LOCKHART, Texas — Over a year after Caldwell County commissioners voted to remove it, a confederate monument outside the courthouse in Lockhart has finally found its way to a museum.
A spokesperson for the County confirmed the monument's removal on Thursday morning. It was moved about a block-and-a-half away from the courthouse to the county museum.
The removal was permitted by the Texas Historical Commission. Private residents raised funds to fund the removal by a private contractor. The cost was estimated at about $29,600.
The commissioners court voted on the removal in August 2020, which came after local activists called for moving the granite obelisk. The monument was dedicated to soldiers of the Confederacy and erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1923. Four months before it was installed, the Ku Klux Klan had held a parade through Lockhart's streets, which featured speakers at the courthouse.
In 2020, the monument was covered with a tarp out of respect to protesters participating in a memorial walk for George Floyd. That tarp was pulled off by an individual on June 13, according to the Caldwell County Sheriff’s Office. The following day, the sheriff’s office received a report about a noose hanging in the Zion Church on Chamberlin Road.
Efforts to remove the monument were led by organizations such as Where We Thrive, Bluebonnet Records and Mano Amiga.
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