CARMEL – As America celebrates its 250th birthday this weekend, Putnam County will make history on Friday when the restored statue of Revolutionary War heroine Sybil Ludington returns with fanfare to its pedestal overlooking Lake Gleneida in Carmel.

In late April, crews from a Fishkill firm carefully removed the historic bronze statue from the lakeshore and transported it for restoration. The process included refreshing the patina and polish on the statue’s surface, as well as refurbishing its base.

One of the less-known figures of the American Revolution, Sybil Ludington was all of 16 years old in April of 1777, when she rode on horseback from Danbury to Carmel, to warn of an imminent British attack. Ludington’s heroic efforts have earned her comparisons to Paul Revere—though she rode 40 miles, twice the distance of Revere.

Historians mapped out the likely route she rode that night to alert her father’s militia that began from the family homestead at Ludington’s Mill in what today is the Town of Kent through Carmel, Mahopac and into Stormville before returning home.

Anna Hyatt Huntington sculpted the bronze statue in Ludington’s honor, which was dedicated in 1961.  It depicts Ludington holding a stick and shouting a warning while sitting astride on her horse.

Cast in bronze and mounted on the fieldstone pedestal- the statue is one and one third times life size. 

Over the years the monument was subjected to graffiti and vandalism making cleaning and restoration essential to preserve its appearance and honor its significance.

Putnam County Historian Jennifer Cassidy described the restoration as “Sybil’s Day at the spa.”

On Friday, Sybil will be transported to its resting place and will be accompanied by an escort of first responders from the Carmel, Lake Carmel and Kent Fire Departments in addition to members of the Kent and Carmel Police and Putnam Sheriff’s Department.

The processional begins on Friday at 10 a.m. at Kent Elementary School and will continue along Route 52 to the county seat.