How Superman Saved A Small Illinois Town

How Superman Saved A Small Illinois Town
A 15-foot, 4,400-pound statue of Superman stands outside the county courthouse on 'Superman Square' in Metropolis, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Residents of Metropolis are eager to turn the page on a month-long lockout pitting 220 union workers at the only uranium processing facility in the U.S. against plant owner Honeywell International Inc. Photographer: Leslie Patton/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A 15-foot, 4,400-pound statue of Superman stands outside the county courthouse on 'Superman Square' in Metropolis, Illinois, U.S., on Tuesday, July 20, 2010. Residents of Metropolis are eager to turn the page on a month-long lockout pitting 220 union workers at the only uranium processing facility in the U.S. against plant owner Honeywell International Inc. Photographer: Leslie Patton/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Today is the day many comic book fans have been waiting for. Man of Steel, the latest Superman movie, opens in theaters across the country. Much of the film was shot in Chicago, a stand-in for the comic book’s fictional Metropolis. But some folks in the real city of Metropolis, Illinois may take issue with that.

For more than 40 years, the town at the southern tip of Illinois has been the official home of Superman. Every summer, 30,000 super fans converge on this small city along the Ohio River for the Superman Celebration. Now in it’s 35th year, they’re all there for one reason: to celebrate the big guy in the blue tights and the red cape.

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