A Slave Auction Block
Legend and narrative testimonies describe this stone as a slave auction block.
From the Page News & Courier, August 31, 1961: “This native sandstone block . . . which stood at the corner of Main and Court Streets at the Chamber of Commerce building . . . was used as a perch for slaves about to be sold at auction . . . The stone is said to be one of the few now in existence.”
It is similar to many which existed in the South prior to the Civil War.
As a part of everyday life, black men, women and children would be displayed and examined on slave blocks and sold for the highest bid. Family groups were frequently sold apart; husbands from wives, mothers from children, etc.
This block is an historic symbol of a dark past of man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man. It is also a symbol of how far we have come in learning to respect its victims and in resolving to go forward into the future with mutual respect and understanding.
Marker is on Zerkel Street west of Campbell Street, on the right when traveling west.
Courtesy hmdb.org
