Statue of Liberty National Monument

The Statue of Liberty National Monument, Ellis Island and Liberty Island is a single listing on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places located in the Upper New York Bay oppostite the shores of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey. It includes the national monument the Statue of Liberty, situated on Liberty Island, and Ellis Island. Owned by the federal government and operated by the National Park Service, the site encompasses properties in the states of New York and New Jersey.

The historic district was mostly constructed during the late 19th and early 20th century, and and speaks to a period of massive immigration to the United States. Public access is permitted only by ferries from either Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park or Castle Clinton inBattery Park in Lower Manhattan.

Federal property in New Jersey and New York

Liberty Island and Ellis Island has been the property of the United States government since 1800. Historical circumstances have led to the unusual situation of the built portions of Liberty Island and 3.5 acres of Ellis Island being exclaves of one state, New York, located completely within another, New Jersey. The dominion, jurisdiction, and sovereignity of the islands has variously been the subject of a colonial land grant, a provincial governor’s directive, an interstate compact as well as several court cases and US Supreme Court decisions. Liberty Island and the acreage on Ellis Island are part of New York City and are bounded completely by the municpal borders of Jersey City, New Jersey, which retains riparian rights to all its portions of the Hudson River and the Upper New York Bay. Jurisdiction not superseded by the federal government falls to the appropriate state. Ellis Island is jointly administered by both.

External links

• Statue of Liberty National Monument The official Historical Site handbook.
• Statue of Liberty National Monument Visitor information.
• PBS documentary about statue of liberty