Speak Out: Should Jefferson Davis Highway Be Renamed?

What do Arlington's state-of-the-art Long Bridge Park and the Confederate States of America have in common? They were both once associated with Confederate leader Jefferson Davis.

Long Bridge Drive leads to the park; the Arlington County Board this month approved spending more tax dollars on the reconstruction of that road after officials said utility companies had delayed the work.

In September 2011, the board renamed what was then Old Jefferson Davis Highway to Long Bridge Drive. Elected officials briefly considered South Clark Street, and Fort Runyon Drive was proposed to honor one of the first Union forts constructed in Arlington at the beginning of the Civil War.

The renaming was deemed necessary to keep residents and visitors from confusing the small portion of Old Jefferson Davis Highway with the actual Jefferson Davis Highway, which is the name of the nearby U.S. Highway 1.

The name doesn't sit well with all Arlingtonians.

In the 2011 discussion, board member Chris Zimmerman said flatly that he had a problem with it.

“There are aspects of our history I’m not particularly interested in celebrating,” Zimmerman said. “I don’t believe Jefferson Davis has a historic connection to anything in Arlington. He wasn’t from Virginia. I don’t really see why we need to honor him.”

[Click here to read the Sun Gazette's account of the discussion, or click here to see archived Arlington County video of the meeting.]

So where does that leave the more prominent Jefferson Davis Highway?

Patch reader Daniel Kurz, who describes himself as a frequent visitor to Arlington, recently posted a plea to rename that highway now.

"It is really disgusting to see a major area highway named for one of the nation's most notorious traitors," Kurz wrote. "Additionally, the highway's name sends a hateful message to African-Americans."

The idea for Jefferson Day Highway is a century old, conceived in 1913 as a transcontinental highway to honor the former Confederate president. The original plan was for the road to head south from Washington, D.C., to the American South, and then westward to San Diego.

"Although the named trails have mostly faded from today's road maps, some parts of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway still carry that name," according to a history of the highway on file with the U.S. Department of Transportation. Along with a significant portion of U.S. 1 in Virginia, much of U.S. 80 in Alabama still carries the name, according to the Transportation Department.

So what's in a name? Should a major Arlington thoroughfare continue to bear the name of the Confederate president? Is it a part of history that should be preserved? Tell us in the comments below.