The statue of Vulcan, Roman god of fire, looks down over the city of Birmingham from a height of almost 600 feet and watches over the city it was built to symbolize. The Birmingham Commercial Club commissioned sculptor Giuseppe Moretti to produce the cast-iron colossus to promote their young city at the 1904 World’s Fair. Cast with pig iron from Birmingham’s Sloss Furnaces, the 56-foot, 60-ton statue is the largest cast-iron figure ever made. At the time Vulcan was the largest statue created in the United States and second only to the Statue of Liberty as tallest statue in the country. Today, Vulcan resides at Vulcan Park and Museum on Red Mountain and provides a sweeping view of the city while educating visitors on the statue’s significance in Birmingham history.
Photos courtesy of: Vulcan Footage, Birmingham Public Library, Alabama Department of Archives and History