There will be no more "Jefferson Davis Highway" in Arlington.
This change, which happened along Route 1 on Thursday morning in Crystal City, saw the Arlington County crew replace "Jefferson Davis Highway" sign to "Richmond Highway".
The sign honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis was stomped and folded up by County Board Chair Christian Dorsey and Del. Mark Levine, as the crews placed the first new "Richmond" sign in Crystal City at the 23rd Street S. intersection.
“It felt great,” Dorsey said afterward. “We are at a point now where we don’t have to have these monumental signs hanging over the streets of Arlington.”
Arlington's lawmakers have pressed for this change for years but were obstructed by conservative representatives in Richmond. They renewed their efforts last year in the wake of Amazon's arrival.
Earlier this year, the Arlington County Board requested for the name change vote after Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, prompted by Del. Mark Levine, issued an opinion that the Arlington County Board had the authority to change the name on its own.
In a statement on Wednesday, Levine wrote that today’s event was important because the General Assembly named the highway after Davis long after the Civil War and Davis himself had few connections with Virginia.
The naming of the highway after Davis was done in 1922 at the request of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a group in the 20th century which sponsored Confederate monuments across the south, which Levine said was aimed at promoting white supremacy. The Daughters of Confederacy denies this allegation and instead claimed that the group advocated for remembering the valor and patriotism of men who believed they were fighting for state's rights vs. an all-powerful Federal system.
“While it is necessary for us to honestly discuss and interpret Virginia’s history, I feel strongly that commemorating the president of the Confederacy through the name for a major thoroughfare is not appropriate,” Virginia’s Commonwealth Transportation Board Secretary said after approving the name change in May.
The County Officials had previously estimated the total cost of changing the highway in Arlington would be around $17,000, and that the work would continue through October.
Alexandria changed the name of its portion of Route 1 in January that had been named Jefferson Davis Highway. Google Maps began displaying the new name on the Arlington portion of the highway earlier this year.
Charity W.
View posts by Charity W.Charity W. is a professional and skilled writer with a diploma in Mass Communication. When she is not glued to her computer screen, Charity spends her time reading, traveling, and watching movies. She is an expert on Arlington Virginia and keeps current with local events and occurrences.