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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Truckee

California

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Don’t Know

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

  • Violent Expulsion

Main Ethnic Group(s)

Group(s) Excluded

  • Asian

Comments

Truckee locals attempted to start a boycott
against Chinese goods and laborers in their town.
When many merchants continued to employ Chinese
Americans, some locals turned to more direct means,
such as cutting off Chinese men’s braids and hanging
the braids outside their houses. In June 1886, after
many Chinese Americans had already left Truckee, the
city fathers burned the Chinatown to the ground.
Women were invited to witness the event, and fire
wagons surrounded Chinatown to prevent the fire
spreading to the rest of Truckee.

“About 15 years ago my mother told me she had
heard a disturbing story about why there was no
Chinese community in Truckee: during a race riot or
some such occurrence around the turn of the century,
the ‘good white citizens’ of the town had reputedly
burned down the Chinese quarter, and the remaining
Chinese residents had packed up and left.”