Faster then a speeding bullet in Metropolis Illinois (population 6,200)

Things started out rosy in Metropolis. On June 9, 1972, the Illinois House of Representatives officially proclaimed that Metropolis was the Hometown of Superman. The following year the "Amazing World of Superman" museum opened in town. Metropolis had plans to build a thousand-acre, $50 million Superman theme park, with a 200-foot-tall statue. Cars would drive between Superman's legs to enter the park. Then OPEC shut off the oil and the bankers shut down Metropolis's dream. After only a year, the Amazing World of Superman closed its doors forever.

The town took over a decade to recover. Very cautiously, Metropolis scraped together a thousand bucks in 1986 and put up a seven-foot fiberglass Superman in the town square. It quickly became a target for literal-minded vandals who wanted to see if the Man of Steel was stronger than a speeding bullet. He wasn't, and once again Metropolis's efforts to celebrate their hero were thwarted. What could a small town like Metropolis do?

In 1993, they did quite a bit. The perforated Superman vanished and was replaced by a 12-foot-tall, two-ton, projectile-proof bronze Superman, funded (officially) with engraved bricks purchased by citizens for 35 bucks apiece. That was a lot of bricks for a town of 7,200, considering that the new statue cost $120,000.