Home » West Virginia » Keystone

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Keystone

West Virginia

Basic Information

Type of Place
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Was there an ordinance?
Sign?
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?

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
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

Main Ethnic Group(s)

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

Chicago Defender (National Edition) (1921-1967);Jan. 25, 1936; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Chicago Defender pg.3

First 1936 Mob Strikes in West VA.

Keystone, W. Va., Jan. 24 — This pivot city here in this borderline state leaped into the limelight recently when the first lynching of record this year was chalked up against it following the discovery of the body of L. K. Kent, in his parked automobile on the outskirts of town.

Kent, well known and will liked in this community, was found in a sitting posture in his automobile, his face and limbs burned beyond recognition. Police traced his identity through the license plates on his car….

Friends of the Kents scouted the report which said the young man was seen leaving here, with several white women in his automobile, headed toward Davy, 19 miles from Keystone. It was also rumored among certain whites that he had been warned to stay away from Davy, an all-white town….