Hollywood Has Street Names Honoring Confederate Generals

It’s been almost a week since the Charleston, South Carolina, shootings. And the nation has moved from mourning to outrage to debate. The arrest of alleged shooter Dylann Roof has brought to light whether Southern states should have Confederate flags flying in government buildings. The debate has gone national, and on Monday, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley announced that the flag will be taken down. This then led the speaker of the state of Mississippi to call for the Confederate flag to be removed from the state flag's design.

While Florida removed flags with the Confederate emblem on them from State Capitol grounds in 2001, there are still remnants of the old South remaining. Specifically in Broward County, where at least three unassuming streets honor Confederate generals. While many streets throughout the county are named after presidents and Union generals, these three — which are all near Sheridan in Hollywood — remain, as ever, homages to generals who fought for the South.

There’s Lee Street, which is just south of Sheridan. Lee, of course, is named after Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate army.

Blocks away north of Lee, past Sheridan. is Hood Street. According to the City of Hollywood’s website, Hood Street is named after Gen. John B. Hood. A former U.S. soldier, Hood joined the South, began his career as a cavalry captain, and was quickly promoted to colonel on the Texas infantry. In 1864, he fought and lost a major battle against Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

And then, probably most egregiously, there’s Forrest Street, which is not far from Hood.

According to the City of Hollywood, Forrest Street (not to be confused with Forest Drive) is named for Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a lieutenant general in the Confederate army and is known as the man who founded the Ku Klux Klan.

Forrest had a reputation for brutality and continued the fight against blacks in America well after the war was over, not only by founding the KKK but also becoming it first "grand wizard." Before the war, he had amassed a great fortune as a slave trader and, during the war, was accused of massacring hundreds of black Union army prisoners at the Battle of Fort Pillow.

Most recently, Forrest’s name in Florida made headlines in 2013 after a Jacksonville high school petitioned to have the general’s name removed as the school’s name. As it goes with these things, there was some initial pushback. But the school eventually removed Forrest as the name.

As for the roads in Hollywood, it’s doubtful the names will ever be changed. And past attempts only led officials and leaders to say that street name changes lead to complications for locals trying to get around.

Still, as the nation grapples with its ugly past and tries to erase a history of violence and hatred symbolized in Confederate flags, some Broward County streets remain a small homage to men who fought for the Confederacy.