The Elliott Grays Marker, in Richmond, is one of 16 granite markers erected (1927–47) in Virginia along the commemoratively designated Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. 1). Following the creation of the Lincoln Highway in 1913, the United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the idea of linking 3,417 miles of various roads from Arlington to San Diego and naming the route for the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, with signs designating the highway. The UDC promoted the Davis highway in educational brochures and maps nationwide, and it considers the highway and affiliated markers to be one of its greatest undertakings. The four-foot tall Elliott Grays Marker, set on a concrete base, reads: “Jefferson Davis / Highway / This tree marks the / site of Battery 17 of / the inner defenses of / Richmond, 1862-65, and / is planted in soil taken / from battlefields / A memorial to / Confederate Soldiers / by the Elliott Grays / Chapter U.D.C. 1929.” (The tree died many years ago.) The UDC chapter took its name from Company I, 6th Virginia Infantry, The Elliott Grays, a Civil War militia unit organized in Chesterfield County. The Elliott Grays Marker was listed in the registers under the UDC Commemorative Highway Markers along the Jefferson Davis Highway in Virginia Multiple Property Document (MPD).
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia