American Electric Manufacturing Company 1886 - Statue of Liberty Light Designer and Builder

Beautifully engraved SCARCE certificate from the American Electric Manufacturing Company issued in 1886. This historic document is hand signed by the Company’s President ( Edward Goff ) and Secretary and is over 116 years old. This is the first time we have had this certificate for sale.

Orginally named "Liberty Enlightening the World." French sculptor, Frederic Auguste Bartholdi intended the Statue of Liberty to serve as a lighthouse with kerosene lamps burning in the crown possibly to imitate the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria. The United States also expected Liberty would be a Lighthouse to enlighten the entrance to the New World.

Edward Goff who was the President of the American Electric Manufacturing donated and installed Ten 8,000-candlepower lamps (a $7,000 contribution) in the crown of the Statue of Liberty. One week before Dedication of Liberty, the Lighthouse Board authorized an Army Engineer to review and approve the Lighting plans. He did not approve the plans because the Light shining upwards would reflect off the clouds and confuse distant navigators. He believed the Light should be directed horizontally from the torch and he ordered the piercing of two rows of bull's-eyes covered with thick glass inserts inside the torch's flame and the Lamps were moved from the Crown.

The electric plant on the island, designed and built by James Wood, American Electric Manufacturing Company, generated the Lights' power. The federal Lighthouse Board administered the Statue of Liberty from November 1886 to November 1901. The jurisdiction of the Lighthouse was then transferred to The War Department.

The torch measures 29 feet from the flame tip to the bottom of the handle and is accessible via a 42-foot service ladder inside the arm. The torch ascent was open to the public from 1886 to 1916. The area for the Flame Lamps measures 12 feet high from the base and 7 feet across the base. The Lamps were refitted in 1916, 1931, and 1945.