The Statue of Liberty was completed in June of 1884, and it was officially presented to the U.S. on July 4, 1884. It was shipped in pieces to the U.S. in 1885 and reassembled in New York by 1886. Thus, the statue took 9 years to build and was finally opened 11 years after it was begun. Liberty may have been slow to fruition, but, as President Grover Cleveland said in his acceptance speech, We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected..