Buchanan County Courthouse

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Buchanan County Courthouse
Buchanan County Courthouse

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places   WPA program 1939-40

Scale model of “Statue of Liberty”  landscaping

Has a copper finish & was installed in 1950 upon the 40th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America.  The 8 ft. 4 inch statue is set on a concrete pedestal for a total height of approximately 13 feet.  The commemorative placard on the statue reads “Crusade to Strengthen the Arm of Liberty.”  Identical statues are installed on the grounds of another PWA-Era courthouse, the Bremer County Court House in Waverly, and the Iowa Capitol in Des Moines.  Other statues were erected in 1950-51 throughout the United States and its territories as part of a patriotic campaign.  Newspaper accounts elsewhere around the country describe the replicas as being constructed of stamped sheet copper in 47 different pieces and then brazed together.  39 States had this as a project before the Korean War started and then metal was used elsewhere for war efforts.  It cost $350. originally and now is valued in 2005 at over $35,000.00

(copy of Natl. Reg. Application=BCHS archives)

also see troop101.thescouts.com/liberty   web site 2005

also see americanprofile.com/issues/20030907/20030907_3315.asp

After decades of neglect, these replicas of the Statue of Liberty are starring again in scores of communities united by pride and love of country.  Fifty years of weather and vandalism had claimed some of the 200 “Little Sisters of Lady Liberty” statues.  Others had been sold for scrap or stashed in storage.  But now a national treasure hunt is underway to find and save the little landmarks. Thanks to a joint project of Heritage Preservation and the Smithsonian American Art Museum, about 100 Little Liberties have been accounted for. 

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