Vulcan statue, Cast iron statue on Red Mountain in Birmingham, United States.
Vulcan is a cast iron sculpture rising 56 feet above a pedestal on Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama. The figure holds a hammer and anvil, symbols of metalworking, and stands within a park that includes a museum and observation platform.
After the Louisiana Purchase Exposition closed in St. Louis, the sculpture traveled back to Birmingham and was placed in different locations around the city. Workers moved it to Red Mountain in the 1930s, where it received a new sandstone pedestal and permanent home.
Vulcan depicts the Roman god of fire and the forge, a subject chosen because Birmingham grew around iron and steel production. The statue was Birmingham's entry to the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, where it won a Grand Prize. Visitors often note that the figure's bare buttocks face the suburb of Homewood, a joke recalled in the novelty song "Moon Over Homewood."
The park includes an observation platform with views over the city and a small museum covering local history. The site is easy to reach, though visitors should allow time to climb to the viewing deck.
Vulcan's outstretched right hand holds a spear, not a torch: the neon torch that glowed green, and red for 24 hours after a fatal crash, was fitted in 1946 and removed when the spear was restored in the 1999–2004 renovation. The statue's bare rear faces the suburb of Homewood, a joke recalled in the novelty song "Moon Over Homewood."
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