8. It was Used as a Lighthouse
Other conspiracy theorists say the statue represents Lucifer “The light bearer.” They may be partially right on that score as the island once served as a lighthouse. In November, 1886, President Cleveland mandated that the statue be outfitted to serve as an actual lighthouse. Engineers from the Lighthouse Board fitted the statue with the equipment needed for its new role.
However, upon completion of the job, the results were quite….dim. The light cast from the Statue was very poor, and deemed too dim to be effective. Over time, it became clear that Liberty Island was too far inland to be a good position for a lighthouse in the first place.
Things may have turned out differently if Bartholdi’s original plan had been followed. Early on, the sculptor realized that the statue would be mostly invisible after dark, so he proposed that Americans raise money to gild the whole structure. Faced with the gargantuan cost, nobody followed through on that request.
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