Free Statue of Liberty Virtual Tour

POSTED BY
Carol

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This interactive virtual tour is a combination of high-resolution spherical images, historical information, and historic images taken in the same areas decades ago. This virtual tour was created by the Heritage Documentation Programs, part of the National Park Service. For best results, please view these pages using a modern web browser. Some legacy browsers will not display some features.

It’s a 19 story building

I climbed up the Statue of Liberty as a child and again in 2013. I didn’t remember the climb but when I got there in 2013 and looked up I thought “Uh oh!”. I believe it’s the equivalent of climbing a 19 story building. And on the day I went the elevator in the pedestal was broken so that was an additional 6 stories. I can’t recall how long it took me to climb it but I had booked the first tour of the day so I was first in line. This was important because if you get caught behind slow people this could cause a substantial delay.

It’s essentially two metal spiral staircases one going up and one going down. As you ascend the ceiling gets closer in and lower as you get closer to the crown. The area inside the crown is pretty limited also. If you’re claustrophobic this is not for you! There are signs telling you how many steps you have to go to reach the top. I stopped looking at those. I checked an old drive and the pictures weren’t there. Anyway I think everyone (without a heart condition) should do it!

Photo from National Park Service website

Photo from National Park Service website

Free Statue of Liberty Virtual Tour – The Heritage Documentation Programs

The Heritage Documentation Program administers the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), the Federal Government’s oldest preservation program. HDP conducts a nationwide documentation program in partnership with state and local governments, private industry, preservation groups, and federal agencies.

Documentation produced through these programs constitutes the nation’s largest archive of historical architectural, engineering and landscape documentation. Records on nearly 40,000 historic sites, consisting of large-format, black and white photographs, measured drawings, and written historical reports, are maintained in a special collection at the Library of Congress, available to the public copy-right free in both hard copy (in the Library of Congress) and electronic (via the Web) formats.

Documentation also enters the Collection through mitigation activities as per the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and through competitions and donations. These records provide a permanent record of the nation’s most important historic sites, contributes to wider recognition and appreciation of historic resources, provides baseline documentation for rehabilitation and restoration, and makes available materials for interpretation and illustration.