The Courthouse Confederate monument is under review

Botetourt County has one Confederate monument on public property, an obelisk located at the county courthouse in Fincastle.That structure was vandalized on June 9, and no arrests have been announced by the Sheriff’s office in connection with the incident.

With that in mind, as well as societal changes currently underway that has forced a reckoning with a lost cause and a past that that brought about a civil war that pitted families against one another, the Board of Supervisors appointed Amsterdam District Supervisor Steve Clinton to head up a committee to review the issue.

In an email following the meeting, Clinton said he was asked to assemble and chair a committee of citizens, who would review issues surrounding the Confederate monument and report back to the Board. “After accepting the assignment, I asked if the scope of the committee’s work should also include consideration of a statement on racism, and the Board agreed that it should,” Clinton wrote. “It will be a challenge.”

The time frame was left open-ended as to when the committee would report to the Board. Clinton said in his email that he would hope to have a report completed by the end of the year.

The county has until August 14 to place a question about the monument to voters in the November election. Such a question would serve as a guidance referendum. Adding the question to this year’s ballot seems unlikely to happen given the appointment of this committee and the approaching deadline to add to the ballot.

The Board could also hold a public hearing on the matter and then determine what, if anything, to do with the structure. The county is also conducting a review of the entire Courthouse Square and adjoining buildings, all of which need repair. The Courthouse is 50 years old and in need of major renovation. Many of the other older structures, all owned by the county, also require attention.

Botetourt has another Confederate monument in Buchanan, but it is on private property and does not fall under the purview of the Board of the Supervisors.

The courthouse Confederate moment, which is decorated frequently with Confederate flags and surrounded by two cannons inside of a wrought iron fence, lists the 12 volunteer companies from Botetourt that served in the War Between the States, and notes the women of the county who supported the war efforts and assisted with the “dark Reconstruction years.” The monument was installed in 1904.

                                                            — Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee, Photo: Cathy Benson

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