Home » Ohio » Wheelersburg

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Wheelersburg

Ohio

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
1900
1910
1920
1930
1940
1950
1960 2682 0
1970
1980
1990 5113 5085 8 3
2000 6471 6335 18 7
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

A 1993 graduate of Wheelersburg high school emailed us: %u201CThere were no blacks in my graduating class of 87 people, or any other year class! 90% of the black population goes to Portsmouth city schools. One moved in for a few months and was a few grades below me, he was endlessly tormented till they left and his parents moved. He was shoved out of the boys%u2019 locker room in nothing but his underwear and locked out till after the bell rang, glued to his seat, his books and personal belongings were thrown out of bus windows, excessively roughed up at recess, usually injured (*accident like*) in gym functions, and kids beat him up constantly after school. The family%u2019s home was spray-painted, toilet-papered, egged or something along those lines at least once if not twice a week. Yes racism is alive and well here in what we call the “Twilight zone” Portsmouth Ohio/Scioto County. As far as “informal policy,” it was just KNOWN! Whispered to white newcomers that there were no or little blacks and it was a good area! Actually we have more Mexicans around than blacks (or at least we see them more) and they seem to be just slightly more accepted than blacks!%u201D

According to a former resident, “The town is still predominately white, but there have been a few black individuals or families that have moved into the community over the past 20 years primarily because of the good public school system. I’ve never seen a “sundown sign” there and I’ve never heard of that type of an ordinance there. However, when I was going through school there, the only “minorities” in my graduating class were two Hispanics (not Mexican), and a Korean.”