In 2020, a new historic marker commemorating the Union Army’s liberation of Richmond, Virginia was erected by the State of Virginia. It was recently destroyed, shortly before the 157th Anniversary of the event. Here is the Richmond Free Press account of the damage to the marker:
Officials with the state Department of Historic Resources are unsure of the cause, but told the Richmond Free Press on Wednesday that the historical marker recognizing the Union Army’s liberation of Richmond from Confederate control on April 3, 1865, leading to the end of the Civil War had been knocked down recently and “damaged beyond repair.”
The marker still has not been replaced days before the 157th anniversary of the event and a celebration marking when and where the Union troops, led by African-American units, entered the city.
“There’s no question we’re going ahead with the program on Sunday,” said Phil Wilayto of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality. “It’s the site that’s important, not the marker.”
The Virginia Defenders, along with the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, organized the anniversary celebration slated for 8 a.m. Sunday, April 3, at East Main and Nicholson streets near the riverfront where the sign used to be.
A news release announcing the event instructed people to meet at the sign. But on Tuesday, a Free Press photographer went to the site and found no sign.
The Free Press and Mr. Wilayto contacted the state Department of Historic Resources, which manages the state highway marker program.
Jennifer R. Loux, who manages the program, responded Wednesday that her office received a report on March 7 that the marker, titled “Union Army Enters Richmond,” had been knocked down.
“Richmond Public Works retrieved the marker and determined that it was damaged beyond repair. We do not know whether the damage resulted from the marker being struck by a vehicle (the most common reason for markers to be knocked down) or whether it was a case of vandalism,” she stated in an email. This is the second time the marker has been damaged in recent years, Ms. Loux stated.
“We hope to replace it, but that will take some time,” she stated.
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I wonder if the text of the marker has “evolved” over the years.
And yet the marker never uses the word “liberation.” It was written in a neutral, matter-of-fact tone, as a historical marker should be.
The marker is located on a curve close to an intersection, only about the width of a sidewalk from the pavement. Thus an accident, especially in the dark, isn’t inconceivable. You do have to drive over a curb to hit it though. Driving over a curb then running over a historical marker would probably require a good-size truck, but dumbasses with big trucks deliberately run over mailboxes when they bored.