Liberty Island outmoded and obsolete, disused and its substantial stone walls were then used as the distinctive base for the Statue of Liberty given by the Third French Republic for the American 1876 centenary celebrations. It had become a part of the base for the Statue of Liberty after the island was first seen by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the statue's sculptor. The National Park Service (which had been created in 1916) took over operations of the island in two stages: in 1933, and the remainder in 1937. The military installation was completely removed by 1944. The statue, entitled "Liberty Enlightening the World",
Replicas of the Statue of Liberty Other "Liberty Enlightening the World" statues are displayed in Poitiers and Lunel. The Musée des beaux-arts de Lyon owns a terracotta version. Near Chaumont, Haute Marne, is a miniature replica in the flag plaza of the former Chaumont Air Base. This was the home of the US 48th Tactical Fighter Wing, now based at Lakenheath, England, with its own statue at the flag plaza. The 48th TFW is the only USAF wing with a name: "The Statue of Liberty Wing". Another example is of a "Liberty Enlightening the World" replica in Châteauneuf-la-Forêt, near the city of Limoges in the area