Court Square slave auction historical marker (2025)

Between 1762 and 1865, auctioneers sold enslaved men, women, and children at various locations throughout Court Square — outside taverns, at the Jefferson Hotel, at the "Number Nothing" building, in front of the Albemarle County Courthouse. The records of those transactions are still archived there. Local tradition holds some sales happened from a tree stump. Monthly Court Day, enslaved residents learned, meant families could be separated by nightfall. A state historical marker, unveiled March 3, 2025, names what happened here.