<P> Arriving at New York Harbor , Bartholdi focused on Bedloe 's Island ( now named Liberty Island ) as a site for the statue , struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it . He was delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government -- it had been ceded by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense . It was thus , as he put it in a letter to Laboulaye : `` land common to all the states . '' As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers , Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant , who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain the site for the statue . Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail , and met many Americans who he thought would be sympathetic to the project . But he remained concerned that popular opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal , and he and Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign . </P>
<P> Arriving at New York Harbor , Bartholdi focused on Bedloe 's Island ( now named Liberty Island ) as a site for the statue , struck by the fact that vessels arriving in New York had to sail past it . He was delighted to learn that the island was owned by the United States government -- it had been ceded by the New York State Legislature in 1800 for harbor defense . It was thus , as he put it in a letter to Laboulaye : `` land common to all the states . '' As well as meeting many influential New Yorkers , Bartholdi visited President Ulysses S. Grant , who assured him that it would not be difficult to obtain the site for the statue . Bartholdi crossed the United States twice by rail , and met many Americans who he thought would be sympathetic to the project . But he remained concerned that popular opinion on both sides of the Atlantic was insufficiently supportive of the proposal , and he and Laboulaye decided to wait before mounting a public campaign . </P>
where was the statue of liberty originally supposed to be cited
where was the statue of liberty originally supposed to be cited
Bedloe 's Island ( now named Liberty Island )
Bedloe 's Island ( now named Liberty Island )