SLAVE BLOCK - Fredericksburg, VA
Posted by: 
vhasler
N 38° 18.173 W 077° 27.701
18S E 284747 N 4242288
Round sandstone block was used for mounting horses and slave auctions. Update 2020: City of Fredericksburg has moved the auction block which will go on display at the Fredericksburg Area Museum.
Waymark Code: WM9ZCM
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 10/21/2010
Views: 13
The SLAVE BLOCK, NW. corner Charles and William Sts., is a circular block of sandstone three feet high, but taller before the street level was raised. One side is hewn to form a step to the top, from which, in antebellum days when the Planters Hotel stood behind it, ladies mounted their horses and slaves were auctioned.
---- Virginia - A Guide to the Old Dominion State, 1940.
Plaque at the upping stone reads:
AUCTION BLOCK
Fredericksburg's
Principle Auction Site
in
Pre-Civil War Days
for
Slaves and Property
1984
HFFI
Update 2020: City of Fredericksburg has moved the auction block which will go on display at the Fredericksburg Area Museum. (https://www.fredericksburgva.gov/1287/Slave-Auction-Block) Museum is open 10am-5pm - except for Wednesdays. Entrance fee is $3-5. The waymark owner would appreciated new coordinates for the museum entrance and a photo of the display further edit this submission.