The Lynching of Joseph H. McCoy (Historical Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this roadside historical marker:

The Lynching of Joseph H. McCoy
April 23, 1897

On a lamppost at this corner on April 23, 1897, Black Alexandria teenager Joseph H. McCoy was lynched. McCoy's white employer, Richard Lacy, alleged that McCoy had sexually assaulted his daughter. Similar accusations were routinely used against Black males to ensure domination and provoke racial terror within the African American community. McCoy was arrested without a warrant and held prisoner at the police station, located at present-day City Hall.

After multiple attacks on the station by hundreds of white men, the mob broke through McCoy's cell door and dragged him one block to this location. They shot him several times, bludgeoned him with an ax, and hanged him. The Alexandria Gazette reported that "other indignities were heaped upon his quivering remains." Such historically coded language suggested dismemberment, including castration, that was often inflicted on Black males who were lynched, especially in cases involving a perceived indignity to a white female.

Virginia Governor Charles O'Farrell launched an investigation into the Lynching. He laid blame on Alexandria Mayor Luther Thompson for failing to respond to repeated attacks despite knowing the mob intended to lynch McCoy. No officials or law enforcement were held accountable and no members of the white mob were ever arrested for McCoy's murder. Several Black men, however, were arrested based on rumors of retaliation.

Upon viewing her nephew's body, McCoy's aunt declared, "As the people killed him, they will have to bury him." At the funeral, Rev. William Gaines of Roberts Chapel proclaimed, "I trust that the time will soon come when all people will realize the fact that the same judgment which they measure to others will be measured to them at the bar of God."

Joseph H. McCoy was buried in a pauper's grave at Penny Hill Cemetery.

At this location on April 23, at 1:20 a.m., Joseph H. McCoy was lynched.


Erected 2021 by Alexandria Community Remembrance Project; City of Alexandria, Virginia.