A sundown town was a community in the United States where non-Caucasians— especially African Americans— were systematically excluded from living in or passing through after the sun went down. They came into existence in the late 19th century during what sociologists have described as the low point of race relations in the United States. Sundown towns existed throughout the nation, but more often were located in the northern states that were not pre-Civil War slave states.

I just finished reading the book Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism by James W. Loewen. I'm also reading through Dave Neiwert's After Sundown in his 10 part Eliminationism in America series. Follow those links to learn more of what I'm talking about, then check out the Database of 414 racial restrictive covenants from King County Recorder's Office for an example of just how close to home this is.

Actually, it is much closer to home than that. James W. Loewen has an ongoing project collecting information on sundown towns and Olympia has an entry. Know of any stories yourself? I encourage you to tell others, maybe write about them here on OlyBlog, and send in to Loewen's project.

I've been told that as recent as the 1970s a real estate agent on the west side of Olympia said they had to get approval from the other (white) neighbors first before selling a home to an African-American family.