Crews were removing the last of three Confederate-related monuments on the state capitol grounds Friday morning.
Workers, scaffolding and a crane surrounded the monuments to Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, general and later governor William Smith, and Confederate surgeon Hunter McGuire.
The requirement and funding to remove the monuments was part of the budget bill passed by the General Assembly earlier this summer. A senate bill including similar requirements passed that body during the 2026 session, but got held up in the House of Delegates on budget grounds.
The monuments will be turned over to the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation.
Richmond-area Delegate Destiny LeVere Bolling called the action "a beautiful thing," saying members of the General Assembly have fought to remove the monuments for some time now. "It's a good time in history. It's very iconic that we're in the 250th anniversary and that this is happening," LeVere said in a phone interview. "It says a lot about how far we've come and what Virginia wants to idolize."
