Home » Travel » Southeastern U.S. » Just Look Where the Vulcan Statue Used to Be...

Just Look Where the Vulcan Statue Used to Be...

© Martine G. Bates

We're famous in the South for holding on to our traditions. I'm sure you've all heard the one about the Southerner giving directions to a stranger by including instructions to turn where the old schoolhouse used to be.... I want to feature a destination this week that is where a landmark used to be. The statue of Vulcan has presided over the city of Birmingham, Alabama since the 1930's from his vantage point on top of Red Mountain. He is no longer there. Over the years, Vulcan has deteriorated until leaving the statue up was no longer safe, and he has been dismantled. A fundraising campaign is underway to secure enough money to restore Vulcan to his former glory-if a funny-looking fellow with a bare bottom mooning the ritzy sections south of Birmingham can be described as glorious. Here's a short article about Vulcan that I wrote originally for a national travel magazine. Enjoy-and keep looking to your left as you drive south through Birmingham on I-65. He'll be back.

Vulcan, World's Largest Iron Man

Vulcan, god of fire, presides over the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Visitors to the downtown area and motorists on I-65 can't miss the colossus standing atop Red Mountain, right arm upraised, hammer clenched in his mighty left hand, wearing a sturdy metal-worker's apron. But those who venture southeast of the city see quite a different view: Vulcan's apron fails to reach all the way around, exposing his bare backside to the southern suburbs. Built as Birmingham's exhibit for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, the 55-foot Vulcan was, and still remains, the tallest cast-metal statue ever built. All of the materials used in his construction were dug from the mountain he now graces. When he was returned to Birmingham after the fair, Vulcan's near-nudity created such a stir among the citizens of the city that plans to place him in a downtown park had to be canceled. He was relegated to the state fairgrounds in Bessemer, where he was used to advertise all kinds of products from ice cream to pickles. At one point, someone even painted blue jeans on him. It wasn't until the 1930's that he was rescued and placed in a park on Red Mountain. He now stands on a pedestal 124 feet high with an observation deck at the top, making his scandalous backside difficult to see from the ground. Located at U.S. 31 and Valley Avenue, Vulcan Park is open for visitors every day except Christmas and Thanksgiving. For more information, call (205) 328-6198.

The copyright of the article Just Look Where the Vulcan Statue Used to Be... in Southeastern U.S. is owned by . Permission to republish Just Look Where the Vulcan Statue Used to Be... in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.