Basic Information
- Type of Place
- Independent City or Town
- Metro Area
- Politics c. 1860?
- Unions, Organized Labor?
Sundown Town Status
- Sundown Town in the Past?
- Surely
- Was there an ordinance?
- Yes, Strong Oral Tradition
- Sign?
- Perhaps, Some Oral Evidence
- Year of Greatest Interest
- Still Sundown?
- Probably
Census Information
| Total | White | Black | Asian | Native | Hispanic | Other | BHshld | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1860 | ||||||||
| 1870 | ||||||||
| 1880 | ||||||||
| 1890 | ||||||||
| 1900 | ||||||||
| 1910 | ||||||||
| 1920 | ||||||||
| 1930 | 3,084 | 0 | ||||||
| 1940 | ||||||||
| 1950 | 3,399 | 0 | ||||||
| 1960 | 4,027 | 0 | ||||||
| 1970 | ||||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 4,416 | 0 | ||||||
| 2000 | 4,592 | 0 | ||||||
| 2010 | ||||||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Violence Towards Newcomers
- Police or Other Official Action
Main Ethnic Group(s)
- Unknown
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
“Marlow’s unwritten law, exemplified by prominent public signs bearing the command: ‘Negro, don’t let the sun go down on you here,’ caused the death
Monday night of A. W. Birch, prominent hotel owner, and the fatal wounding of Robert Jernigan, the first colored man who stayed here more than a day in years.
“They were victims of a mob of more than fifteen men, who went to the hotel where Jernigan had been employed three days ago as a porter and shot them down when Birch attempted to persuade them to desist from their threat to lynch the man.”Marlow,one of the several towns in OK which has not
allowed our people to settle in their vicinity for years, has abided by the custom of permitting no members of the race to remain there after nightfall.”
-“Marlow’s ‘Unwritten Law’ Against Race Causes Two Deaths. Violation of Ban by Owner of Hotel Leads to Shooting.” -Pittsburgh Courier. 29 December 1923
-Marlow Resident, in email March 2010.
“I’ve heard different dates but the most prevolent is that it was “enforced” up to about 15 yrs ago.I could probably count the black folks in Marlow on one hand and I don’t see many more moving in quickly. It is the epitome of “small town USA”!! Marlow’s reputation apparently precedes it – I’ve heard stories of folks that TODAY will not be in Marlow after dark.