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?
- Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People
Census Information
| Total | White | Black | Asian | Native | Hispanic | Other | BHshld | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | ||||||||
| 1870 | ||||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| 1890 | ||||||||
| 1900 | ||||||||
| 1910 | 3392 | 20 | ||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1930 | 4470 | 8 | ||||||
| 1940 | 4373 | 1 | ||||||
| 1950 | 5159 | 4 | ||||||
| 1960 | 4979 | 1 | ||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 6147 | 25 | ||||||
| 2000 | ||||||||
| 2010 | ||||||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Unknown
Main Ethnic Group(s)
- Unknown
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
According to a local professor:
“In Loudon and Lenoir City, Tennessee, local businesses posted Klan symbols in their windows and announcements for the Klan marches that occurred through downtown on all major holidays. On those dates, blacks were not permitted in those towns. I was told by whites in several towns that blacks had to be out of town by 5 p.m., even though I saw no posted signs. I was viewed by local town officials as an outside troublemaker, but the local community action committees were glad to have me there collecting this information. In Athens, Tennessee, I met with local blacks at the Employment office. So long as we stayed inside the facility, local blacks were willing to speak with me. Without exception, however, blacks feared being seen with me (because my skin is white) on the streets of their towns. In Athens, Tennessee, one young black man was very specific in his certainty that he would be physically assaulted by the local Klan if here were seen with me in public.
I don’t recall seeing the sundown sign you mention, but I do know that there were communities in my target areas in which local blacks could not meet with me in town after 5 p.m. Communities in which blacks refused to meet with me in town at night or early evening included the Tennessee towns of Crossville, Loudon, Lenoir City…”