John C. Calhoun’s statue was removed from Marion Square four years ago. Where is it now?

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Four years after the John C. Calhoun statue was taken down in downtown Charleston, its fate is still in limbo.

In June 2020, Charleston City Council unanimously voted in favor of removing the statue that had towered over Marion Square for more than 120 years.

It came in the wake of the murder of George Floyd which sparked a renewed nationwide call to remove symbols of the Confederacy.

At the time, then-Mayor John Tecklenburg said that while the city acknowledged Calhoun’s role as a statesman — he served as the seventh United States vice president from 1825 to 1832 — his fervent defense of slavery could not be ignored.

Those opposed to the removal said that to remove the monument would be to erase the history of Charleston.

Crews ran into several mechanical and structural setbacks as they attempted to take the statue down, but it was ultimately removed from its pedestal on June 24, 2020.

The statue was taken to an undisclosed warehouse in the city, where it remains today as leaders look for a permanent home.

It was initially removed with the understanding that it would be placed securely in a museum or educational center, but several educational institutions and museums refused placement.

In December 2021, the City of Charleston’s Commission on History voted to send the statue to be featured as part of an exhibit in a California museum. But that plan never came to fruition.

A plan to house it in the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia also died.

Multiple lawsuits were filed against the city over the removal, including one that argued it violated the Heritage Act, but those were later dropped or dismissed.

City officials told News 2 on Monday that a couple of other plans recently fell through, adding that they are still trying to determine what should be done with the former city landmark.  

The monument is 115 feet tall and was erected on June 27, 1896.