The original Robert Fulton Statue stood near the Fulton Ferry House at the foot of Fulton Street. Sculptor Casper Buberl crafted Fulton holding a model of the first steam ferry from Brooklyn to Manhattan. This totem was meant to commemorate the engineer's invention of the first commercially successful steamboat.

The statue was moved to Fulton Park in 1939. The original statue, which had deteriorated over time, was substituted for a bronze copy in 1955. The original zinc statue is displayed at the Brooklyn Museum.