mental_floss magazine
SUBSCRIBE >
GIFT SUBSCRIPTIONS >
DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTIONS >
subscriber services >
It was recently announced that as of July 4, 2009, tourists (and non-tourists, I suppose) will once again be able to perch in the Statue of Liberty’s crown to gaze out across the land. It’s been closed since 9/11, so this will mark the first time in nearly eight years that the public has been allowed such access. But just because you haven’t been able to see the original statue up close and personal doesn’t mean it has to elude you altogether – there are replicas of the Bartholdi piece peppered liberally across the world. Here are 10 you can check out if you won’t be making it to New York anytime soon.
1. Billund, Denmark, the home of the original Legoland theme park, boasts a Lego replica of the old gal. She’s still pretty large, as you can tell by the people in the picture. (Click for a close-up; the Statue is in the bottom row.)
2. Las Vegas, of course. Because you can find just about anything in Vegas. It’s reportedly 1:3 scale and presides over fake skyscrapers and a roller coaster themed to look like taxi cabs. If you’re on the Strip, you really can’t miss her.
3. Paragould, Arkansas, claims it is home to the oldest Statue Of Liberty in America other than the original. Measuring in at a mere seven feet tall, it’s shorter than the real statue’s index finger (eight feet tall). But it means a lot to the residents of Paragould, who refer to it as the Paragould War Memorial honoring WWI vets.
4. There are three replicas of Lady Liberty in Paris, but the one that is probably best known is the one that holds court in the middle of the Seine. She’s about 22 meters tall (a little more than 72 feet) and has been there almost as long as her taller counterpart on Liberty Island – the statue was inaugurated in 1889, three years after the New York Liberty.
5. Visnes in Rogaland, Norway, may seem like a pretty random place for a Statue of Liberty replica, but truth be told, there would be no Statue of Liberty without Visnes: it was the place where the copper used to construct her was mined. The mine has been closed since 1972, but the statue is there as a reminder of the town’s contribution to a great work of art and international symbol.
6. If you’re visiting Webster, Massachusetts, head down to Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg and check out the statue there. She’s just a little thing, but she’s pretty, and the lake she watches over has a fun name to say. OK, I can’t actually pronounce it, but it looks like fun.
7. There’s a 115-foot replica of Miss Liberty at the Heide-Park in Soltau, Lower Saxony, Germany. It’s one of the biggest theme parks in Germany, so it makes sense that it has one of the biggest Statue of Liberty replicas. It’s half the size of the real thing and took a year and a half for artist Gerla Spee to construct. The Heide-Park website says “everything in America is just that little bit bigger than anywhere else. And higher and wider and faster,” so to celebrate that spirit and the similar spirit of their theme park, they constructed one of the most well-known symbols of America.
8. “Strengthen the Arm of Liberty” was a campaign undertaken by the Boy Scouts of America in 1950. They purchased about 200 small replicas of the statue and then donated them to various cities across the U.S., covering 39 states. Where the cities erected the statues was left to their discretion, so you’ll find them in a variety of displays across the country. Although a bunch of them have been destroyed or lost, at least 100 still stand and have been logged by the Boy Scouts of Cheyenne, Wyoming. You can find them here – it’s pretty cool to look through and see how the statues were used differently. I was pleasantly surprised to notice that the statue that inspired this Q10 – the one at the Des Moines capitol – was the product of this campaign.
9. Can you imagine being an unsuspecting bystander at the University of Wisconsin- Madison during the winter of 1979? I’m pretty sure seeing the Statue of Liberty sticking up from the iced-over Lake Mendota, Planet-of-the-Apes-style, would probably stop you dead in your tracks. It started as a joke: two students promised that if they were elected to student government, they would get the Statue of Liberty relocated to campus. And they held true to their word, but sadly, the helicopters bringing her in floundered just as they entered campus and dropped our dear Liberty into the lake. Whoops. The poor thing was set ablaze just a few days later, but she returned in a fireproof format the next year. She was relegated to a storage silo for the next 19 years or so, but just this winter the students dragged her out to the frozen lake again just for kicks. You can see the process here.
10. OK, so you can’t actually visit this one, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless. In 1918, 18,000 soldiers gathered at Camp Dodge in Des Moines to recreate the statue using people as a promotion to sell war bonds. It was a terribly hot day – temperatures reached at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit – and the soldiers were wearing wool uniforms. Several men fainted. Sadly, the photo was never actually used to promote war bonds, but it’s still a neat picture. The whole thing is about a quarter of a mile long and 12,000 people were needed for the flame of the torch alone.
Do you have a little Statue of Liberty in your town, or have you seen one in an odd spot? (The people who dress up to promote Liberty Tax don’t count.) Share with us in the comments!
Comments (29)
Comment
- Follow mental_floss
One of my first jobs required frequent trips to Santa Fe, Texas. I still remember on the road I took to get there there was a mobile home whose owner thought it was prudent to put out a 4 foot plastic replica of the Statue of Liberty in his front yard. Surely this is the definition of class.
posted by Witty Nickname on 5-18-2009 at 4:31 pm
Re: Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison. I’m disappointed to see that none of the bystanders near the statue are on their knees damning passersby to hell.
posted by Jerry on 5-18-2009 at 4:36 pm
There’s a small Statue of Liberty in the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg, PA. I’ve always wondered how is ended up in the middle of the river…
posted by kortni on 5-18-2009 at 4:39 pm
Outside the Municipal Auditorium in Big Spring, Texas.
posted by BigTex on 5-18-2009 at 4:55 pm
The statue of Liberty over in the harbor isn’t the only one that NYC has claim to (although yes, I know technically it’s in NJ). Up until 2002 there was a replica over on 64th, across from Lincoln Center.
The NYT in a 1988 article: “Brought from France in 1902 by the original owner of the 1891 warehouse, William H. Flattau, the 30-foot replica may have been a working model for sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. Like the real thing, it has an interior staircase and a window in its crown.”
posted by Alli on 5-18-2009 at 5:27 pm
There’s a Statue of Liberty in Schenectady, NY, directly across the street from the community college.
posted by Ed on 5-18-2009 at 5:28 pm
What about the replica (minature, of course) at Legoland in the San Diego area?
posted by PJ on 5-18-2009 at 5:49 pm
I enjoy seeing the mini statue on the capitol grounds in Des Moines! Nice that we made the list twice (except Camp Dodge is technically in a suburb of Des Moines, Johnston). Cool list!
posted by Jenipher on 5-18-2009 at 6:50 pm
An 8′ Statue of Liberty Replica sits at Alki Beach in Seattle, WA. It is over 50 years old and was re-dedicated with new bricks and an updated exterior in 2007!
posted by Emma on 5-18-2009 at 7:20 pm
There is one in Birmingham, Alabama. I think it’s also affiliated with The Boy Scouts of America.
posted by sarah mac on 5-18-2009 at 7:26 pm
If only 18000 soldiers participated, how could a full 12000 of them be used for the torch alone? Perhaps you meant 1200?
posted by Melissa on 5-18-2009 at 9:08 pm
@Melissa – nope! At least not according to Snopes. I think it was a perspective thing – for it to look right from that angle, they had to use more people at the top.
posted by stacy on 5-18-2009 at 10:48 pm
There is a great … ly disturbing Statue of “Liberation” at World Overcomers Outreach Ministry in Memphis, TN. If you find slightly offensive messages and like amusing, this is a great 72′ laugh out loud monument.
Instead of the Declaration of Independence, she holds the two tablets of 10 commandments. The torch has been tossed in favor of a cross. The crown has “Jehovah” inscribed on the crown. She’s has a single tear, a la “Iron Eyes ‘Keep America Beautiful’” Cody. There’s also a chain on her left foot symbolizing Jesus’ ability to save any and all, and at it’s base it reads, “AMERICA RETURN TO CHRIST.”
Amen, hallelujah and stuff.
Oh, and the chain, cross and crown are gold. Shiny, shiny gold.
There are some great pictures on the web.
posted by Bill G on 5-19-2009 at 1:08 am
There is at least one in Osaka, Japan. Appropriately enough, its in a small neighborhood called Amemura (America Village).
posted by scabbalicious on 5-19-2009 at 3:21 am
Yes Guam actually has a Statue of Liberty in the Paseo park, Hagatna Boat Basin. It has survived many storms and debris. Are these statues only located near water?
posted by MIss Nae on 5-19-2009 at 3:32 am
Outside a mall in Taipei called “New York, New York.”
rc: devilish Paris… oddly appropriate
posted by grover on 5-19-2009 at 3:39 am
I drive by a Statue of Liberty all the time. There’s a small replica on the base here in England. I think it’s only a couple feet high, but Lady Liberty nonetheless.
posted by Tricia on 5-19-2009 at 5:00 am
What about the one in Pennsylvania?!?!?!?!?
posted by dave wave on 5-19-2009 at 7:48 am
Just in Billund (Denmark) last month… Lady Liberty looked awesome! She stands tallest and brightest among lots of other world-renowned sites. In the same park (Legoland), there’s an awesome Lego Mt Rushmore, too! That’s pretty cool… but the bottom part is made from Duplo. I kinda think that’s cheating… but just a bit.
posted by Heather on 5-19-2009 at 7:56 am
There is one right outside the main gate at Yokota AB in Japan. On the roof of a building.
posted by Jack on 5-19-2009 at 8:17 am
my parents have polaroids from the Madison thing in ‘79, AWESOME
posted by Emmie on 5-19-2009 at 8:30 am
There is a 36-foot Statue of Liberty (With Authentic Flaming Torch! the commercial would undoubtedly say) in Birmingham, AL, visible from I-459 near I-20 on the east side. There a big Boy Scouts building behind it, although it’s not one of the little Liberties.
It’s near Liberty Parkway (naturally) in Birmingham, AL, or go to “33° 28.938′N 86° 42.434′W” to see it. It’s about 130 yards from the shoulder of the highway on a pentagonal pedestal in the center of the star in the big circle. (The Roadside America link is on my name, if you’d like a place to start reading.)
posted by CJ the Observant on 5-19-2009 at 11:36 am
The boy scout ones look like it came with a simple concrete plinth and some cities chose to gussy it up with brick, stone or additional carving most left it as is
posted by lewen on 5-19-2009 at 1:21 pm
We have a Lady Liberty here in Lima, Peru. Not only is there a replica of the statue, it’s part of a replica of the New York, New York casino…. so, the statue is a replica of a replica :D
Linked in my name.
posted by Kelly on 5-19-2009 at 2:19 pm
I found the Statue of “Liberation” at World Overcomers Outreach Ministry in Memphis thing that Bill G mention with a google image search. very very sad.
posted by kat on 5-19-2009 at 2:50 pm
The one in Birmingham Alabama was built by the Libery National Life Insurance company located in that city. It was complemented by the Vulcan statue on top of Red Mountain (symbolizing the city’s steel industry). The insurance company went defunct and the statue is now in Libery Park in Vestavia Hills- a suburb of Bham.
posted by harold on 5-19-2009 at 5:08 pm
I know kat. Instead of frowning, yelling or crying when I see the worst of things, I tend to smile; and at all the wrong times: funerals, fights, Jerry’s Kids Fundraisers, and so forth.
The first time I saw the Statue of Liberation, I laughed so hard tears came. It’s a mournful sight.
posted by Bill G on 5-19-2009 at 6:07 pm
Another one in Japan, this one presides over Tokyo Bay (click on my name for a pic- its the 3rd one down).
posted by Erin S. on 5-19-2009 at 7:46 pm
There’s one in the small village of Cenicero (La Rioja) SPAIN.
linked in my name.
posted by kelly on 5-23-2009 at 6:56 am