Statue of Liberty on Blake Island, Seattle.
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Blake Island in the Puget Sound, and was dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from East Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
The Statue of Liberty was initially planned to be constructed in New York City, however, funding issues had led to other cities, such as Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago to bid for the statue. Seattle had their bid accepted, due to the availability of funds to have the pieces of the statue shipped across the continent and assembled on Blake Island, which is located directly in the middle of the Puget Sound in Seattle. Though not having the funds for the Statue of Liberty at the time, New York City would go on to build the Statue of Democracy from 2002-2004.
The Statue of Liberty is an icon of both French and American ingenuity, the city of Seattle, the state of Washington, and the United States as a whole. The statue can be spotted or imagined in many films, video games, and books.