How Many Statues of Liberty Does Michigan Have?

This is America’s 250th Anniversary, and Michiganders can celebrate the spirit of liberty by finding replicas of the iconic New York symbol hidden around our state.

Perhaps the most prominent miniature of Lady Liberty is found overlooking the far less busy waters of Mackinac Island.

The Statue of Liberty on Mackinac Island was completed in 1950 using the same techniques as the real deal, and it’s apparently the only “official replica in the state,” according to Pure Michigan.

The replica on Mackinac Island is one of only 200 statues in 39 states funded by the Boy Scouts of America back when we had single-sex youth clubs that promoted American ideals.

But there are other miniatures of America’s most well-known torch bearer in more unusual places.

The most unlikely one is on a tiny island in private Lake Lapeer, which the locals call “Liberty Island,” according to the quarterly magazine of the Michigan Lakes & Streams Association.

In 1982, President Ronald Reagan made Chrysler CEO Lee Iacocca the leader of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. As part of that effort, there was a replica of the statue on display in the Chrysler building in New York.

Nan Marvicsin, a resident of Lake Lapeer, worked as a secretary at Chrysler at the time and received the miniature after the statue was refurbished years later.

Marvicsin took the fun-sized version home and put it on the island in time for the Fourth of July. The neighborhood still puts on a fireworks display and revels in the freedom they have.

Not surprisingly, there’s an 8-foot-tall replica of Lady Liberty at Bronners in Frankenmuth. Vandals have ripped off her arms over the years, but she’s still standing tall.

There’s a better looking version of the Statue of Liberty in Cassopolis, on M-60 near Decatur Road. There are other sculptures around the industrial buildings. It’s beautiful to see how craftsmen can make the metal do whatever they want.

And there’s another beautiful replica of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi’s “Liberty Enlightening the World” off a county road in the Upper Peninsula’s Daggett, just minutes from the Wisconsin border.

As an honorable mention, we’ll throw in the likeness of Lady Liberty’s massive head in Awakon Park in Onaway. The sculpture is green, metal, and quite possibly to-scale with the original NYC landmark.

The spirit of liberty exists all around us in our great state. No matter the material it’s cast in, physical reminders proudly bear the torch of our freedom.

You’re never that far from Lady Liberty in Michigan. And on America’s 250th birthday, be sure to take a roadtrip to see one in person. Or not.

It’s a free country—do what you want.