County officials could vote as early as Thursday on Confederate statue removal
Allison Wrabel Aug 5, 2020 Updated Aug 5, 2020

County to remove Court Square Confederate soldier statue
Allison Wrabel Aug 6, 2020 Updated 9 hrs ago



DAILY PROGRESS FILE

A lifesize bronze statue of an unnamed Confederate soldier stands outside the Albemarle County courthouse in Charlottesville.

Albemarle County’s Confederate soldier statue will be removed next month.

On Thursday, the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during a virtual meeting to remove the bronze statue of the life-size Confederate soldier in uniform, a cannon and three cannon balls from the Albemarle County Courthouse property.

The statue was erected in 1909 and paid for by the county, the city of Charlottesville and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It sits in front of the courthouse on Albemarle property that was never annexed by the city.

Board Chairman Ned Gallaway said that when the statue was put up, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors had taken immense pride in it.

“What they erected on our county property had its stand in history, and it’s time to change that history and leave that statue and his accessories to the history books,” he said. “It is with pride that I’m taking the action that I’ll be able to take to support removal of the statue and the accessories.”

According to state code, for 30 days, the board must now offer the monument or memorial for relocation and placement to any museum, historical society, government, or military battlefield.

On September 6, or soon thereafter, the statute and other items will be removed from Court Square and safely stored, the county said in a statement, until the Board exercises its authority to determine the final disposition.

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