Heavy storms rolled through the area Sunday and left thousands without power, uprooted trees — and toppled the legendary Iron Horse sculpture off its hooves.
Just three months ago, the Iron Horse was restored and returned to its long-standing spot in a pasture next to Ga. 15 between Watkinsville and Greensboro. But photos posted on social media Sunday morning showed that the horse had fallen off its pedestal, battered by heavy winds and rain.
The 12-foot-tall, 2,000-pound iron sculpture was built by artist Abbott Pattison in 1954 and originally was placed in front of Reed Hall on the University of Georgia campus.
The horse has endured various battle scars over the years, including when UGA students set fires at its base and wrote “To Hell With Tech” on a paper plastered to the sculpture.
The university stored the horse in a barn until 1959, when it was moved to its current location on a Greene County farm about 25 miles south of the UGA campus. The farm was owned by horticulture professor L.C. Curtis.
The Curtis family later sold the property to UGA, which now uses the land for research on what is called the Iron Horse Plant Sciences Farm.
By 2020, the Iron Horse was missing pieces and was corroded at the base, according to Athens art conservator Amy Jones Abbe, who guided the restoration project.
To remove the Iron Horse for restoration in May 2024, workers used jackhammers to break it away from the foundation, which was made of concrete and reinforced by rebar. A truck with a crane boom was required to lift the statue on to a trailer.
Sunday morning’s heavy winds, thought to have reached up to 35 mph in some metro Atlanta areas, uprooted a tree and killed a man lying in bed in his northwest Atlanta home. A tree also fell on power lines at the Clayton jail, which went dark for several hours, officials said.
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