Public Input Requested For Kephart Bridge Landing Renaming

LOUDOUN COUNTY, VA — The Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Service is now accepting new name suggestions for Kephart Bridge Landing in Lansdowne. The canoe and kayak launch is named for George Kephart, a slave trader.

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors had previously directed their staff to create an inventory of segregationist and confederate symbols in the county. Kephart Bride Landing was technically outside of the inventory's scope, but staff still recommended a name change.

Kephart became wealthy by working for the largest slave-trading enterprise in the nation, according to the county's inventory of confederate and segregationist symbols. Kephart was also "the owner of the Duke Street slave pens and a slave ship, the Isaac Franklin, which transported hundreds of enslaved people at a time from Alexandria to the port of New Orleans."

Read more: Confederate Street Names To Be Considered For Removal in Loudoun

Kephart Bridge Landing is located within the Elizabeth Mills Riverfront Park in Lansdowne. The landing, which is used as a launch for canoes and kayaks, can be accessed from Riverpoint Drive.

Now, Loudoun County's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services has opened up public participation for the renaming process. Anyone who has a name suggestion can send an email to prcs@loudoun.gov.

Name submissions will be accepted until Friday, Sept. 3. On Thursday, Sept. 9, the submitted names will be considered by the Parks, Recreation and Open Space Board. Final recommendations will be made to the Board of Supervisors at their meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

At their meetings, supervisors have expressed their willingness to remove statues and symbols that honor slave owners, segregationists, or confederates. ""I have no trouble at all with finding every nook and cranny named after a segregationist or confederate of a slave owner and changing that," Chair Phyllis Randall said. "That is not an issue for me one bit."

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