasn't always green. The Statue of Liberty is made of copper, so it was originally about the same color as a penny, according to the New York Historical Society. It turned completely green because of oxidation. In 1920, there was a time when it was half Brown and half green. The new color survived the restoration and they say the coating called Patina won't ever disappear.

Secret 4 : It used to serve as a lighthouse. The statue was originally supposed to serve as a lighthouse for ships sailing into New York Harbor and two years after it arrived in the US. It actually became one for 16 years. The statues, Lamb served as a beacon, but it wasn't bright enough and running out of ideas to fix it are totally offered to cover the entire statue in gold to make it brighter, Congress said no to that idea, since it would have been crazy expensive. Five it's all about

Secret 5 : It's easy to notice the statue has seven spikes on its crown, symbolizing universal liberty across the seven oceans and continents. The less obvious reference to the number 7 is in the number of Windows in its head. There are 25 of them, which makes 7. If you add up the digits, there are 16 leaves around the torch and the monument itself is 151 feet tall. The sum of both of those digits is 7 as well. Clearly, that number meant a lot for the statues. Creators

Secret 6 : The construction supporting the statue was designed by Gustav Eiffel. The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty was built in Old Fort Wood on Liberty Island. It currently hosts museums that show the history of the statue with old photographs, videos, recorded oral histories and the original torch. Lady Liberty was holding in 1886 famous engineer Alexander Gustav Eiffel. Sound familiar, helped design the steel internal framework. To keep the status stable, it's strong enough to withstand around 600 volts of lightning a year. When the wind is high, the statue can sway by around 3 inches and its torch, about 5 inches. 354 steps lead up to the crown of Lady Liberty, which is open to visitors, but the torch is off limits. Speaking of visiting the statue, have you ever been there? I have and walked all those 300 some steps to inside her head and looked out through those cool windows. It was kind of. Master phobic and very cool.

Secret 7 : It might have Masonic ties. There's a popular theory claiming that the Statue of Liberty was originally supposed to be dressed as an Arab peasant woman and stand at the southern opening of Egypt's Suez Canal. The ruler of Egypt couldn't afford it, so Bartoli redesigned it, giving it a different dress and a new name, and send it as a gift to the American people to celebrate the anniversary of the American Revolution. So what does that have to do with the Masons? Well, Bartoli himself was a Freemason. He represented the French Grand Orient Temple Masons and his interest in Egypt. He supposedly wanted to put the statue there to symbolize the Orient showing the way the torch Lady Liberty is holding is an important symbol in the Masonic culture. As the Torch of Enlightenment or the flaming torch of reason. The Masons also took part in the cornerstone laying ceremony in 1884, and the Grandmaster William A Brody presided over it. In the company of Grand Lodge Members 2 the face of the Statue of Liberty could be that of a man. When you think of the Statue of Liberty, do you see it as a she? Most people are positive. It's a representation of the Roman goddess of freedom, libertas, the widely accepted theory, is that Bartholdi modeled her face after his mother, author, and journalist Elizabeth Mitchell. However, claims that the sculptor actually used his brother's face as a model. As she was studying the photographs of Bartoli's family, the writer noticed his mother had a different eyebrow shape, thinner nose and lips, and smaller. Then she pointed out the striking resemblance between the sculptor's brother in his adult years and the statue. Because of his mental health condition by Tolly's brothers spent years at the hospital and Frederick was spent hours watching him. That could have helped him recreate his face in every detail.

Secret 8 : Another theory was presented by French writer Natalie Salman, who claims Lady Liberty was modeled after her ancestors Sarah Salman. According to her ward, Foley saw Sara's features particularly beautiful, even though she had immigrated to the United States. She and her husband visited the sculptor at his studio. When they briefly went back to Paris in 1875, he could have used that opportunity to draw Sarah and later used those images as a model.

Secret 9 : There's more than one Statue of Liberty. And I'm not talking about its plastic souvenir versions or the one on Las Vegas Blvd. You can find a smaller Statue of Liberty which was the original model for its big sister in the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris. It's been there since 1906 after Bartholic gave it to the Luxembourg Museum for the world's Fair of 1900. Another version of the iconic monument was erected on an island in the same river to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1889. It has two dates on it, July 4th, 1776 and July 14th 1789, symbolizing the friendship of two nations and the importance of revolution. There's also a life size copy of the torch on the Ponte Lama in Paris. People from around the world sponsored its construction as a symbol of Franco American friendship. It was said not far from the Eiffel Tower on the 100th anniversary of the statues dedication.

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