The Torch That Never Reopened: A Century of Liberty’s Summit Sealed

The statue’s torch summit has remained off-limits to the public since the 1916 Black Tom sabotage, when German agents set ablaze a nearby munitions depot and damaged the arm that holds the flame. Despite later restorations and crown access reopening, the torch ladder and balcony have never been reopened to visitors, making the highest point of the statue a long-standing closed-off historic site and a grim reminder of how a World War I-era act helped shape U.S. security and espionage history.