1630 The Colonial governors of New Amsterdam purchased a small, 3.5-acre mud bank in Upper New York Bay, near the New Jersey shore. The Indians called it Kioshk, or Gull Island, after the birds that were its only inhabitants. The…

1669 Dutch merchant Isaac Bedloe gains the title to one of New York Harbor’s Oyster Island; the site was eventually named "Bedloe's Island." 1811 Fort Wood is completed on Bedloe's Island and opens as a military post. 1865 Professor Edouard…

Statue of Liberty National Monument The Statue of Liberty was a gift to the United States from the people of France; conceived and designed as a monument to a great international friendship, which has become a universal symbol of liberty.…