Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty, conceived and designed by French sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), was given to the United States by France to commemorate its first centennial (one-hundreth birthday). Named by the sculptor "Liberty Enlightening the World," the statue is 152 feet (46 meters) high, weighs 225 tons (204 metric tons), and stands on a pedestal and base that are 151 feet (46 meters) tall. Its flowing;robes are made from more than 300 sheets of hand-hammered copper, draped over a steel frame. The statue remains the tallest in the United States, and the tallest metal statue in the world.

Constructed in France in 1884, the statue's exterior and interior were taken apart piece by piece, packed into 200 mammoth wooden crates, and shipped to the United States in May 1885.