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 | ||||||||
| 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.”