FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 25, 2025

Charlottesville Sponsors Historical Marker in Court Square Acknowledging the Legacy of Slavery

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – On Monday, March 3, 2025, at 2 pm, the City will unveil a state historical marker recognizing the sales of enslaved people in Charlottesville at Court Square Park. In drafting the proposed text, the City’s Historic Resources Committee (HRC) sought to communicate three key points: From 1762 to 1865, the sales of enslaved individuals occurred throughout Court Square; those transactions were recorded--and are still archived--in the Albemarle County Courthouse; and these sales occurred on the monthly Court Day, a day that enslaved people quickly learned to dread.  

In October 2023, the HRC submitted an application to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (VDHR) for a state historical marker. Annually, the VDHR only selects 20 marker requests for consideration. In March 2024, VDHR’s Review Board approved the request, with the City providing the funds to cast and install the marker.  

The marker is intended to provide a long-awaited informational element for interpretation and education regarding the historic events within the context of Court Square.  

Mayor Juandiego Wade will share a few words on the historical significance behind this marker.   

Sales of Enslaved People in Court Square  
Between 1762 and 1865, auctioneers sold enslaved men, women, and children at various locations in Court Square: outside taverns, at the Jefferson Hotel, at the "Number Nothing" building, in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse (where sales were then recorded), and, according to tradition, from a tree stump. After Thomas Jefferson’s death, 33 enslaved people from his Monticello estate were auctioned at the Eagle Hotel in January 1829 to satisfy his debts. Enslaved Charlottesville residents Fountain Hughes and Maria Perkins recalled Court Day sales as dreaded occasions that separated Black families. Such sales were frequent in Virginia, where the domestic slave trade was central to the economy.

Media Contact:
Afton Schneider
Director of Communications & Public Engagement
City of Charlottesville
434-996-0331
media@charlottesville.gov