List of sundown towns in the United States

A sundown town refers to a municipality or neighborhood within the United States that practices or once practiced a form of racial segregation characterized by intimidation, hostility, or violence among white people directed toward non-whites, especially against African Americans. The term "sundown town" derives from the practice of all-white towns erecting signage alerting non-whites to vacate the area before sundown.[1] Sundown towns might include entire sundown counties and sundown suburbs and may be strengthened by the local presence of the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacy organization.

Though the United States has a history with expulsion of African Americans from certain communities dating to the 18th century, sundown towns became common during the nadir of American race relations after the Reconstruction era ended in 1877 and through the civil rights movement in the mid-twentieth century. The period was marked by the lawful continuation of racial segregation in the United States, known as the Jim Crow era.

## Definition and scope

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A sundown town is an all-white community that has shown hostility toward non-whites. Sundown towns in the United States include past and present communities that do not socially accept people who are not white. Although African Americans are primarily the focus of sundown town violence, Chinese Americans, Jewish Americans, and Mexican Americans have also been subject to this practice.[2]

Legally, municipalities cannot enforce restrictions on discrimination of people by race or other protected classes, but this has not always been the case. The 1948 United States Supreme Court case Shelley v. Kraemer outlawed the legal enforcement of restrictive housing covenants. Although the Civil Rights Act of 1866 prohibited housing discrimination and defined equal protection, enforcement of such provisions would not be codified until the Civil Rights Act of 1968. As such, any location that is listed below is not an indicator of that place practicing traditional sundown town rules today.

## Sundown communities by state

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### Alabama

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* Arab, Alabama, historically had signage warning Black people to leave the town before dark[3] and did not permit Black residents during the daytime either.[4]
* Cullman, Alabama, did not allow Black people by law from the 1890s to the 1950s.[5][6][7] According to former Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Tom Drake, "there used to be signs on the railroad track, at the county line and all that. 'Nigger, don't let the sun set on your head in Cullman County.'"[8]

### Arizona

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* Tempe, Arizona, allowed Black people to work but not reside in the town from its founding in 1871 until 90 years later.[9] Warren and Carrol Livingston became the first Black people to buy property in Tempe in 1965.[10]

### Arkansas

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* Bonanza, Arkansas, forcibly expelled "nearly all" Black residents between April 27 and May 7, 1904, by inducing terror through "as many as 500 [gun]shots" into the homes of Black residents.[11][12][13]
* Boone County, Arkansas, is a county containing Harrison (see below) and Zinc, home of Knights of the Ku Klux Klan leader Thomas Robb.
* Clay County, Arkansas, forbade Black people as late as 1945.[14]
* Craighead County, Arkansas, forbade Black people as late as 1945.[14]
* Harrison, Arkansas, was the site of two race riots in 1905 and 1909. In 1905, a white mob broke into the local jail to kidnap two Black prisoners, drive them outside the city, and whip them while threatening them to leave. In 1909, Charles Stinnett, a Black man, was sentenced to hang for the alleged rape of a white woman, and Harrison's white community expelled more Black people in its aftermath.[15] Stinnett died from strangulation as a result of a botched hanging fifteen minutes after it began.[15]
* Hickory Ridge, Arkansas, expelled Black people with dynamite in 1910.[16]
* Horatio, Arkansas, had a fruit company with 17 Mexicans who were warned on their front doors to leave the community with threats of violence around April 12, 1905.[17] The community had been excluding Black people from living there for years before.[17]
* Mena, Arkansas, wrote in a newspaper about how it had "No Negroes".[18]

### California

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* Antioch, California, residents burned Chinatown and banned Chinese people after sunset when one doctor's report on April 29, 1876, pointed to Chinese sex workers for spreading venereal disease.[19]
* Burbank, California[20]
* Culver City, California[21]
* Glendale, California
* Hawthorne, California
* Hemet, California
* Palos Verdes Estates, California
* Piedmont, California
* Taft, California

### Colorado

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* Fruita, Colorado

### Connecticut

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* Darien, Connecticut

### Florida

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* Gulfport, Florida
* Jay, Florida, once had signs aimed at Black people that warned, "don’t let the sun set on you in Jay."[22] Jay went from having 175 Black residents in the 1920 census to 0 Black residents in the 1930 census after a race riot that resulted from a dispute between a white man and a Black man over farm equipment.[22] Jay's history is portrayed in the 2024 documentary Welcome to Jay.
* Ocoee, Florida
* Zephyrhills, Florida

### Georgia

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* Fitzgerald, Georgia
* Forsyth County, Georgia

### Illinois

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* Anna, Illinois
* Calhoun County, Illinois
* Cicero, Illinois
* De Land, Illinois
* Effingham, Illinois
* Eldorado, Illinois
* Granite City, Illinois
* Pekin, Illinois
* Salem, Illinois
* Sandoval, Illinois

### Indiana

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* Bluffton, Indiana
* Brown County, Indiana
* Decatur, Indiana
* Elwood, Indiana
* Goshen, Indiana
* Greensburg, Indiana
* Greenwood, Indiana
* Howell, Evansville, Indiana
* Linton, Indiana
* Martinsville, Indiana
* Osgood, Indiana
* Plymouth, Indiana
* Salem, Indiana
* Tipton, Indiana
* Washington County, Indiana

### Iowa

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* New Market, Iowa

### Kansas

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* Altoona, Kansas
* Baileyville, Kansas
* Centralia, Kansas
* Croweburg, Kansas
* Ellis, Kansas
* Hays, Kansas
* Howard, Kansas
* Nortonville, Kansas
* Scranton, Kansas
* Stockton, Kansas

### Kentucky

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* Benton, Kentucky
* Calvert City, Kentucky
* Corbin, Kentucky
* Crescent Springs, Kentucky
* Shively, Kentucky

### Louisiana

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* Pollock, Louisiana

### Maryland

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* Silver Spring, Maryland

### Massachusetts

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* Groton, Massachusetts

### Michigan

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* Owosso, Michigan

### Minnesota

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* Edina, Minnesota[23][24][25]

### Missouri

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* Doniphan, Missouri
* Lamar, Missouri
* Monett, Missouri
* Stone County, Missouri
* Sullivan, Missouri
* Taney County, Missouri

### Nevada

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* Gardnerville, Nevada
* Minden, Nevada

### New Jersey

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* Hoboken, New Jersey

### North Carolina

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* Carrboro, North Carolina
* Mitchell County, North Carolina
* Pinebluff, North Carolina
* Southern Pines, North Carolina

### Ohio

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* Fairborn, Ohio
* Greenhills, Ohio
* Marion, Ohio
* Reading, Ohio
* Utica, Ohio
* Waverly, Ohio

### Oklahoma

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* Ada, Oklahoma
* Bartlesville, Oklahoma
* Blackwell, Oklahoma
* Dougherty, Oklahoma
* Durant, Oklahoma
* Edmond, Oklahoma
* Glencoe, Oklahoma
* Greer County, Oklahoma
* Holdenville, Oklahoma
* Marlow, Oklahoma, once had signs stating, "Negro, don't let the sun go down on you here."[26] On December 17, 1923, an all-white mob confronted a white hotel owner and his Black porter before fatally shooting them.
* Norman, Oklahoma
* Stroud, Oklahoma

### Oregon

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* Grants Pass, Oregon
* Medford, Oregon

### Pennsylvania

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* Levittown, Pennsylvania

### South Dakota

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* Lemmon, South Dakota

### Tennessee

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* Crossville, Tennessee

### Texas

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* Alba, Texas
* Alvin, Texas
* Comanche County, Texas
* De Leon, Texas
* Elmo, Texas
* Leggett, Texas
* Terrell, Texas
* Vidor, Texas

### Washington

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* Kennewick, Washington

### Wisconsin

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* Appleton, Wisconsin
* La Crosse, Wisconsin
* Manitowoc, Wisconsin
* Mequon, Wisconsin
* Sheboygan, Wisconsin

## References

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1. ^ Morgan, Gordon D. (1973). Black Hillbillies of the Arkansas Ozarks. Assistance by Dina Cagle and Linde Harned. Fayetteville, Arkansas: University of Arkansas Department of Sociology. p. 60\. OCLC 2509042. Archived from the original on 2021-03-09. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
2. ^ "Sundown Towns". Tougaloo University. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
3. ^ Loewen, James W. (2005). Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. New York: The New Press. pp. 347, 380. ISBN 156584887X.
4. ^ Windham, Ben. "Cullman's 'Sundown Town' Image Worthy of Study". Tuscaloosa News. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
5. ^ "The Race Problem". The Free Press. Ozark, Alabama. December 8, 1898. p. 2\. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2019 - via Newspapers.com. "It is our recollection that it was once 'against the law' for a negro to live in Cullman in this state."
6. ^ Z. B. "No title". Scottsboro Progressive Age. Scottsboro, Alabama. Reprinted in "A Bit of Gossip About Things Away from Home". The Tribune-Gazette. Cullman, Alabama. March 2, 1899. p. 7\. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2019 - via Newspapers.com. "In Cullman there are many handsome homes kept up in the best city style, and the people are so hospitable and social that visitors cannot help but fall in love with the place. Many of the older people speak no English at all, and will not allow it spoken in their families, and negroes are not allowed to live there at all. It seems very strange to find such a town in Alabama."
7. ^ Rawls, Phillip (February 9, 2011). "Senator Defends Call to 'Empty the Clip'". Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press. p. 4C. Archived from the original on August 31, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2019 - via Newspapers.com. "She said the remarks were especially troubling because [Scott] Beason chose to make them in Cullman, an overwhelmingly white city that once was known as a 'sundown town' because blacks feared being there after sunset."
8. ^ Windham, Ben (March 5, 2006). "Cullman's 'Sundown Town' Image Worthy of Study". Tuscaloosa News. Archived from the original on 2019-11-02. Retrieved 2024-08-31.
9. ^ Mark, Jay (February 21, 2014). "Black History More Readily Available with Curator's Book". The Arizona Republic. Tucson, Arizona. p. Z10. Archived from the original on August 30, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2019 - via Newspapers.com. "Blacks were slow to settle in Arizona. At the time of Tempe's founding in 1871, only 155 were recorded throughout the territory. ... For its first 90 years, Tempe was considered a 'sundown town' where Blacks were welcomed for agricultural and other daily labors. But they were encouraged to live elsewhere."
10. ^ "African American Contributions to Tempe History". Tempe History Museum. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
11. ^ "Bonanza (Sebastian County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Central Arkansas Library System. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
12. ^ "Negroes Warned to Leave Town". Arkansas Gazette. April 30, 1904 - via Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
13. ^ "Negroes Leave Town of Bonanza". Arkansas Gazette. May 7, 1904 - via Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
14. ^ a b Neville, A. W. (2 March 1945). "Backward Glances". The Paris News. Paris, Texas. p. 4 - via Newspapers.com. "On the survey from Bird's Point, Mo., to Jonesboro, Ark., I had a Negro cook. As Negroes were not allowed to live in Clay, Greene and Craighead Counties, Ark., my cook was a curiosity to the children. The women used to bring the children to camp to see him."
15. ^ a b "Harrison Race Riots of 1905 and 1909". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
16. ^ "Hickory Ridge (Cross County)". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
17. ^ a b "Mexican Laborers Warned to Leave". Arkansas Gazette. Texarkana, Texas. April 12, 1905 - via Newspapers.com.
18. ^ "Sundown Town Illustrations". Tougaloo University. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
19. ^ Dowd, Katie (April 6, 2021). "The Bay Area Town That Drove Out Its Chinese Residents for Nearly 100 Years". SFGate. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
20. ^ "Burbank, California". Justice.Tougaloo.edu. Tougaloo College. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
21. ^ "Culver City, California". Justice.Tougaloo.edu. Tougaloo College. Retrieved 2024-08-24.
22. ^ a b Little, Jim (February 20, 2023). "A Fight over a Stalk Cutter in 1922 Turned into a Mass Exodus of Black Residents of Jay". Pensacola News Journal. Archived from the original on March 30, 2023. Retrieved March 30, 2023.
23. ^ Matson, Marci (February 16, 2011). "Page from the Past: Morningside Mayor Addresses "A Matter of No Prejudice"". Edina Historical Society. Archived from the original on 2015-01-22. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
24. ^ Smetanka, Mary Jane (January 1, 2013). "Edina's Historical Mystery: Black Flight". Minnesota Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
25. ^ Loewen, James W. (2005). Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. The New Press. ISBN 978-1-56584-887-0 - via Google Books.
26. ^ Carlson, Peter (February 20, 2006). "When Signs Said 'Get Out' in 'Sundown Towns,' Racism in the Rearview Mirror". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-02-15. Retrieved 2024-04-04.

## External links

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* "Historical Database of Sundown Towns" at Justice.Tougaloo.edu. Tougaloo College.