Confederate statue in Atlanta likely to be relocated

ATLANTA — A lesser known Confederate statue in Atlanta is likely going away.

The statue of Samuel Spencer currently sits in front of Norfolk Southern’s building in midtown on Peachtree Street.

Spencer is the company’s first president and Confederate soldier.

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The city owns the statue, but Norfolk owns the land.

The company is offering to relocate the statue on its own dime.

The Atlanta City Council will vote on that on Monday.

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Norfolk Southern sent this statement to Channel 2 Action News:

“We’re pleased to have an agreement with the City that will relocate the statue of Samuel Spencer, who served as president of one of our predecessor railroads beginning in the late 1800s. Our state-of-the-art headquarters building, now under construction in Midtown, will feature new public art that represents and celebrates the future of our changing industry and company. At the request of the new ownership of the Goode building, and to allow the City to determine an appropriate, new location, we have agreed to house the Spencer statue temporarily at one of our warehouse facilities.”

According to the University of Georgia, the statue was erected in 1910 outside Terminal Station in Atlanta. After the station was demolished, the statue was relocated to Brookwood Station which serviced Amtrack. In 2009, the statue was relocated to the front plaza of Norfolk Southern.

The statue was sculptured by Daniel Chester French and the monument was designed by architect Henry Bacon. It is considered the prototype for French’s Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC.

In February, two pieces of legislation were introduced at the Georgia Capitol to remove Confederate monuments and memorials from public land, including Stone Mountain. But the bills did not pass.

Confederate monument removed from outside historic Lawrenceville courthouse The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved the removal of the monument outside the historic courthouse in Lawrenceville at Tuesday night’s meeting.

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