Home » West Virginia » Oak Hill

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Oak Hill

West Virginia

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Possible
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Surely Not

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910
1920 1037
1930 2076
1940
1950 4518 7
1960
1970 4738 15
1980
1990 6812 305
2000 7589 364
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

The mayor, Barbara Hickman, explained that there are a few Mexican, Philippino, and Chinese families in Oak Hill but didn’t have a reason as to why there are so few black families in the area. She went on to assure me “we don’t have any race problems” and that the citizens of Oak Hill get along with each other “just as well as any place else, if not better.”

Email Interview with resident: “Eventually as I got older I married (in 2000)my childhood sweetheart from Beards Fork and moved to Oak Hill. It took several months before I saw an African American resident. I remember asking my ex husband what was the population for blacks in Oak Hill and his response was that there weren’t that many. He went on to say that up until about the late 70s African Americans weren’t allowed to be in Oak Hill after sun down, and that African Americans weren’t welcome as homeowners within the city limits. However, if so desired, the potential homeowner was pursuaded to reside in Harlem Heights (along Harlem Heights road) which is technically located just beyond the city limits and across the street from the Country Store on the corner of Old Summerlee Rd and E. Main St. Also, I was told from fellow African Americans that the house my ex! husband and I purchased never housed a black family nor the neighborhood we resided in.”