3 years after protesters took down a Durham Confederate statue, its base is hauled away

Contractors hauled away the stone base that once supported a Confederate statue in downtown Durham almost exactly three years after protesters tore it down.

Protesters tore down the bronze soldier from atop the statue Aug. 14, 2017, days after the deadly white supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Va.

The space in front of the old Durham County courthouse has remained empty, except for the objects occasionally left on it. People had painted graffiti on the base, and county staff had to clean the base and remove objects placed on it.

The county cited public safety and protecting “the remaining portions of the statue” in explaining its removal, according to a release.

The 15-foot-tall monument had been at 200 E. Main St., since May 1924, according to a North Carolina database of the state’s monuments and commemorative art.

The City-County Committee on Confederate Monuments and Memorials recently sent elected officials a letter saying the pedestal should be removed from the sidewalk and stored, The News & Observer reported.

Durham County commissioners on Monday night finalized plans to remove the base “following weeks of deliberation,” the release said.

The stone base, whose front had the words, “In Memory of the Boys who wore the Gray,” and obelisk were taken to a “secure location away from the area,” according to a county press release.

The county said no decision has been made about any replacement for the space, the release said.

Following George Floyd and Black Lives Matters protests this summer, cities around the country, including in Wilmington and Salisbury have removed Confederate monuments from prominent locations.

Earlier this summer, Gov. Roy Cooper ordered three Confederate monuments removed from Union Square in downtown Raleigh after protesters tore down two statues in a protest after Floyd’s death.

This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 5:15 PM.