EDENTON — Two cranes lifted the soldier statue off its pedestal around 12:24 a.m. Aug. 31 at the Confederate Monument at the end of South Broad Street in Edenton.
The work began around 11 p.m. as crews positioned equipment around the statue, which is in the middle of a large landscaping feature surrounded on all sides by roadway. Traffic cones and other barriers prevented vehicles from approaching the area. Edenton Police were at the scene.
When asked for a comment about the timing, Chowan County Commission Chairman Bob Kirby said, “I fully support the Town of Edenton in scheduling the Confederate Memorial relocation late in the evening on Saturday and early in the morning on Sunday. Any crane rigging, lifting, and transport evolution is inherently dangerous.
“The Town Manager rightly scheduled the work during a period when pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Broad Street was at a weekly minimum, thus making for a much safer environment.
“To those who would imply that this work was done covertly and in secret with nefarious intent, I would respond that a lot of pre movement publicity as to the timing of the work by the Town would have exponentially increased both pedestrian and vehicular traffic which would have defeated the desire for a safe evolution.
“Also, moving the Memorial, for instance, at noon on a Wednesday with a lot of advance notice, and with a lot of fanfare would have created a circus atmosphere, which would have done a disservice to the memory of those whom the Memorial commemorates. May God Bless the Town of Edenton, Chowan County, the Great State of North Carolina, and the United States of America!”
The work came less than a week after Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons lifted a restraining order preventing the monument’s relocation and allowed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Edenton and Chowan County to move forward. Sermons announced the decision on Monday (Aug.25) afternoon.
A spokesperson for Sons of Confederate Veterans Edenton Bell Battery indicated that the organization planned to appeal the judge’s decision and ask that the restraining order be reinstated.
Work at the site has been ongoing this past week. Town of Edenton said they removed some of the brick patio around the monument on Tuesday (Aug. 26) to determine how to best remove the statue.
However, eyewitnesses noted that all the bricks and flags had been removed. By Thursday evening, the bricks had been partially replaced with sod and the flagpoles had been removed.
Earlier this year, the elected officials from Town of Edenton and Chowan County approved a Memorandum of Understanding that would move the statue from South Broad Street to Veterans Park, in a green space between the Chowan County Jail and Veterans Monument for all branches of the military.
The MOU is still under scrutiny in the courts as a lawsuit filed in January 2025 is still pending. Five area residents filed a lawsuit against the town and city saying the government entities violated public meetings laws while negotiating the MOU. They also say the new location behind the current Chowan County Courthouse, at the intersection of Broad and Queen streets, violates citizens’ rights.
This is an ongoing story. it was updated at 8:48 a.m. Aug. 31 to include a comment by Chowan County Commission Chair Bob Kirby. The Albemarle Observer will publish an update as soon as information becomes available.
10 responses to “Monument Dismantled Under Darkness on Labor Day Weekend”
Why was this done at late night.. I’m truly so sorry..
Like thieves in the night, they came and took down the memorial even in the face of appeal, without fanfare or an honor guard that we would have gladly provided. This is just another disgustingly low order of humanity exhibited by Town Council. I urge voters to vote out the 2 members of council who stand for reelection this year. The rest can be voted out when their times comes, including the judge.
People need to step up and vote them out. This entire thing was ridiculous.
Shameful. Vote the Cultural Marxists OUT.
Only two types of people work after midnight. Cops and robbers
One would have thought it prudent with local government finance to let this matter play out in the courts before spending a lot of money to take a drastic action that they may later be compelled to pay a lot of money again to reverse and put the monuments back where it belongs.
Confederate monuments have not been the only ones under attack in the War on History undertaken by two Marxist led groups that used emotion to launch what was almost an insurrection in 2020. Those two groups also went after monuments to founding fathers, a number of US presidents, great explorers, and even in some cases Union monuments from the War Between the States. Here in North Carolina, two World War II monuments were vandalized by these groups. These same groups attacked monuments in Europe as well. Governments start down a slippery slope when they give in to any of these radicals.
Some governments reacted with courage and fortitude like President Macron of France who went on nationwide TV to tell BLM and ANTIFA that no one would be erased from French history, no monuments would come down, and those who attacked monuments would be arrested. Too often, politicians were totally spineless, willing to cave in and throw our history into the trash can.
[…] of dismantling, I think it is important to republish Commission Chairman Bob Kirby’s comment from our previous story for those drive-by out-of-town reporters who may have only glanced at our photo without reading our […]
You’ve got to melt it down, or there will always be the risk that a sufficiently racist government will decide that it shouldn’t have been removed.
[…] — Two Chowan County residents spoke before the Board of Commissioners regarding the Confederate Monument during Monday’s board meeting at the Public Safety Center on West Freemason […]
[…] The Albemarle Observer was the first media outlets to report the move. […]