(Metropolis, IL) Did you know that in Metropolis, IL stands a 15-foot-tall statue of Superman? This small town of about 6,000 residents located in Southern Illinois, just across the border from Kentucky, with the namesake of the fictional city from the Superman comic books, has the worlds largest statue of superman. The history of this statue dates back to June of 1972 when the Illinois House of Representative officially declared Metropolis, IL the “Home of Superman”. Originally, plans for a $50 million theme park and a 200-foot statue of Superman were announced in June of 1972. However, after falling victim to the oil embargo and a faltering economy, these plans were never built. Instead, in 1986 a seven-foot-tall fiberglass rendering of Superman was made. This fiberglass statue of the Man of Steel was not well received by the community and ultimately was removed after being vandalized by multiple bullet holes (kind of ironic…).
In June of 1993, the new 15-foot statue, costing $120,000 and funded by the sale of commemorative bricks, made of bronze, and painted red, blue, and yellow, was unveiled in front of the county courthouse. In November of 2020, Superman was given a new coat of paint, which is expected to last until at last 2040. A small “Lucky Spot” was left unpainted on his left boot so that visitors could rub it for luck.
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