Just another section of road in Richmond. That’s what this intersection at Monument Avenue and Arthur Ashe Boulevard now looks like. Hard to believe that for more than 100 years, this intersection was dominated by a statue of slavery-defending Confederate Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson riding a horse. The statue was removed in July 2020. Earlier this year, the pedestal and other statue supports were replaced with paving. Other former Confederate statue sites along Monument Avenue now are planted with flowers and plants, a big change for a city that is seeking to be known as far more than “the former capital of the Confederacy.” Still, tributes to the Confederacy still linger in Richmond. There are street names and bridge names that Richmond City Council in Richmond has balked at changing, including the centerpiece Robert E. Lee Bridge. A statue to Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill still stands in North Side, as does a marker to Richmond Confederate units that sits on the lawn of the Marsh courthouse in South Side. The courthouse is named for two Black legal icons, Henry L. Marsh III and his late brother, Harold M. Marsh Sr.
