traveldk.com

Built as a fort in 1807, it is now a visitor center for Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island visitors. The building exhibits panoramas of New York history.

With statues and monuments honoring everyone from New York’s first Jewish immigrants to the U.S. Coast Guard, the park is also a great spot for sea-gazing.

The views from the ferries that carry a constant stream of visitors from Manhattan and Jersey City to the Statue of Liberty and on to Ellis Island are dramatic.

A close-up view reveals the awesome size of the Statue of Liberty. Dominating New York harbor, she stands 305 ft (93 m) tall and weighs 225 tons. Her right arm carrying the symbolic torch is 42 ft (13 m) long while her index finger measures 8 ft (2.4 m) and dwarfs most men.

Richard Morris Hunt, one of America’s most prestigious architects, was chosen to design the 89-ft (27-m) pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The pedestal sits on a concrete foundation within the 11-pointed, star-shaped walls of Fort Wood, a fortress erected for the War of 1812.

Legend says that Bartholdi’s mother was the model for Liberty, but the face was actually based on his early drawings for a never-commissioned statue in Egypt. The seven rays of her crown represent the seven seas and seven continents.

The new torch, with its 24-carat gold leaf-coated flame, was added during a 1984–86 restoration. The original is on display in the main lobby. The book in the statue’s left hand is inscribed July 4, 1776, in Latin.

Gustave Eiffel, best known for his Paris tower, created the inner framework. The copper sheeting shell, weighing 31 tons, is hung on iron bars from a massive central iron pylon that anchors the statue to the base.

The lofty observation decks in the pedestal and crown of the Liberty Statue, which offered spectacular views of Manhattan, are now closed because of security concerns since the events of September 11, 2001.

The museum inside the base documents the complete history of the Statue of Liberty using photos, prints, videos, oral histories, and full-scale replicas of the face and foot. A pass is required to visit the base and observation platform.