Edenton, North Carolina removed a Confederate monument near their courthouse during the night on Labor Day weekend and placed in storage for relocation.
The monument stood for decades at the foot of South Broad Street. Crews removed it Saturday night. This happened just days after a Superior Court judge dissolved a restraining order. That order had blocked the monument’s relocation since March 2023.
The monument, dedicated to “Our Confederate Dead,” had been the center of ongoing litigation and weekly protests for years.
Town officials said it has been taken down and placed in storage. It will remain there until it is reinstalled at Veterans Memorial Park. This location is behind the Chowan County Courthouse. This plan is outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding between the town and the county.
The removal comes amid a wider debate in North Carolina over Confederate monuments, some of which carry highly controversial inscriptions.
In nearby Tyrell County, one statue features a dedication reading, “In appreciation of our faithful slaves.” This phrase has sparked protests. It has also led to lawsuits over its offensive language.
Advocates for removal say such monuments glorify a painful history. They perpetuate racial harm. Opponents argue these monuments are part of the state’s history.
The removal follows the decision by Judge Wayland Sermons last week. He dismissed a restraining order filed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the United Daughters of the Confederacy. That order had prevented Edenton from taking action to move the statue.
The plaintiffs have indicated plans to appeal the ruling. Edenton officials said they have not yet received formal notification of an appeal.
Since 2021, residents have protested every weekend at the base of the statue. Some call for its removal from the town’s waterfront gateway. Others argue it honors Chowan County’s Civil War dead.
Mayor W. Hackney High issued a detailed statement addressing the removal and the backlash surrounding it.
He rejected the claim that Edenton is trying to wipe away history. He wrote:
“To those who claim we are ‘erasing history’: that is a misinformed view. The monument is not being removed—it is being relocated. In doing so, we are not erasing history; we are preserving and protecting it.”
The mayor also responded to criticisms over timing and secrecy. He said the town’s priority was safety:
“Moving a structure of this size requires heavy equipment. It requires careful coordination. The safest time to conduct such an operation is at night, when pedestrian and vehicle traffic is minimal. A publicly announced removal could have attracted a large, emotionally charged crowd, increasing the risk of injury or disruption in our downtown area… By conducting the removal at night, the Town avoided further disruption to downtown businesses and ensured a safe and orderly process.”
High defended the Town Council against accusations of weakness. He addressed the delay, stating:
“To those who have called the Town Council or me cowards: the facts say otherwise. The easiest choice would have been to avoid this issue entirely and leave it to future councils. But this Council—and the one before it—chose to face the issue directly, despite harsh criticism and personal attacks from all sides. That’s not weakness; that’s leadership.”
He urged residents on both sides of the debate to see the outcome as a compromise.
“To those who advocated for the monument’s relocation or removal: your efforts brought about meaningful change. The monument is no longer in its original, most prominent location at the foot of Broad Street. To those who opposed its removal: your voices helped ensure the monument is preserved and relocated respectfully, not destroyed or discarded.”
The statue’s removal adds to the ongoing debate over Confederate monuments across North Carolina. A 2015 state law requires legislative approval for removing or altering memorials. It also sets restrictions on relocation sites.
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~~>>… “Town officials said it has been taken down and placed in storage. It will remain there until it is reinstalled at Veterans Memorial Park.”
If in fact it does get reinstalled (color me ‘Skeptical’), then I personally wouldn’t have a big issue with this. But I am 100% opposed to the vandalizing, destruction and permanent removal of Confederate statues & monuments. They do indeed represent authentic American history, which should never be forgotten.
Aside from that, when I was young & ignorant, I believed too much of the malarky that was force-fed to me in the propaganda centers (a.k.a. public schools) which I attended. For years I unwittingly accepted the bovine excrement, such as Evolution, McCarthyism, and the righteousness of Abraham Lincoln and the Northern aggression.
When I got into my thirties and began reading well-researched nonfiction almost exclusively, I learned what a pack of lies I had swallowed in my ignorant youth. Today, I have Lincoln on my list of Top 3 worst presidents in American history, along with Woodrow Wilson and FDR. And my list of ‘Decent American Presidents’ would be extremely short.
Alright, I’m climbing down from my soapbox for the remainder of the day. :^D
~ D-FensDogG
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Thank you for so eloquently stating your position. Are you related to The McCarthy of McCarthyism by chance?
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Hello, DODIE!
I thank you for the compliment.
“Stephen T. McCarthy” is pure pseudonym, and I am related to Senator Joe McCarthy in spirit only. I came up with that pen name 21 years ago when I decided to start writing & posting reviews on the Amazon.com website.
The “Stephen” is for the first person known to have been martyred for his testimony in praise of Jesus Christ. The “T.” stands for Thoreau. I love his essay ‘Civil Disobedience’ in which he wrote: “I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave’s government also.” And, of couse, the “McCarthy” is for the famous / infamous Senator, whom I consider to be one of America’s greatest heroes and the MOST unjustly vilified individual in our country’s history.
McCarthy is one of my most hot button subjects and I wouldn’t let false accusations about the dead Senator go unchallenged. Just as I was about to break into the Top 1,000 Reviewers ranking at Amazon, they deleted every trace of me and my nearly 200 reviews. The problem was that countless commenters of the Liberal persuasion (and even a few Neocons, also) were constantly attacking things I had written in many reviews. So then the debates would begin and, without exception, I made them all look like the uneducated slanderers they were.
I was swaying the minds of too many readers & turning them against the political Left with facts, and Amazon just couldn’t stand it anymore, deleting me from their website just as I was about to break into the Top 1,000 category. I asked them repeatedly why they had axed my reviews and comments, but they refused to answer and tell me what website policy I had supposedly transgressed (because there was none). On the sly, one lower level Amazon employee even confided to me that she felt I had been unjustly targeted without due cause. Considering what had also been done to McCarthy, I can’t say their actions surprised me any. “They” don’t like strong, educated defenders of McCarthy any more than they liked McCarthy himself.
Fun Fact: I didn’t even know this at the time that I invented my pen name, but I discovered later that Senator Joe McCarthy actually had a brother named Stephen T. McCarthy. However, his “T” stood for Timothy, rather than Thoreau. When I discovered that, I couldn’t help wondering if God might have secretly inspired me to come up with that pseudonym. :^)
Today, only one of my old McCarthy-related debates still exists online. It’s quite long and awash in my usual style, which I would describe in a word as “snarkastic”. I wouldn’t blame anyone for NOT wanting to read it. But if you (or anyone else) would be interested in seeing it, I’d be happy to post a link to it.
Dodie, may you Bless & Be Blessed!!
~ D-FensDogG
(my second & more succinct pseudonym)
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Very interesting. We lost thousands of readers in Dec 2020 through Summer 2021.It took us years to catch up after the censorship.
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Exactly why reading non-fiction is important! Thank you!
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Erasing our history, how dare them, I am not a Yankee, I am not a Southerner, I am an AMERICAN period. If you read the inscription’s on these statues, It is our history, if you don’t like it walk away. What the hell is wrong with those people, what is next, removing bumpers on peoples cars or trucks so they can not put bumper stickers on because it offends them
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Well said.
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It does seem to me that a simpler solution to the disagreement would have been to erect another monument to go in conjunction with the original, stating that it was a product of its time and representative of the honest beliefs of the people then alive…that perspectives and hearts change. That we honor the lives lost, and learn from wrongs done. That students of history can often see what people making history cannot see themselves at the time, but do the best they know how, and that there are the truly wicked who intend to inflict selfish harm, and then the bumbling people who, like Lincoln, did the best he knew how, and often did not find courage to do right or even know what right was except by painful experience. Which includes most of us.
Something to that effect. If we expect to have only perfect ancestors represented in memorials, we are more stupid than anyone of them could be. We can at least let them stand as they are, while stating where we are, if we know.
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