Basic Information
- Type of Place
- Independent City or Town
- Metro Area
- Cumberlands
- 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 | 1959 | 98 | ||||||
| 1940 | 2263 | 122 | ||||||
| 1950 | ||||||||
| 1960 | ||||||||
| 1970 | 4337 | 134 | ||||||
| 1980 | ||||||||
| 1990 | 5757 | 109 | ||||||
| 2000 | 5692 | 104 | ||||||
| 2010 | ||||||||
| 2020 |
Method of Exclusion
- Unknown
Main Ethnic Group(s)
- Unknown
Group(s) Excluded
- Black
Comments
“You should look into the London, Kentucky area because my mother (who lived there for almost 20 years) tells of a lynching incident that happened several decades ago but that still seems to keep a good majority of blacks from the area.”
One witness who ran an international program in Barbourville claims his students “bragged about it. Our kids came from all over the country and used the little airport at London and the bus station at Corbin. People in both towns would always warn me not to let them be there after sundown…I’d heard about London before I ever went to Kentucky.”
“I wanted to suggest London, Kentucky as another possible area of study. I’m not sure it’s a true “sundown” town but it seems a good many of the residents believe that it is, or should be. I was made aware of this while doing some lectures this past spring at Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky….While I was involved in the speaking engagement at Union College at Barbourville, a few of the faculty and staff mentioned the fact that it really wasn’t safe for blacks, especially those out of town, to be in London after dark. Apparently the dean of students has had to bail some of Union’s students out of jail there on charges that he seems to have felt were trumped up.”