History of
Liberty State Park
The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Photos
On the New York Harbor, less than 2,000 feet from the Statue of Liberty, Liberty State Park has served a vital role in the development of New Jersey's metropolitan region and the history of the nation.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries the area that is now Liberty State
Park was a major waterfront industrial area with an extensive freight and
passenger transportation network. This network became the lifeline of New York
City and the harbor area. The heart of this transportation network was the
Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal (CRRNJ), located in the northern
portion of the park. The CRRNJ Terminal stands with the Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island to unfold one of this nation's most dramatic stories: the
immigration of northern, southern, and eastern Europeans into the United
States. After being greeted by the Statue of Liberty and processed at Ellis
Island, these immigrants purchased tickets and boarded trains, at the CRRNJ
Terminal, that took them to their new homes throughout the United States. The
Terminal served these immigrants as the gateway to the realization of their
hopes and dreams of a new life in America.
Today, Liberty State Park continues to serve a vital role in the New York Harbor area. As the railroads and industry declined, the land was abandoned and became a desolate dump site. With the development of Liberty State Park came a renaissance of the waterfront. Land with decaying buildings, overgrown tracks and piles of debris was transformed into a modern urban state park. The park was formerly opened on Flag Day, June 14, 1976, as New Jersey's bicentennial gift to the nation. Most of this 1,122 acre park is open space with approximately 300 acres developed for public recreation.
Opsail 2000 Tall Ships
| Asgard II - Ireland | |
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104' long brigantine from Ireland, owned by the state and operated as a sail training ship. She was built in Wicklow, Ireland, and launched in 1981 as a replacement for the original Asgard. She has 372 square-metres of sail and boasts an unusual carved figure-head of Granuaile, the famous 16th century Pirate Queen. Her name comes from Norse mythology and means Home of the Gods. |
| Capitan Miranda - Uruguay | |
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Uruguay’s big staysail schooner, Capitan Miranda, has served her nation’s Navy for more than two decades. Built in 1930 as a sailing cargo carrier, she was active in various trades in Latin America after World War II. She became a hydrographic survey vessel for the Uruguayan Navy during the 1960s, and in 1978 she became a sailing ship again, with a modern schooner rig that was developed in the 1920s for racing yachts. Length
overall: 205’ |
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| Cuauhtmoc – Mexico | |
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This
relatively new barque, named for an Aztec emperor, brings an officer,
crew and cadet complement of 185 to OpSail Miami from Vera Cruz.
Cuauhtmoc was launched in Spain in 1982 and sailed home with Mexican
Naval Academy cadets and crew.
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| Danmark – Denmark | |
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Launched in 1932 to train officers for the Danish Merchant Navy, the steel-hulled, double-bottomed Danmark was destined to have a significant impact upon U.S. military training. Visiting the New York World’s Fair when war broke out in 1939, she and her crew were offered to the Coast Guard. Modernization in 1959 cut the Danmark’s capacity from 120 cadets to eighty. This 249-foot ship serves the Danish marine Authority from her home port in Copenhagen.
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| Dar Mlodziezy – Poland | |
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Dar Mlodziezy was commissioned in 1982 to replace the Dar Pomorza. She is a full-rigged, 360-foot ship designed by Polish architect Zygmunt Choren. Dar Mlodziezy was funded by the contributions of elementary school children during the 1960s and 1970s. This is her first OpSail .
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| Esmeralda – Chile | |
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The world’s second largest sailing ship, Chile’s Esmeralda, 353 feet long with a mast height of 165 feet, was launched in 1952. The four-mast barkentine, capable of twelve knots under engine power, is armed with a quartet of 5.7-centimeter rapid-fire guns and has participated in OpSail 1964, 1976 and 1986.
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| Gloria – Columbia | |
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From a new
generation of tall ships designed for cadet training, Columbia’s
remarkably beautiful Gloria, launched from Bilbao, Spain in 1968,
recalls the classic German barks built in the 1920s and 1930s. She
carries a crew of ten officers, a professional crew of fifty and
seventy-five cadets. Length overall: 249’
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| Gazela of Philadelphia – USA | |
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Gazela of Philadelphia, built in 1883, was still fishing the Grand Banks for cod in 1969, when she was the last of the country’s square-rigged fishing schooners to be retired. Now, she is probably the oldest and largest wood-hulled square-rigger still actively plying the waves. Most of her hull’s oak and pine is original; having been harvested from a forest especially planted in 1460 by Prince Henry the Navigator. Owned by the Penn’s Landing Corporation of Philadelphia, she is sailed and maintained by enthusiastic volunteers Length overall: 178’
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