Confederate Markers Removed from New Mexico Rest Areas

The last remaining memorials to Confederate President Jefferson Davis have been removed from New Mexico rest areas along Interstate 10, the main east-west route across the state, New Mexico officials have said.

The state Department of Transportation announced last week all memorials to the U.S. Civil War-era Confederacy were removed after people posted messages about them on social media, The Santa Fe New Mexican reports.

“We believe that they have all been removed, but we encourage anyone with knowledge of any others to let us know and we will have them removed immediately,” said department spokeswoman Emilee Cantrell.

The move comes amid a national U.S. debate over removing the names of Confederate leaders from public roads and buildings.

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Davis’ name has become part of the landscape across the South and, for a time, even in New Mexico. But New Mexico has tended to celebrate the Union’s leaders.

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