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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.

Chester

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?
Probable
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 1197 0
1960
1970
1980 1756 0 70
1990
2000 2316 2145 5 11 49 140 36
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Violence Towards Newcomers

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black
  • Hispanic

Comments

“There has always been the rumor that the only
Mexican family that attempted to settle in Chester in
the 1950s was run out of town on pain of death. The
town was completely white, except for one exception,
when I attended school there in the 1950s-60s. A
recent visit there shows that racial demographics have
changed very little, although I did spot a Mexican
family here and there.”
-former resident of Chester