Officials back allowing some historical items at old courthouse

The Middlesex County Board of Supervisors approved on Dec. 3 a “memorandum of understanding” between the county and Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society that will allow historical exhibits in the downstairs front room in the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse.

The Middlesex Historic Courthouse Committee was created in 2021 to develop an educational destination at the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse to attract citizens and tourists, and to highlight the county’s museum and historical sites.

The creation of the historic committee came on the heels of the emotional and tense national atmosphere after George Perry Floyd Jr. was killed in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2020 during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd might have used a counterfeit $20 bill. Four non-Black police officers arrested Floyd, knelt on his neck and back and “tased” shocked him for over nine minutes, fatally asphyxiating him.

The local outcry that came after was to remove the 1910 Confederate monument on the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse grounds. This resulted in a Nov. 4, 2021 referendum where the citizens voted 4,270 to keep the monument (77.3%) and 1,254 (22.7%) voted to remove the monument.

Supervisors had the power to overrule the citizen’s referendum and remove the monument but instead former board chairman Lud Kimbrough formed the Middlesex Historic Committee to create a more historical informational balance throughout the 1852 courthouse building and on the grounds.

The committee and museum working with supervisors have had cabinets built for historical displays to tell stories of those who were important to the history of Middlesex County but have not been justifiably recognized.

The memorandum states that the “Middlesex County Board of Supervisors, museum, and the historical committee wish to utilize the historic courthouse building and grounds to display selected historical artifacts and information regarding residents, influential parties and historical events of Middlesex County.”