Sundown in Southern Ohio

One of my favorite history authors is James W. Lowen, author of Lies My Teacher Told Me, Lies Across America, and Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism. In my undergraduate work I discovered that Ohio had a significant number of sundown towns. Many believe that the concept of a ‘sundown town’ only affected the South, through my research I have found that the issue of racism stretched far beyond the Mason-Dixon Line.  

Thumbing through the pages of Lowen’s book I was intrigued to find that in Highland County there was a sundown town. Lynchburg Ohio is a small village in the northwest corner of Highland County. It is a quiet town with a small downtown business area; the population did not even reach 1,500 people by the count of the 2000 census. The high school graduates an average 80 students per year and the majority of towns’ people are white. Lowen investigated the town so I felt that I would do the same.

Lynchburg has a small historical society devoted to the Freiberg and Workhum Whiskey Distillery. As I poked around I found small bits evidence of the sundown town. Word of mouth is how many people know that Lynchburg was a sundown town. I guess at this point I may want to explain what a sundown town is. A sundown town is a predominately white town that had allegedly posted a sign or had an ordinance that prohibited anyone that was not white to be in the city limits after sundown. Persons of color would be harassed, threatened, and in some cases be the victim of violence if found in these towns after sunset.

In the case of LYNCHburg Ohio there was a sign that was posted. The wording of this sign is inappropriate to repeat or take a picture of but it had the same context that many other sundown town posted signs had. The sign itself was posted on the main street State Route 134 next to the Village limits sign. The sign stayed posted well into the 1970’s and was taken down and put in storage at the Lynchburg Historical Society.   

 

There are many hidden histories that people may not want to talk about. The issue of racism in the United States fills the crooks and crannies of our history and is still an issue today. I am still astonished by the findings that I have uncovered about my new home in Highland County in regards to Civil Rights and Equality.  

 

The sources used for this blog:

Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism James W. Lowen

Lynchburg Historical Society, Lynchburg Ohio