For sale is a rare 1924 FREDERICKSBURG TOURIST GUIDE which is entitled “America’s Most Historic City – Fredericksburg – A Guide to Its Points of Interest published by Robert Kishpaugh. This 32-page illustrated book includes a folded map to help you take a walking tour of Mary Washington House, City & Confederate Cemetery, Paul Jones House (the father of the American Navy), Slave Block, President Monroe’s Home, Old Masonic Cemetery, and other destinations. Book includes an illustration of confederate dead in a blood soaked dirt trench, the slave auction block, and all of the historic buildings in Fredericksburg. This book is in excellent condition with no tears or marks on the pages. A great historical collectible.
The Auction Block, associated with the sale of enslaved people, stood on the corner of William and Charles Streets in downtown Fredericksburg from around 1843 until June 2020. There were at least twenty documented sales of enslaved people that took place on that corner from 1847 until 1862, involving more than three hundred enslaved individuals overall. While there is little information available about these individuals, researchers have uncovered the stories of two men known to have been sold at this corner: George Triplett, believed to be the last enslaved person sold from this corner in 1862, and Albert Crutchfield, sold from the Block around 1859. After the close of the Civil War, the Auction Block continued to stand on its original corner for the next 150 years, an enduring object of debate amongst longtime Fredericksburg residents, tourists, and newcomers. In 2020, the Auction Block was relocated to the Fredericksburg Area Museum. The Auction Block is now part of a permanent exhibit, “A Monumental Weight: The ‘Auction Block’ in Fredericksburg, Virginia.”
