Tappahannock to remove Confederate figure
6/2/2022, 6 p.m.
Following in Richmond’s footsteps, an Eastern Virginia community is about to remove a Confederate monument that has dominated the courthouse area for more than a century.
Tappahannock, the seat of Essex County, plans to take down the statue of a rebel solider that stands atop a 27-foot- tall pedestal on Prince Street on Saturday, June 4 — a year after the town council voted to remove the figure that has been in place since 1909.
Along with the statue, the project also includes removing a portion of the pedestal that includes an etching of crossed Confederate battle flags.
The removal is to be accompanied by the placement of a stone structure featuring language featuring different opinions about the war, including Black residents’ fight for equality.
The plaque including the names of the 770 Essex men who fought for the Confederacy will remain.
Still, the removal of the statue represents a triumph for hundreds of people who wanted the statue gone.
Among them is Reginald Carter, now of Richmond, who helped lead the fight to remove the statue from his hometown and also to memorialize an Essex County man who was a lynching victim.
“Finally, it is happening,” he said.
