Virginia DHR to place state historical highway markers near sites of lynchings
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) announced on Wednesday that it will place roughly 15 historical highway markers near sites of lynchings that occurred throughout the Commonwealth.
On Wednesday, Feb. 11, DHR announced a special project to place state historical highway markers at or near the sites of lynchings that took place in the Commonwealth.
The General Assembly allocated funds for the project in an amendment to the budget for the 2025 to 2026 fiscal year, which was signed on May 2, 2025, by former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The amendment allocates $76,008 to support research on historical lynchings that occurred in Virginia from 1607 through the current day, including identifying descendants or relatives of lynching victims to participate in the memorialization process, identifying the location where lynchings occurred and placing the historical markers at the sites.
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The amendment said that any funding remaining at the end of the fiscal year will be carried to the next fiscal year to continue the work of the project.
DHR said the allocated funds will allow for 15 new historical highway markers to be made. All funds for the project will reportedly be used by the department to cover administrative and manufacturing costs for the new markers.
The department invited organizations and local governments to nominate sites to be marked online. Nominations will be considered by the department on a rolling basis.
Just seven years ago, in 2019, Virginia installed its first historical marker for a lynching victim in commemoration of Isaac Brandon, who was killed in Charles City County in 1892.
DHR said Virginia’s historical highway marker program began in 1927 with the installation of the first markers along U.S. Route 1. It is considered the oldest such program in the nation.
Currently, the department said there are more than 2,600 state markers, mostly maintained by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), except in those localities outside of VDOT’s authority.
