Home » Illinois » Goreville

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Goreville

Illinois

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Strongly Democratic
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

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

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900 406 0
1910
1920
1930 1275 0
1940 1240 0
1950
1960 1004 0
1970 1109 1
1980
1990 872 1
2000 938 925 0
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

“‘I’m sure Goreville is like that!’ My husband told
me, ‘If they [blacks] came in, they [his white friends]
kept guns.'” She pooh-poohed it; he said, no, they’re
serious.
Parents grew up there. Sure it’s sundown. —
conversation with wife of Goreville native, 1/2004.

“He told me black families usually avoid Goreville, but if one moves to town, the town finds a way to get the family to move.” -Someone who grew up in the town, quoted second hand via email, March 2012