Stockton to remove incorrect Lindsay Point plaque outside city hall
STOCKTON -- If you've ever stopped by Stockton City Hall, you may have noticed a plaque on your way up the steps. This, as it claims, is Lindsay Point -- the site of the first building in Stockton.
Even though these words are etched into the bronze as fact, the history is all false.
"The correct location is actually across the street, close by the water," Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said. "It is near where we have the Veterans Memorial. That is actually that lawn area. That part is actually Lindsay point."
But that's not all. The plaque states that Thomas Lindsay and other settlers built the first dwelling, a tule hut, on the site.
That is another false statement, according to historians.
"The plaque very explicitly states that that Mr. Lindsay built the first structure in San Joaquin County, and that it was a tule hut, which is obviously problematic given that indigenous peoples had probably been building tule huts for 10,000 years prior to that," San Joaquin County Historical Museum Executive Director Phillip Merlo explained.
The city and historical museum have also received dozens of complaints over the years about the description itself.
"Vernacular language and linguistic norms change over time," Merlo said. "I think that the use of the term Indian is not historically accurate. It also can be considered offensive by some, and in many ways, rhetorically, it is offensive."
The plaque claims Lindsay was murdered, found with six arrows. Like much of what's written, that cannot be confirmed.
With all that considered, the city decided unanimously that it's time to take the plaque down.
"We were not the first people here," Mayor Fugazi said. "I want to make sure that people understand that people that look like me, we were not here. Even though my family came in the mid-1800s, there were people here before then. We need to make sure that we are accurately reporting on the actual history of this area."
As of right now, there is no set date for when the plaque will be removed. The city clerk said they are reaching out to museums and other agencies to see if they'll keep it for historical purposes.
If not, the plaque will be kept within the city's archive.
