"Vulcan - God of Metals."

"This Gigantic Statue, the largest cast figure in the world, is located in Vulcan Park atop Red Mountain overlooking Birmingham, Ala. The Statue is made of Birmingham iron and stands 55 feet from foot to outstretched arm and weighs a total of 100 tons. The head alone weighs 4 tons - its foot 5...

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Bibliographic Details
Format: Electronic
Published: Alabama Department of Archives and History
Subjects:
Online Access:http://cdm17217.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/photo/id/34752
Description
Summary:"This Gigantic Statue, the largest cast figure in the world, is located in Vulcan Park atop Red Mountain overlooking Birmingham, Ala. The Statue is made of Birmingham iron and stands 55 feet from foot to outstretched arm and weighs a total of 100 tons. The head alone weighs 4 tons - its foot 5 tons and the thumb 170 pounds. It is mounted on a base 124 feet high made of Red Mountain Limestone quarried from the mountain in which it stands. The total height of the base and statue is 179 feet. The statue was sculpted by G. Moretti and cast in Birmingham in 1903 from iron ore taken from Red Mountain and was sent to St. Louis in 1904 for exhibit during the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Upon its return it was placed in the Fair Grounds where it remained until 1935, at which time through the work and co-operation of the Birmingham Kiwanis and the City Commission it was placed atop Red Mountain where it stands today, a symbol of the Magic City, Steel Center of the South. VULCAN holds a torch in his uplifted hand which burns green when there is no traffic fatality in metropolitan Birmingham and burns red for 24 hours when a traffic fatality occurs."