The power to remove Virginia’s controversial Confederate monuments has been denied to localities under the Dillon Rule, which allows the state to limit the powers of local governments. But a new Democratic majority in the state legislature may open the door to Confederate monuments in the future.
Virginia has 110 Confederate monuments, many of which are housed in Richmond, the former capital of the Confederacy. Among the most notable are the five towering monuments of Confederate leaders lining Monument Avenue. Others live in neighborhoods across the city from Church Hill to Bellevue. The city is home to significant Civil War buildings, including the American Civil War Museum and White House of the Confederacy.