Guest Column by GeoT
Dateline: 08/22/00
New York has one of the world's finest harbors. New York Bay has little variation in tidal elevation, is ice-free throughout the year, and has some 650 miles of navigable waterfront. It is the world's largest harbor in areal extent. It was created by a combination of glacial and river erosion. Pleistocene glaciers covered this part of southeastern NY, scouring out valleys and building moraines. Long Island is a terminal moraine. (Geologic map)
Click here for a topographic map of Liberty and Ellis Islands in Upper New York Bay
Ellis Island was the destination of millions of immigrants and the beginning of a new life "beyond the Golden door." The building at the head of the slip greeted the 'steerage' immigrants with a disinfecting shower. (First and second class passengers were interviewed and processed aboard ship). The Great Hall is to the northeast; a hospital, dormitories, kitchens and contagious disease containment buildings occupy other parts of the mostly landfill-created island. Stories of mysterious events involving Ellis Island's ghosts abound to this day. Not all immigrants were allowed to enter the United States, and some were even 'dispatched' to an even greater journey at a hangman's tree nearby!
Liberty Island was known as Bedloe's Island to the immigrants. The name was changed in 1956. It also has one of the world's best known icons, the Statue of Liberty. First known as "Liberty Enlightening the World", it was proposed in 1865 by Edouard Laboulaye as a symbol of the alliance of France and the United States during the American Revolution and the years following. A poem by Emma Lazarus is inscribed at the base of the statue:
The New ColossusThe statue didn't become a reality until 1886 when it was presented as a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States.Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame.
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
The statue is 152 feet tall, and rests upon a 150 foot pedestal. 100 tons of copper sheeting were used in its sculpting. The entire statue weighs 225 tons, and is supported by an iron framework designed by Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who is famous for a certain tower in Paris.
The interesting twist about the statue is this: the designer of the statue had a very different idea in mind for it!
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi originally conceived of a new "Wonder of the World", based on the ancient statue called the Colossus of Rhodes. This giant bronze statue was situated at the harbor entrance on the Greek island of Rhodes. It was, unfortunately, destroyed when an earthquake toppled it.
Bartholdi's statue, a lady holding a lamp, was intended to be located at the then newly completed Suez Canal in Egypt, lighting the way to Asia! His proposal was turned down, and hence, 'Plan B' was implemented. The statue would then be destined to become what she is known as today!
So, Lady Liberty is not anything close to what she was originally intended to be!
Take a Virtual Tour of the Statue of Liberty
GeoT is a long-time high school geography teacher from Illinois. In addition to geography, he enjoys railroads and model railroads, old Oldsmobiles, and gardening.
