A gift from the people of France to mark the American Centennial, the Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor in June of 1885, and was placed on a pedestal built over Liberty Island’s old Fort Wood. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled by President Grover Cleveland on October 28, 1886.
The story of the famous Statue of Liberty dates back to the 1800s when the statue’s idea originated by Edouard de Laboulaye, a political thinker wishing to create a symbol of a relationship between the French and American people.
More than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, the nation’s chief gateway during the years 1892 to 1954. Today, over 100 million Americans can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who crossed this island before dispersing to points all over the country.
Following restoration in the 1980s, this building reopened as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, a symbol of this nation’s immigrant heritage. The museum exhibits chronicle Ellis Island’s role in immigration history, and view it in the context of its time and the still broader context of four centuries of immigration to America.
The things your bus trip will be seeing and doing on Liberty Island are accessible by wheelchair. Outside food is not allowed onboard.
Concessions that sell healthy snacks and drinks can be found aboard the boat and on Liberty Island should you want to stop for a snack, or a light lunch during your Statue of Liberty Group Tour.