Towering over us all he has stood high upon Red Mountain for lo these many years. A great monolith of a man, cast in iron, his arm outstretch to the sky over his city. Stoic, unmoving he stands, the pinnacle of a man’s work. He is a symbol and epitaph for an age of industry that gave Birmingham, Alabama the name “The Magic City.” He is Vulcan!
Created by Italian sculptor Giuseppe Moretti, Vulcan is the largest cast iron statue in the world, standing at 56 feet tall from foot to spear point. Vulcan also holds the honor of being the largest metal statue ever constructed in the United States. Standing on his 124 foot pedestal, Vulcan rises to 180 feet above the city of Birmingham, weighing in at a massive 101,200 pounds.
The story of Vulcan starts in 1903. At this time Birmingham was known for its growing steel industry. Founded in 1871, Birmingham’s unique geography gave the city access to limestone, iron ore and coal, the primary ingredients for iron and steel, within a very short distance of each other. Taking advantage of the area’s unique construction, the steel industry turned Birmingham from a simple mining town to the fastest growing city in the state in 32 years. This development was so spectacular that Birmingham earned the title “The Magic City” for it’s almost over night explosion into a major industrial city.
To advertise Birmingham’s success to the entire world, City leaders decided to create an exhibit for the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis. James A McKnight, manager of the Alabama State Fair, decided that an iron statue dedicated to Vulcan, Roman god of the forge and fire, would best show off the growing industrial power of the city.
As he searched for an artist to create his statue, James McKnight learned about the works of Giuseppe Moretti, who had made a name for himself in New York for his large and beautiful statues. McKnight met with Moretti and contracted him to create Vulcan. Moretti took up the challenge and began the construction of the statue that would have to be completed in only six months.
Moretti began his work in New Jersey, using an abandoned church for his studio as he moved from simple miniatures to the massive plaster moldings he would use to cast the giant statue at the Birmingham Steel and Iron Company. Ultimately Vulcan would be broken down into 21 separate pieces, each sent to St. Louis after it’s casting to be assembled there. Vulcan was dedicated on June 7, 1904 in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy at the World’s Fair. The statue was a major success for the city, winning the Grand Prize as well as medals for sculptor and foundry.
After its successful first days of life, Vulcan found itself on what would become a strange journey to its final resting place. Returning home in 1905, Vulcan was disassembled and stored on Red Mountain as city leaders debated where to construct the statues permanent residence. Ultimately it was decided to assemble the statue on the Alabama State Fair Grounds as a “temporary” site. There it would stay for 30 years.
Without Giuseppe Moretti to help in the reconstruction of the statue, Vulcan was put together incorrectly, making him incapable of supporting himself or holding his signature hammer and spear. The spear in particular was lost during transit. Vulcan would not hold his spear head again until 2003, almost one hundred years later.
During his time at the fair grounds, Vulcan became an advertising oddity for the city, his empty outstretch hand holding everything from signs, ice cream cones, and Coke bottles, to giant bottles of Heinz dill pickles. For a short time he even wore a pair of Liberty Overalls, which some would consider fitting since Vulcan is known to wear only an iron workers apron and a smile while posing for the crowd. To this day jokes are still made concerning Vulcan’s lack of pants. In the 1930’s Vulcan would even be re-painted in flesh tones. While entertaining in retrospect, this time could be considered a dark mark on the history of one of the greatest metal creations in modern history.
As the years moved on, citizens concerned with returning Vulcan to the dignity he deserved moved into action a plan to create a park in his honor. With the help of the Workers Progress Administration, an organization that helped provide jobs during The Great Depression, Birmingham was able to acquire the land needed for the project and construction was underway. Along side the park area, Vulcan’s 124 foot pedestal was built and a museum was constructed on site. In May 1939, Vulcan was repainted with an aluminum finish and finally raised to what would become his permanent home. To ensure he would stay secure in his new home, Vulcan was filled with concrete to anchor him to his pedestal. While not a concern at the time, this concrete filling would ultimately lead to cracking and structural damage that would force Vulcan to go under major restoration efforts in 1999.
1949 marked another strange time for Birmingham’s iron giant, though nowhere near as degrading as his stint in the 1930’s. A group of safety conscious individuals decided that Vulcan would be a wonderful symbol for traffic safety for the city of Birmingham. Once again Vulcan’s outstretched hand would come into use as he became the holder of a torch. This torch would shine green on good traffic days and shine red when someone died during a traffic accident. While originally planned as a short public service advertisement, the torch ultimately became a permanent fixture of the statue until it’s restoration in 1999. To this day you can visit Vulcan Center and view the torch, even pushing a button that will make it shine green.
Little would change at Vulcan Park until the 1970’s when Vulcan was once again painted, this time an iron ore red and his pedestal was redesigned with an elevator lift. For the next 29 years Vulcan would stand proud over the city of Birmingham, but the years would not be kind to him. The continual expansion and contraction of the concrete used to anchor him began to take its toll. Combined with rain water that seeped into the body of the stature, Vulcan’s body began to crack. In 1999 the damage was considered so severe that Vulcan would have to retire from his roost atop Red Mountain.
Concerned citizens struck again, this time forming the Vulcan Park Foundation to raise money to repair the damaged statue. Sent to Robinson Iron and Steel, Vulcan was repaired and in some cases totally recast using original drawings from Moretti’s work on the statue. Repaired and stronger than ever before, Vulcan returned to his home atop Red Mountain in 2003, this time in an iron gray believed to be his original color. Along with the statue, the entire park was restored, returning much of it to the original beauty of its 1930’s inception. A new Vulcan Center was created detailing the history of Vulcan, Birmingham and the hopes for the future of the city and region.
Vulcan now stands proud again; spear in hand, a testament to the magic that can still be found in the “Magic City.”
