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Georgia city confronts future of site where slaves were sold

Charles and Eugene Washington, an older generation of freedom fighters, stand in the foreground as Nikki Tarver and Myles Jackson, a younger generation can be seen talking in the background on June 30, 2020, in Louisville, Ga. All four have voiced their desires to see the market in Louisville where slaves were once sold removed from its present location. (Parish Howard/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)
Charles and Eugene Washington, an older generation of freedom fighters, stand in the foreground as Nikki Tarver and Myles Jackson, a younger generation can be seen talking in the background on June 30, 2020, in Louisville, Ga. All four have voiced their desires to see the market in Louisville where slaves were once sold removed from its present location. (Parish Howard/The Augusta Chronicle via AP) Charles and Eugene Washington, an older generation of freedom fighters, stand in the foreground as Nikki Tarver and Myles Jackson, a younger generation can be seen talking in the background on June 30, 2020, in Louisville, Ga. All four have voiced their desires to see the market in Louisville where slaves were once sold removed from its present location. (Parish Howard/The Augusta Chronicle via AP)

By SUDHIN THANAWALA / Associated Press 4 min read

ATLANTA (AP) – Amid a renewed push to remove Confederate monuments following the death of George Floyd, a rural Georgia city is confronting the fate of a rare, 18th-century pavilion where slaves were once sold.

The Market House, or Slave Market, in Louisville is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been held up as a cultural site by county officials. The open-air, gazebo-like structure dates back to the late 1790s and is among just a few buildings of its kind still standing in the U.S., according to historic documents filed with the U.S. Department of Interior.

Critics say it is a constant reminder of a painful part of the country’s history and needs to be taken away from downtown Louisville – a city of roughly 2,500 people about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Augusta where the majority of residents are Black.

The City Council is expected to make a decision about the future of the structure at its meeting Tuesday.

“When I ride by there, I see women with their children being torn apart and sold to other white men as their property,” said James Ivery, a former Louisville resident who is pushing for the structure’s removal. “I see that Black people in this country are no more than three-fifths of a human. It’s telling me that I am less than a dog or a cow or a horse that’s being sold.”