Picture this. You’re driving along Route 322, through the town of Dauphin, Pennsylvania. As you’re looking at the beautiful Susquehanna River, you notice an all-white figure in the distance. It’s perched atop an overgrown, grey-brick pedestal — if you can even call it that. You squint, trying to see what exactly you’re looking at. “Is- is that The Statue of Liberty?” you mutter to yourself. You keep driving, getting closer to the mysterious structure. “It IS The Statue of Liberty!” you exclaim.
Are you seeing things? This can’t be real, right?
A white statue, surrounded by water on all sides. Lady Liberty in Pennsylvania? What? It can’t possibly be true, but it is. It is more than true, in fact.
You’re not seeing things. You didn’t hallucinate her on your long drive across the Keystone State. No. There is a replica Statue of Liberty overseeing a section of the Susquehanna River in Dauphin. She stands 25 feet tall on top of an old railroad piling in the near center of the water. This oddity has left motorists confused for decades. Especially those motorists with no time to stop and get a closer look, or to pull out their phones and search her up.
Some History
The Susquehanna River runs through three states, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. It is also generally known as one of the oldest rivers in the world.
Now back to the statue, many have seen her, just brushing her off as a town-sponsored attraction, a forgettable roadside oddity, or above all, just some weird thing in some river. Others, though, are drawn in by her charm and obscurity. Her existence is shrouded in mystery. Or is it?
Undoubtedly, we have answers, people. We know why she’s there. Lady Liberty does reside on the river. And we’re here to impart that information so that you can better understand why there is a Statue of Liberty on the Susquehanna River.
The Truth Comes Out
Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Her truth remained a mystery for years. That is, until one Gene Stlip, a local lawyer, came forward as the statue originator. He, in 1986, gathered a group of friends to help him build an homage to Lady Liberty. You know, the giant copper one that lives in New York Harbor. The one in New York came to be in 1886, so Stlip wanted to celebrate her 100th birthday in a big way. He and his friends used a small boat and erected his creation in the middle of the night. Stlip came forward after the statute of limitations for prosecution of illegal statue placement had passed. Being a lawyer and all, he played it smart.
