February 2, 1904

The Commercial Club of Birmingham, now the Birmingham Area Chamber of Commerce, was granted a copyright for Giuseppe Moretti’s design of Vulcan. Designed to showcase Birmingham’s iron industry, the 56-foot, 60-ton statue stands as the largest iron figure ever cast and won a grand prize at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. To help fund the Vulcan, members of the Commercial Club charged 10 cents to view the completed statue, sold 12-inch bronze replicas, and held a “Vulcan Day” when the minor-league Birmingham Barons, who took the name “the Iron Men,” hosted the New York Giants and their pitcher Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Colossal iron statue of Vulcan, 56 ft. high, weight 100,000 lbs., in Mines Bldg., World’s Fair, St. Louis. (Underwood & Underwood, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.)

North and south elevations of the Vulcan Statue and Park, 1996. (Richard K. Anderson Jr., HAER, Library of Congress)

Vulcan statue, Birmingham, 2010. (Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress)

Vulcan statue, Birmingham, May 19, 2010. (Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress)

Vulcan statue, Birmingham, May 19, 2010. (Carol Highsmith, Library of Congress)

Joe McGinnity, Newark Team, baseball card portrait. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.