Published On: 04.22.19 | 

By: 14236

On this day in Alabama history: Vulcan casts arrive in St. Louis

April 22 feature

Giuseppe Moretti's Vulcan statue stands amid other displays in the Palace of Mines and Metallurgy at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. It earned silver medals for its creator, Giuseppe Moretti, and iron and steel manufacturers James R. McWane and J.A. MacKnight, who commissioned the monumental sculpture. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of the A.S. Williams III Americana Collection. The University of Alabama Libraries)

April 22, 1904

The castings for Vulcan, the largest cast iron statue in the world, arrived in St. Louis on April 22, 1904, for the 1904 World’s Fair. The statue was cast in Birmingham and then shipped to Missouri to be assembled and put on display. After the expo ended, the statue was dismantled and returned to its hometown. After Vulcan spent about three decades at the Alabama State Fairgrounds, the statue was moved to a pedestal built on Red Mountain and Vulcan Park was dedicated in May 1939.

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