Vulcan Stands Atop Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama

Vulcan Park is located on

Red Mountain.

The Hematite mined here is a major component of Iron.  Pig Iron and Steel manufacturing drove Birmingham's economy in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Vulcan Statue is 56 feet tall.

It stands atop a 124-foot tower.

Vulcan, the Roman God of Fire &

the Forge was designed & built

for the 1904 World's Fair in

Saint Louis, Missouri.

The Commercial Club of Birmingham commissioned Guissepe Moretti to design and create a cast of Vulcan at his forge.  Moretti and his team cast the Pig Iron statue at Sloss Furnaces.  Vulcan was sent to Saint Louis to be displayed at the 1904 World's Fair.  The statue won first prize.  

Officials from Saint Louis and San Francisco offered to buy Vulcan.  Their offers were rejected.  After spending years at the Alabama State Fairgrounds, a Birmingham Committee lobbied the Works Public Administration to move the statue to Red Mountain.  The WPA provided funding for a permanent display of Vulcan atop the tower and its Park.  

The Vulcan Park Foundation was created in 1999.

They raised money to refurbish Vulcan, repair the tower, & build the elevator to take visitors to the viewing platform. 

Vulcan's shadow on the summit

on Red Mountain

Views from the tower's viewing platform:

Vulcan Park & the City of Birmingham.

The Museum displays Birmingham's history, Metal manufacturing, Vulcan, the Park,  and its revitalization.