Home » Oregon » Pendleton

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Pendleton

Oregon

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

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890 2373 6 127
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960 14434
1970
1980
1990
2000 16354 14580 250 154 412 981 602
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Asian

Comments

Pendleton had only two black families who got along OK, but the town apparently expelled Chinese:

Another reader suggests that Pendleton%u2019s Chinese and Asian population constructed a city literally underground in order to escape the abuse of the white citizens.

A Pendleton resident writes:
%u201CI really hope you include Pendleton Oregon in the sundown town book. I recently asked a librarian about a book, or even article, about Pendleton and their underground community of Asian Americans…she said they had tried to find such a book just recently, and no such book exists. How interesting….%u201D