Black human beings were sold as enslaved people in front of the Court House, on its steps or in its vicinity. There are written accounts of the pain and trauma caused by the human trafficking that took place in this square. Families were routinely severed. Names of people who were bought and sold here have been preserved, with some of their descendants continuing to live here in our community. From newspaper ads we know that some people in Albemarle County made their money as local slave traders, placing their notices in the local paper.
There’s a reason that the auction block would be located so close to the Court House. On market days, slaveholders would come to town to buy or sell enslaved Black people, and then those transactions would be registered at the Court House. The abominable practice was completely legal and continued until Union Army troops arrived in Charlottesville on March 3, 1865, liberating over 14,000 enslaved laborers.
I grew up in Charlottesville and in my early 20’s (I’m 80+ years old now) I worked as a maid at a hotel that used to be in this square. I always hated coming out of those doors at the end of my shift because I’d remember what my grandmother had told me years earlier: “Anne, don’t go down there to Court Square because that is where they took the Black people, made them slaves, and took them away from their families.” I always hurried away from there, especially at night time, because I could feel the evilness of the place.
Signage for this history has caused controversy over the years. A plaque that read “Slave Auction Block” and beneath those words “on this site, slaves were bought and sold” had been previously installed in the sidewalk at the site. In 2020, this plaque was stolen in an effort to highlight the need for a less offensive marker. Currently, a city committee is working with descendants of enslaved laborers to plan a new memorial.
