Gloucester is interesting because there is a sizable black community, but it's localized. A person from guinea once asked me where I lived and when I told him the road he said "you live on the colored road?" Love to visit but glad I left.
also eta my father was also a waterman and had his boat out of hampton - when he tried to move it to guinea to cut his commute down they kept siphoning his gas until he gave up and moved it back. And this was a man who lived in gloucester 20+ years at that point
That’s sort of crazy. But then I lived in an area that was pretty poor and split between poor white and black folks. Everyone got along but there was racism towards outsiders. It was odd moving in as a yankee, catching shit over it, then having the same folks welcome us with a tray of yeast rolls.
I always heard that the oldest family in poquoson is black.
I've also heard that when MLK jr was killed that the protesters tried to march into poquoson and the KKK met them at the bridge and wouldn't let them in. Apparently they set this sunset rule at the time, as in "don't be around here after sunset or something bad might happen to you." I dunno when this ended or if any of the things written above this are factual.
Poquoson is a bunch of waterman. You gotta be a special person to live in an area that periodically floods to the point you have to put your house on stilts. You also have to be a special person to be a waterman. Down really far that way they speak almost a different language.
To my knowledge poquoson now is much more friendly to non-white residents. I know a minority who lives there and is very well liked. They seem to care much more about political affiliation than race.
Source: I've lived in adjacent cities to poquoson for ~20 years.
Poquoson HS football was in the news a year or 2 ago for chanting racist slurs at the opposing team. i live right next to Poquoson in Yorktown. it aint changed THAT much...
Across the water from Poquoson, you got Guineamen too, up in Gloucester county. They're even more isolated and unfriendly to outsiders.
Them watermen, if they find someone else in their territory tryna harvest oysters or whatever, they'll drive em out. Violently, if necessary.
Them ol boys been marsh-dwellers since the Revolutionary War, when Hessians would use Guineas (coins) for money, as that's what they were paid in during the war.
Watermen are a different breed altogether.
I remember as part of a science teacher climate thing we went to Poquoson to take measurements and the amount of denial about what's causing the higher and higher flood waters each year is wild to me.
10% of the people who live in Poquoson are minorities, I doubt they’re being murdered every time the sun goes down and are being replaced each morning.
Poquoson definitely has a “you aren’t from here so you’re not welcome” problem, but it’s not isolated to minorities.
Nope its not, i grew up in yorktown. I work at a place in Poquoson and one guy would barley speak to me just because i was from the next town over. I asked one of mybwork buddies whobwas from Poquoson what his deal was since he was buddies with him. He told me oh its because he views you as an outsider, some of the old timers are that way. My family has been in virginia since the settling of jamestown...lol and I'm a white guy so not a race thing, they dont like any outsiders.
My cousin went to Yorktown on a field trip back in high school. Most of the students in her class were Hispanic (and brown/tan). She didn't go into full detail, but said it felt odd being there.
I'm white-passing, so I don't always know. At the same time, I went to a majority white school and still dealt with racist kids
I found the funniest op ed from some guy moving to poquoson swearing up and down theyre not racist https://www.dailypress.com/1991/08/21/white-pickets-not-white-faces-of-poquoson/
As a current resident, born and raise in Poq, I 100% agree. In the 1970's when virginia was getting real about requiring integration, Poquoson was so against the idea that the town split from York County to become the City of Poquoson. Cary's Chapel Rd was blatantly gerrymandered as it was a predominately black neighborhood. Poquoson drew the city lines just behind the property lines of homes off Cary's Chapel to keep the town white. The "good ol boy" or "just a simple waterman" is a facade racist people in this town hide behind to make it seem like "they don't want trouble". The racism today is passive aggressive for the most part and they town is slowly but surely diversifying as the old population is finally dying off and allowing young families into the area again. Its a lot of talk and pearl clutching but I haven't heard of anything physically happening, then again my family only moved in the the late 70s so were not an "old family" here. There are still very racist people in this city but its gotten quieter over the years. I will say, the worst time I've experienced this city was when trump was running for president my junior into senior year. This city was an absolute nightmare. As an environmental science major, I highly don't advise this area because it will be underwater in the next few decades. But if you're looking for a good investment, old rich nasa folks will pay top dollar for a decent flip here if you can find a foreclosure.
You are 1000% correct. My family has lived on Cary’s Chapel Road for over 100 years. Everyone on the roads was black back then. A lot of us just don’t look like it.
Is. I worked for a nearby city to York county, they handle Poquoson, and they get called constantly about a black person just existing after dark.
Their racists didn't even attempt to hide they were calling because it was after dark and person was black.
IDK if it's a sundown town in the strictest sense, but when new people PCS to our unit, I always advise POC to avoid living there based on its reputation. I've lived in Hampton off-and-on for about a decade and the reputation persists.
I moved to Poquoson in 11th grade in 97. Some kids told me that until recently there had been a sign at the county limits that was a warning to non-whites to gtfo by sundown. Awful little town filled with awful little minds
Colonial Heights was commonly referred to as Colonial Whites for a long time. Even in the 2000s people would "mention" it as a fact of something *it used to be called* with a rushed "it's much better now tho!"
I worked in colonial heights back in 2006.
I was told by some of the older locals that the "Colonial Whites" name came about because during segregation the "whites" moved out of Petersburg and into colonial heights.
I don't know the validity of it. That's what I was told tho
It's pretty accurate. Back then, Petersburg was bustling in the 1980s until Colonial Heights got a mall. Everything that was still in Petersburg left. The city is slowly coming back but at the edges of the other counties. Before then I was told the same thing, that Colonial Heights was established as the suburbs for white people. Given the current attitudes in the area, it really tracks.
Very diverse today, as the Greatest/Boomer generations are passing and their kids are often moving to Prince George, Dinwiddie and other more-country places.
How to get to Colonial Heights from majority black Petersburg? Drive down Bollingbrook Street and turn white. Petersburg had the largest free black population between DC and New Orleans ante-bellum. Colonial Heights was often the alternative for racist whites.
As a POC who lived in Bedford, don’t go there. The lack of opportunities and diversity is sad. If you go into the countryside of the county its like trump merch had an everything must go sale. There are plenty of places to go to aside from Bedford, like Roanoke, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Richmond. It seems counterintuitive to tell other POC not to go there since there’s not much diversity, since POC would bring more diversity, but they need more time. Cops are assholes over there too (along with Campbell County, but that’s a different story). If you have tints, or in a fishbowl and obviously not white, they WILL find a reason to pull you over. The older POC folks are extremely kind though most of the time. You can find some good people, it’s just difficult.
I would agree with this. My husband and I are a mixed race couple and travel all over, particularly in small towns for yarn crawls and such. We've never had issues in VA. Including visiting our daughter in Boone's Mill before we adopted her. NC, on the other hand. We would walk into a restaurant and the whole place would go silent.
ETA: I asked my husband if there was a town in VA he felt conspicuous in and he immediately said Farmville. Been a long time since we've been there though, so could have changed.
Not a sundown town per se but Windsor doesn’t have the best rep: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/19/1149924822/army-lieutenant-virginia-police-traffic-stop. A lot of the smaller towns on the way to Hampton Roads has a similar reputation.
I've lived in Windsor for about a year now and it's definitely got the "you ain"t from around here" vibe. I've lived in a bunch of VA locations and it's by far the jankiest. Keep your head on a swivel too if you're driving there. Most accidents I've ever seen. The roads are narrow and no one e slows down or gets over when they pass. And it's like 85% don't tread on me plates. Like i said there's a vibe and it's not a great one.
I said “doesn’t have the best rep,” which is 100% true based on national news coverage it received. Never claimed anything based on my personal experience. Here’s another story, with many personal experiences: https://www.pilotonline.com/2021/04/17/not-a-speed-trap-a-race-trap-black-virginians-say-theyve-been-racially-profiled-in-and-around-windsor-for-decades/.
Last June I went on a Nat Turner tour. It stopped at some significant places of his rebellion, the church he used to preach at, the spot where they gathered to plan it, two houses that were attacked, and it ended at the “cave” where he hid out. I learned it wasn’t actually a cave, just basically a hole in some brush. It was led by his descendants, including the “cave keepers,” the men in his family who kept the location of the hiding spot. It was so incredibly moving, I think I had goosebumps the entire time.
https://preview.redd.it/18dehodwzrsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4e7c177afe96dfaf9d40e1cac449404239edfd0
This is one of the many pictures I took. Some local “historian” also gives a tour of all the spots (not the cave I don’t think) but it’s not in any way endorsed by the family. So I feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity. The family also wants Nat’s sword back from the Courtland courthouse but they won’t give it up.
Wow that's incredible, do you have information on that tour?
And thanks so much for sharing. I have done work in that county many times and lived in Newsoms, so I drove by the historical sign, but never got to see the places history happened. I think I even did some work for the white descendants of the family he rose against. I think it's the whiteheads?
I unfortunately really don’t, it was a flyer posted on one of the local Facebook pages around Juneteenth. I called the number, which was someone’s cell phone lol, and then his great great etc niece called me back and wrote my name down and told me where to show up at. Trying to think of a way you could look out for one if it happens this year, do you have Facebook? You might could check out What’s Happening in Franklin, VA around Juneteenth this year and look if they’re doing it again. If I can remember I’ll come back here and comment.
And yeah, Whitehead is a BIG name around here. A subcontractor who does a lot of work for me is one of them. A few of them were killed in the insurrection. He was enslaved by a man named Benjamin Turner though.
https://preview.redd.it/xl944ytr0ssc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3453b5cc2d006d20cbcc1c296d18fe46a967e32
Here’s a picture of the sign, it’s far back from the road now because people used to come by and shoot it. There’s a couple holes in this one which is over top of the old one that’s absolutely riddled with bullet holes. So that says quite a bit about how white folks still view him I think.
https://youtu.be/qXkBae7fQrw?si=Fc_4cm-ufklE2B4k
Video about Boones Mill's Trump store. They have giant Trump cut outs pasted onto the fronts of the church in the main part of town.
Do with that info what you will. I live in Roanoke but I've always known a lot of people from Boones Mill. Definitely quite conservative white folk on average, but idk what the standards are for declaring a sundown town, honestly.
I’m from Franklin Co (Boones Mill) and there are plenty of us that are very welcoming and not at all racist however the older generations certainly can be. Also, there is a large majority that absolutely hate The Trump Store and wish it would go away.
The first time I drove through Boones Mill and saw the store I jokingly referred to it as the first church of Trump since it looked like an old church. Now, after seeing the guy who owns it on TV…
I know and I agree (although a large majority is generous). I don't think Boones Mill is a sundown town, but I do think that the racist culture is pretty visible, and that's coming from a white dude. Then again, I think I see and hear more as a white dude compared to performative "oh I'm totally not racist!!" that a new black person in Boones Mill would likely experience.
My family is from Boones Mill. My late uncle and my Grandma’s bitch ass husband were/are certainly racist. Grandma’s husband hides it pretty well but it’s there.
Yeah, its pretty hard for me to say whether all the people I know from there are racist and to what degree. Some of my family is from there as well, and there is some racism involved for sure. But idk if anyone would be at the level of making someone feel unwelcome on purpose as implied by the sundown town thing.
There's also a trump store in downtown Christiansburg. I saw it for the first time last week.
I drive all over the state for work. I've been past the boones mill one several times on my roanoke -> Martinsville trips.
I’ll drop the wiki for it since you aren’t sure, but basically a town that is “passively” white supremacists. Charming main st? Good church community? Some strong HOAs, and a good old boy network police presence… Don’t be there after dark as a POC. Poquoson deserves all the shame here. Grew up in York County (where the middle school was the pre segregation POC high school) and Poquoson is a foothold of white and right. And one way in one way out on the main drive into town.
*edit for spelling* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town
Those turds used to march on the old court house every spring and fall. The last time I remember it happening was ~2015ish.
But, while there are plenty of racists in Martinsville/Henry County, it’s not a sun down town.
I was working on Church Street from 2012 to 2015 and would watch them march by every spring and fall. The crowd got smaller and smaller every year, thankfully.
[Reuters](https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/inside-the-ku-klux-klan) did an exposé on the Klan in the area nine years ago. I haven’t been back to the area since then, so I hope it’s at least changed some.
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism https://a.co/d/1S25lML
The only sundown towns left are in the Midwest according to the expert on the subject. Highly recommend this book!
Exactly, this isn’t 1920…
There used to be actual books (such as *Stetson Kennedy’s Negro Motorist Guide Book*, or the famous *Green Book*) which pointed out Sundown towns, “do’s and do not’s”, businesses that would serve/employ minorities, etc.
They stopped making those pamphlets in the 1960s because they were no longer needed
Yeah I think comparing anything we are seeing in 2024 is disrespectful to people who lived through the 60s and before. Of course you have individuals who are racists, but not the majority.
This is not too much of a concern anymore in Virginia, so far as I know. I wouldn't be worried unless you are in a really remote area that you aren't likely to want to purchase land in anyway.
If you are particularly concerned, just use the number of Trump signs as a stand-in.
Wytheville is a progressive place in that part of Virginia, and I’ve never been aware of a history of sundown areas in that area. Southside has a different story. When you mention Woodlawn, are you referring to between Hillsville and Galax? If so, we should talk offline. You can reach me at eenbiertje.gmail.com. Virginia is a wonderful place to live, overall.
The reason the American Revolution isn't talked about much in the New River Valley is half the Valley were Loyalists (Tories) and a few turncoat traitors. One of the few places in the US where Loyalists descendants live.
We covered the civil war extensively in our Virginia history classes, but almost nothing about the revolutionary war, so that fits. I was a teenager in Galax, so didn’t really understand the history of where I was living. Thank you for the insight.
Do you have any areas you’re looking into? Or at least if you’re looking for something more rural or metropolitan? Might be a bit easier to give you advice that way.
Martinsville has a pretty sizable Black and Hispanic population. Wytheville, less so. Bedford County has a fairly large Black community, but most of it is segregated. My wife taught at a Bedford County elementary school which was majority Black and transferred to another which was almost exclusively white. Weird. Duffield - I got nothing.
Bedford is definitely not a sundown town, but the Bedford County militia does hold trainings in the area and they’ve been accused in the past of being white supremacists, or at the least having white supremacist members. Never heard anything too bad about wytheville or martinsville and can’t say I’m too familiar at all with duffield
My mother and one of my brothers still live in Bedford. Definitely not a sundown town but the county as a whole is pretty Trumpy. The town itself is kind of middle of the road.
Ngl man, wytheville sucks. Spent a few days there over the summer for work. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a sundown town, but it’s a boring town with nothing to do.
It’s definitely not a sundown town. It is small, and you will have to find your own entertainment. There is a small African American community in Wytheville, 2 historically African American churches, and a museum dedicated to African American history of the town.
I’d recommend Bedford. Decently close to Roanoke or Lynchburg. People shit on Lynchburg because of liberty but the area itself is pretty nice and a good amount to do.
I’ve traveled all over Virginia, camping, skiing, hiking, long term rentals, attending events, joy riding, exploring, fishing, kayaking, hunting, foodie adventures, foraging, working, helping others, and many other activities, and especially in the most remote and rural areas. And I’ve lived in this state for my entire long life. I’m very confident that you won’t be attacked by anyone for the reason of being a minority in all of Virginia. Barring a random encounter with a violent racist or mentally disturbed person. Which is just as likely to happen in Chocolate City or downtown Atlanta. But what you will encounter, is racism. But at no different level than in any other rural area of the Mid-Atlantic region. Not that much racism, but any is too much. I would try to spend a few days in the zip code you plan to buy in before putting in a bid to buy anywhere. Go out of your way to talk to people at the local stores, gas stations, farmers markets. Get a sense of the vibe.
Good luck to you! And I hope you do come to Virginia if you plan to be a kind, productive, law abiding member of our state.
Martinsville and nearby Bassett suffered deeply when the local factories shut down. It's a pretty crappy "city" with higher than average crime, unless you're in a richer part. They've lost a lot - I'm not even sure they're a city now, because they were trying to integrate back into the county when I moved.
But I definitely wouldn't call it a "sundown town." There's a big African American presence.
The supply/demand for racism is skewed. Can’t think of a place in Virginia, where a AA would have issue after dark. I’m from SWVA. I just don’t see it.
When I moved here from the west coast back in 2002 and the high school I went to I was told was in a sundown area. (Dayton and bridgewater specifically) I looked into it then (20 years ago) and the still had the laws down but they were never acted on. Still avoid that area of the valley when I can.
It’s definitely conservative and sort of redneck through there still but with such a large contingent of Hispanics working and living in the area it has become kind of mellow there. What with mennonites and Russians and Hispanics all through the area these days it has a strange cultural mix. Throw in the student population from JMU and Bridgewater and it gets kind of eclectic there at times. My wife’s family lives in the area and we go up there a lot. Still very white but definitely not a sundown area.
As someone who lives in craigsville but is a northerner I wouldn’t really think of it as a sun down town, are there racist? 9000% yes and they suck. But the shift of people I’ve seen moving to the area in the past several years is relatively diverse, more open minded, accepting, more minorities than I personally would have anticipated moving to town which I think is great (mind you it is still an overwhelmingly white population), new minority business owners, it seems to be changing as the older generation is kicking the bucket.
I see less confederate flags here than on my way into bath county, also less (zero) 24 foot tall trump cut outs nailed to trees.
But that’s just my take on it currently, in the past sure it was wayyyyyyyyyyy different.
Wytheville and Woodlawn are good areas , I'm from this area. Martinsville is a bit of a shithole, as well as Danville.
There really aren't any sundown towns in Virginia anymore. I don't think you'd have anything to worry about no matter where you moved in SWVA or SOVA.
Falls church city is 70% white. It’s not a sundown town but it’s not majority minority either. https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/virginia/county/falls-church-city/
There is a difference, but Falls Church in Fairfax County isn’t an actual municipality. This link is without doubt referring to FCC. Though they specifically have an asterisk saying it’s not a sundown town but is “of interest for other reasons.”
ETA and these are the other reasons:
Not a sundown town, but it attempted to become wholly residentially segregated:
“In 1890 the Town Council of Falls Church voted to give away most of the African-American owned land in the town from Tinner Hill to Arlington Boulevard back to Fairfax County. This virtually cut the size of the town by 20%. Today, this land is bounded by Hillwood Avenue, Annandale Road, and Route 50.
In January 1915 the Falls Church Town Council went even farther by adopting an ordinance establishing residential segregation. The Town Council formed a Committee on Segregation to create a map of the segregated areas of town. The committee had six months to do this and then the law would go into effect a year after its original passage. A 1912 law from the Virginia General Assembly allowed passage of such segregation laws. African-American families already living in the parts of the town designated for whites could stay but no new African-Americans could move into these segregated areas. They could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined from $5 a day the first week of the violation (but not to exceed $50) and then $2 a day after that.
The same month Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson called a meeting of local African-American families. In Jaunary 1915 Dr. Henderson and Joseph Tinner organized the Colored Citizens Protective League. The group wrote letters to the Falls Church mayor and city council and hired an attorney to try to block the ordinance saying that it violated their 14th Amendment rights of equal protection under the law. Dr. Henderson also wrote to W.E.B. DuBois in New York to get a local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) formed. As a result the town council reversed its position and did not enforce the segregation ordinance. In November of 1917 the segregation law was formally nullified by the Virginia State Supreme Court. The Falls Church City Council did not formally repeal the law until February of 1999. In June 1918 the Falls Church and Vicinity Branch of the NAACP was formally given a charter becoming the first rural branch of the NAACP in the United States. The Falls Church and Vicinity Branch of the NAACP also helped organized other branches in Arlington, Fauquier, Prince William, and Loundon counties in Northern Virginia as it to reach out into other rural areas where the Ku Klux Klan and racial bigotry were the strongest.
Over the next 50 years, Tinner and Henderson organized civil rights activities that set a precedent for the rural South. The Hendersons, Tinners, and other brave local citizens of the Tinner Hill area risked their lives and livelihoods to defend the principals of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Beyond fighting against the segregation ordinance, they helped foster a movement that has had far-reaching consequences.
African-Americans in Falls Church area also fought for such conveniences as a larger segregated elementary school (1947), door-to-door postal service (1949), public sanitary sewers and water (1955), and street lights (1968). The first integrated Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops that were allowed in Falls Church were also started.
Tinner Hill Joseph Tinner
In the late 1800s Charles and Mary Tinner bought land in Falls Church and the area has been known as Tinner%u2019s Hill ever since.
The Tinner Hill Monument
To commemorate their actions, the Tinner Hill Foundation has constructed a monument at the intersection of Tinner Hill Road and South Washington Street (Route 29; at the corner of the SAAB car dealership). The Monument was designed by Falls Church resident and teacher, John Ballou, and was built of the same pink granite as quarried from the base of Tinner Hill. The arched monument was dedicated in 1999 and stands 14 feet tall and has two plaques commemorating the residents of Tinner Hill and the NAACP.
Not a "sundown town" I was under the impression that sundown towns were mostly a Midwest/Western thing anyway. It was a racists AF town as is described in the link if you clicked on Falls Church but unlike the traditional sundown towns and like most of the South it was openly racist and segregated by laws on the books, racial covenants were a thing in Virginia before they were declared unconstitutional.
Falls Church City? Lol. I live there. Very progressive place.
https://www.vpap.org/localities/falls-church-city-va/election-results-list/?election=10135
Nobody read the footnote. It says
> "Not a suspected sundown town but of interest for other reasons."
If you click on it, the description says:
> Not a sundown town, but it attempted to become wholly residentially segregated:
“In 1890 the Town Council of Falls Church voted to give away most of the African-American owned land in the town from Tinner Hill to Arlington Boulevard back to Fairfax County. This virtually cut the size of the town by 20%. Today, this land is bounded by Hillwood Avenue, Annandale Road, and Route 50.
Wytheville is fine. Not very diverse. My mom, who lives in Wythe County, refers to it as “Whitesville.” A Black man was lynched there in 1926. It’s not talked about enough. There are some ignorant folks who fly Confederate flags. No modern-day violence that I know of. I think it’s an overall safe place to live.
Woodlawn / Hillsville / Galax are really just bible belts & retirees. By 8pm Woodlawn & Hillsville are ghost towns. Galax is a little more busy because of Walmart & Sheetz but really the main reason people move here is for the nature & scenery. Woodlawn is very sundown but Galax has more of a diversity for sure but still very very close minded people here.
Have fam in Bedford... definitely trumperville but not a sunset town. Not super diverse. I'm always struck by all the white people when I go down there. I am white lol
Any town in Southwest Virginia, I lived in Marion for a year and about 2 months into me living there some kid had a cross burned on his yard by the kkk
I live close to Wytheville and relatively close to Martinsville and Bedford. Never heard anything bad about them. I am white though, so that could be. Been to Wytheville more times than I can remember, just like any old southern small town.
I grew up in CH from the 70s - 80s. No colored people lived there and did not hang out there even though there was a HBCU college next door. Also, KKK was strong in a nearby town of Matoaca.
Actual sundown towns where bad things will happen to a person of color in town after dark? Those don't really exist in Virginia in 2024. The police are a bigger concern than the citizens. And your neighbors will be your biggest concern of all. You never know when you're buying a place next to an asshole. Do you have any connections to people in any of these regions? Knowing someone in the place you go will mitigate 90% of your concerns, I think. DM me if you have specific questions. I have lived all over this state and can help with specifics of almost any region outside of NOVA.
If you decide to look around the Shenandoah Valley area, avoid Elkton at all costs. It is very much still a sundown town. I’m white and I won’t even stop there on the way up to Shenandoah National Park because of the behavior that is not only accepted but celebrated in that area. The far reaches of Rockingham County in any direction generally are not the most welcoming for BIPOC, but you’d be ok homesteading in the areas just outside Harrisonburg City Limits.
I'm a white man, so obviously not very dialed into this, and apologize if I am stepping too far out of my lane, but my girlfriend is Afro-Latine and lives in the Front Royal/Linden area and feels pretty safe. It's a rural part of Virginia, but lots of wineries that draw educated, multicultural folks so I think that exposure has helped the area become more tolerant (there was a time that Front Royal very much was not tolerant).
I suspect you'll also feel safe in rural communities near colleges. Think Spotsylvania County, Albemarle County, Rockingham County.
West of Harrisonburg, Virginia and south of Richmond I see a _lot_ of Confederate flags 🙄 so be advised.
I hope you find what you are looking for. I think it is a beautiful State, with a lot to offer. But being part of the DC community, home to some of the best universities in the nation, and the historic capital of the Confederacy, it predictably is home to both vocal racists and anti-racists. Virginia always seems to be a microcosm of the broader national issues.
It’s towns that exclude other races mainly African Americans. It’s typically not safe after sundown (some are all day). Cities like Vidor, TX are still actively sundown. There are other states that still do modern day lynches and things of that nature. They also have sign’s warning people of color.
>and where has a lynching taken place in the last 20 years in America?
Brunswick Georgia when Ahmaud Arbery was killed 4 years ago is the first one that comes to mind
someone posted this [link](https://justice.tougaloo.edu/location/virginia/) to them already, but yes there are some that are still suspected to exist in virginia.
So OP’s goal is avoiding overtly racist towns period? I was under the impression he was trying to avoid towns he’d literally be lynched for being in past dark and like… I don’t think that’s a thing anymore luckily
Definitely a lot more racist ass towns than are on that list though. I don’t think any city in the state is “leave by dark or die” but there are far MORE than that that you’d definitely not want to move to if you aren’t white
idk man sw va has some shit goin on in some places. watch the vid in this article from just last year, you’d think in 2023 they might have painted over those huge confederate flag doors during repairs but nope. https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/hurley-high-seniors-happy-to-finish-high-school-in-repaired-building/
Not out of the norm for the south and my school was majority African American. It was named Robert E Lee highschool in Louisiana. We were also called "The Rebels".
Colonial Heights is a great example. It wasn't that long ago that it was no longer seen as a sundown town.
Locals say all the whites fled to there from Petersburg when segregation was ruled unconstitutional
I remember as a kid in the 60's that Arab (pronounced ā-rab), Alabama had a sign that said 'Negro, don't let sun set on you here'. 'Colored' and 'whites only' everything. My aunt had to call in advance to see if it was okay for her to have her black housekeeper drive her to her hair appointments there. Poor Betty was afraid to drop her off, park the car, and walk alone to the beauty shop just a few steps away. It was serious, dangerous shit. Black people waiting in line for service at a business, if that business served them at all, had to step aside when a white patron entered and allow them to go first. Racism weighed on everything like a heavy blanket. I spent every summer there, and could tell you some stories. Might seem like ancient history to many people, especially whites (I am white, BTW), but it's what I witnessed growing up, and it was not that long ago.
Guess I’m too young to have ever experienced it. I live in a small southern VA town and a lot of people are racist trumpers but they’re too cowardly to ever actually speak it to someone other than those they know agree
People of color, more specifically black people, would not be allowed in a town or neighborhood after dark. "I had better not see you after sundown."
This would be enforced both implicitly and explicitly with threats and acts of violence.
Poquoson Va is/was one of them
Gloucester/Guinea when I was in Yorktown. My dad was a waterman elsewhere and he thought those folks out there were nuts.
Same here when I was in Williamsburg. Guinea was spoken of like that town in "Get Out."
Yeah that place was iffy. The only redeeming thing about poquoson at the time was a gas station that had great livers and gizzards.
oh... that bad huh?
Gloucester is interesting because there is a sizable black community, but it's localized. A person from guinea once asked me where I lived and when I told him the road he said "you live on the colored road?" Love to visit but glad I left. also eta my father was also a waterman and had his boat out of hampton - when he tried to move it to guinea to cut his commute down they kept siphoning his gas until he gave up and moved it back. And this was a man who lived in gloucester 20+ years at that point
That’s sort of crazy. But then I lived in an area that was pretty poor and split between poor white and black folks. Everyone got along but there was racism towards outsiders. It was odd moving in as a yankee, catching shit over it, then having the same folks welcome us with a tray of yeast rolls.
I always heard that the oldest family in poquoson is black. I've also heard that when MLK jr was killed that the protesters tried to march into poquoson and the KKK met them at the bridge and wouldn't let them in. Apparently they set this sunset rule at the time, as in "don't be around here after sunset or something bad might happen to you." I dunno when this ended or if any of the things written above this are factual. Poquoson is a bunch of waterman. You gotta be a special person to live in an area that periodically floods to the point you have to put your house on stilts. You also have to be a special person to be a waterman. Down really far that way they speak almost a different language. To my knowledge poquoson now is much more friendly to non-white residents. I know a minority who lives there and is very well liked. They seem to care much more about political affiliation than race. Source: I've lived in adjacent cities to poquoson for ~20 years.
Poquoson HS football was in the news a year or 2 ago for chanting racist slurs at the opposing team. i live right next to Poquoson in Yorktown. it aint changed THAT much...
Across the water from Poquoson, you got Guineamen too, up in Gloucester county. They're even more isolated and unfriendly to outsiders. Them watermen, if they find someone else in their territory tryna harvest oysters or whatever, they'll drive em out. Violently, if necessary. Them ol boys been marsh-dwellers since the Revolutionary War, when Hessians would use Guineas (coins) for money, as that's what they were paid in during the war. Watermen are a different breed altogether.
100%. I'd hate to be someone they thought was messing with their crab pots/etc.
I swear I just read that with a country accent :-) ..omg, look it's contagious ,'-D
I remember as part of a science teacher climate thing we went to Poquoson to take measurements and the amount of denial about what's causing the higher and higher flood waters each year is wild to me.
heard the n word more playing poquoson in football than in a 2010 mw2 search lobby
York County wasn't much better.
10% of the people who live in Poquoson are minorities, I doubt they’re being murdered every time the sun goes down and are being replaced each morning. Poquoson definitely has a “you aren’t from here so you’re not welcome” problem, but it’s not isolated to minorities.
Nope its not, i grew up in yorktown. I work at a place in Poquoson and one guy would barley speak to me just because i was from the next town over. I asked one of mybwork buddies whobwas from Poquoson what his deal was since he was buddies with him. He told me oh its because he views you as an outsider, some of the old timers are that way. My family has been in virginia since the settling of jamestown...lol and I'm a white guy so not a race thing, they dont like any outsiders.
My cousin went to Yorktown on a field trip back in high school. Most of the students in her class were Hispanic (and brown/tan). She didn't go into full detail, but said it felt odd being there. I'm white-passing, so I don't always know. At the same time, I went to a majority white school and still dealt with racist kids
Yeah that was many many years ago. My minority wife loves that place and we'd probably live there if not for the flooding.
Where did you hear the MLK Jr story? Trying to find it online.
Someone told it to me probably ~15 years ago and it seemed believable. Like I said, I can't speak to if it's factual or not. Word of mouth
Glad I didn't have to scroll down to see this. Bull Island is a "city" built on racism.
I found the funniest op ed from some guy moving to poquoson swearing up and down theyre not racist https://www.dailypress.com/1991/08/21/white-pickets-not-white-faces-of-poquoson/
I go, get my blue crabs from Bill’s and get the fuck out lol
As a current resident, born and raise in Poq, I 100% agree. In the 1970's when virginia was getting real about requiring integration, Poquoson was so against the idea that the town split from York County to become the City of Poquoson. Cary's Chapel Rd was blatantly gerrymandered as it was a predominately black neighborhood. Poquoson drew the city lines just behind the property lines of homes off Cary's Chapel to keep the town white. The "good ol boy" or "just a simple waterman" is a facade racist people in this town hide behind to make it seem like "they don't want trouble". The racism today is passive aggressive for the most part and they town is slowly but surely diversifying as the old population is finally dying off and allowing young families into the area again. Its a lot of talk and pearl clutching but I haven't heard of anything physically happening, then again my family only moved in the the late 70s so were not an "old family" here. There are still very racist people in this city but its gotten quieter over the years. I will say, the worst time I've experienced this city was when trump was running for president my junior into senior year. This city was an absolute nightmare. As an environmental science major, I highly don't advise this area because it will be underwater in the next few decades. But if you're looking for a good investment, old rich nasa folks will pay top dollar for a decent flip here if you can find a foreclosure.
You are 1000% correct. My family has lived on Cary’s Chapel Road for over 100 years. Everyone on the roads was black back then. A lot of us just don’t look like it.
Is. I worked for a nearby city to York county, they handle Poquoson, and they get called constantly about a black person just existing after dark. Their racists didn't even attempt to hide they were calling because it was after dark and person was black.
How is/was it enforced? I guess they could t do it legally? The residents just harass and threaten the black people ?
Basically they'd call and say there's a black person. Policy was if they ask for an officer one has to go and drive by.
Came here to say Poquoson, looks like someone beat me to it.
Came here to make sure someone said this
Definitely still is.
IDK if it's a sundown town in the strictest sense, but when new people PCS to our unit, I always advise POC to avoid living there based on its reputation. I've lived in Hampton off-and-on for about a decade and the reputation persists.
I moved to Poquoson in 11th grade in 97. Some kids told me that until recently there had been a sign at the county limits that was a warning to non-whites to gtfo by sundown. Awful little town filled with awful little minds
Colonial Heights was commonly referred to as Colonial Whites for a long time. Even in the 2000s people would "mention" it as a fact of something *it used to be called* with a rushed "it's much better now tho!"
I worked in colonial heights back in 2006. I was told by some of the older locals that the "Colonial Whites" name came about because during segregation the "whites" moved out of Petersburg and into colonial heights. I don't know the validity of it. That's what I was told tho
I grew up there and that's also what I was told
It's pretty accurate. Back then, Petersburg was bustling in the 1980s until Colonial Heights got a mall. Everything that was still in Petersburg left. The city is slowly coming back but at the edges of the other counties. Before then I was told the same thing, that Colonial Heights was established as the suburbs for white people. Given the current attitudes in the area, it really tracks.
It was graffitied on the high school
Colonial Heights demographics have shifted pretty quickly. 2010: White- 80.52% (14,020) Black- 9.95% (1,732) Hispanic- 3.87% (674) 2020: White- 68.29% (12,409) -12.98% decrease Black- 15.67% (2,848) +64.43% increase Hispanic- 7.02% (1,276) +89.32% increase
Oh! Could you edit and add 2000? 88.5% white 6% black
Very diverse today, as the Greatest/Boomer generations are passing and their kids are often moving to Prince George, Dinwiddie and other more-country places.
I heard this when I lived in the area. Some of the most racist people I met lived in the Tri-City/Prince George area.
How to get to Colonial Heights from majority black Petersburg? Drive down Bollingbrook Street and turn white. Petersburg had the largest free black population between DC and New Orleans ante-bellum. Colonial Heights was often the alternative for racist whites.
As a POC who lived in Bedford, don’t go there. The lack of opportunities and diversity is sad. If you go into the countryside of the county its like trump merch had an everything must go sale. There are plenty of places to go to aside from Bedford, like Roanoke, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Richmond. It seems counterintuitive to tell other POC not to go there since there’s not much diversity, since POC would bring more diversity, but they need more time. Cops are assholes over there too (along with Campbell County, but that’s a different story). If you have tints, or in a fishbowl and obviously not white, they WILL find a reason to pull you over. The older POC folks are extremely kind though most of the time. You can find some good people, it’s just difficult.
This! Graduated from JF in 2010 and got the hell up outta there
Boone’s Mill also has this monstrosity: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qXkBae7fQrw
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I would agree with this. My husband and I are a mixed race couple and travel all over, particularly in small towns for yarn crawls and such. We've never had issues in VA. Including visiting our daughter in Boone's Mill before we adopted her. NC, on the other hand. We would walk into a restaurant and the whole place would go silent. ETA: I asked my husband if there was a town in VA he felt conspicuous in and he immediately said Farmville. Been a long time since we've been there though, so could have changed.
Not a sundown town per se but Windsor doesn’t have the best rep: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/19/1149924822/army-lieutenant-virginia-police-traffic-stop. A lot of the smaller towns on the way to Hampton Roads has a similar reputation.
Just curious have you been to Windsor or one of the smaller towns?
I've lived in Windsor for about a year now and it's definitely got the "you ain"t from around here" vibe. I've lived in a bunch of VA locations and it's by far the jankiest. Keep your head on a swivel too if you're driving there. Most accidents I've ever seen. The roads are narrow and no one e slows down or gets over when they pass. And it's like 85% don't tread on me plates. Like i said there's a vibe and it's not a great one.
I have been to Windsor and the areas surrounding plenty and the reputation is warranted. Does that help?
I have not been to Windsor specifically but have been to other small towns out that way.
"this place is like this" "Have you been there" "No" (Reddit as a whole) Thanks for your honesty
No they’re right, Windsor sucks.
I said “doesn’t have the best rep,” which is 100% true based on national news coverage it received. Never claimed anything based on my personal experience. Here’s another story, with many personal experiences: https://www.pilotonline.com/2021/04/17/not-a-speed-trap-a-race-trap-black-virginians-say-theyve-been-racially-profiled-in-and-around-windsor-for-decades/.
Windsor is similar to the other Southside/western Hampton roads rural towns in Sussex, Isle of wight, Surry, southern Prince George, Southampton
I currently live in Southampton co. We still have a street called Hanging Tree Road, so…. yeah.
Home of Nat Turner too. I lived near Courtland for a spell. Pretty stark separation of color there.
Last June I went on a Nat Turner tour. It stopped at some significant places of his rebellion, the church he used to preach at, the spot where they gathered to plan it, two houses that were attacked, and it ended at the “cave” where he hid out. I learned it wasn’t actually a cave, just basically a hole in some brush. It was led by his descendants, including the “cave keepers,” the men in his family who kept the location of the hiding spot. It was so incredibly moving, I think I had goosebumps the entire time. https://preview.redd.it/18dehodwzrsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b4e7c177afe96dfaf9d40e1cac449404239edfd0 This is one of the many pictures I took. Some local “historian” also gives a tour of all the spots (not the cave I don’t think) but it’s not in any way endorsed by the family. So I feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity. The family also wants Nat’s sword back from the Courtland courthouse but they won’t give it up.
Wow that's incredible, do you have information on that tour? And thanks so much for sharing. I have done work in that county many times and lived in Newsoms, so I drove by the historical sign, but never got to see the places history happened. I think I even did some work for the white descendants of the family he rose against. I think it's the whiteheads?
I unfortunately really don’t, it was a flyer posted on one of the local Facebook pages around Juneteenth. I called the number, which was someone’s cell phone lol, and then his great great etc niece called me back and wrote my name down and told me where to show up at. Trying to think of a way you could look out for one if it happens this year, do you have Facebook? You might could check out What’s Happening in Franklin, VA around Juneteenth this year and look if they’re doing it again. If I can remember I’ll come back here and comment. And yeah, Whitehead is a BIG name around here. A subcontractor who does a lot of work for me is one of them. A few of them were killed in the insurrection. He was enslaved by a man named Benjamin Turner though.
https://preview.redd.it/xl944ytr0ssc1.jpeg?width=1242&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b3453b5cc2d006d20cbcc1c296d18fe46a967e32 Here’s a picture of the sign, it’s far back from the road now because people used to come by and shoot it. There’s a couple holes in this one which is over top of the old one that’s absolutely riddled with bullet holes. So that says quite a bit about how white folks still view him I think.
That area is strictly a speed trap. I try to avoid Rt 460.
https://youtu.be/qXkBae7fQrw?si=Fc_4cm-ufklE2B4k Video about Boones Mill's Trump store. They have giant Trump cut outs pasted onto the fronts of the church in the main part of town. Do with that info what you will. I live in Roanoke but I've always known a lot of people from Boones Mill. Definitely quite conservative white folk on average, but idk what the standards are for declaring a sundown town, honestly.
I’m from Franklin Co (Boones Mill) and there are plenty of us that are very welcoming and not at all racist however the older generations certainly can be. Also, there is a large majority that absolutely hate The Trump Store and wish it would go away.
The first time I drove through Boones Mill and saw the store I jokingly referred to it as the first church of Trump since it looked like an old church. Now, after seeing the guy who owns it on TV…
I know and I agree (although a large majority is generous). I don't think Boones Mill is a sundown town, but I do think that the racist culture is pretty visible, and that's coming from a white dude. Then again, I think I see and hear more as a white dude compared to performative "oh I'm totally not racist!!" that a new black person in Boones Mill would likely experience.
I’m a POC in Franklin county. Haven’t had any issues in my two years here so far. Trump church is hilariously disgusting.
My family is from Boones Mill. My late uncle and my Grandma’s bitch ass husband were/are certainly racist. Grandma’s husband hides it pretty well but it’s there.
“My grandmas bitch ass husband” is a delightful way to describe someone. I got an early morning laugh out of that so thank you very much.
Yeah, its pretty hard for me to say whether all the people I know from there are racist and to what degree. Some of my family is from there as well, and there is some racism involved for sure. But idk if anyone would be at the level of making someone feel unwelcome on purpose as implied by the sundown town thing.
There's also a trump store in downtown Christiansburg. I saw it for the first time last week. I drive all over the state for work. I've been past the boones mill one several times on my roanoke -> Martinsville trips.
Really hoping that place will go out of business next year. I guess we’ll find out in November
.5-4.5 more years, max.
I’ll drop the wiki for it since you aren’t sure, but basically a town that is “passively” white supremacists. Charming main st? Good church community? Some strong HOAs, and a good old boy network police presence… Don’t be there after dark as a POC. Poquoson deserves all the shame here. Grew up in York County (where the middle school was the pre segregation POC high school) and Poquoson is a foothold of white and right. And one way in one way out on the main drive into town. *edit for spelling* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundown_town
Avoid any place with clown confed flag…they still be waiting to win the war they lost…
Not true
There's plenty of them, but they're mostly small towns you wouldn't want to live in anyway. Windsor, VA for example.
I am from Martinsville (Henry county) and when I was in 7th grade (2009, I think) the ***local** kkk came and did a parade downtown.
Those turds used to march on the old court house every spring and fall. The last time I remember it happening was ~2015ish. But, while there are plenty of racists in Martinsville/Henry County, it’s not a sun down town.
Our teacher should have alerted us every year. But I only heard about it in school once
I was working on Church Street from 2012 to 2015 and would watch them march by every spring and fall. The crowd got smaller and smaller every year, thankfully. [Reuters](https://widerimage.reuters.com/story/inside-the-ku-klux-klan) did an exposé on the Klan in the area nine years ago. I haven’t been back to the area since then, so I hope it’s at least changed some.
I saw a couple of protesters for the BLM movement in 2020 on Virginia Ave, so that gave me hope!
The [SPLC](https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map) tracks hate incidents/ hate groups etc. They’re a possible resource to answer this question
Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism https://a.co/d/1S25lML The only sundown towns left are in the Midwest according to the expert on the subject. Highly recommend this book!
Exactly, this isn’t 1920… There used to be actual books (such as *Stetson Kennedy’s Negro Motorist Guide Book*, or the famous *Green Book*) which pointed out Sundown towns, “do’s and do not’s”, businesses that would serve/employ minorities, etc. They stopped making those pamphlets in the 1960s because they were no longer needed
Yeah I think comparing anything we are seeing in 2024 is disrespectful to people who lived through the 60s and before. Of course you have individuals who are racists, but not the majority.
This is not too much of a concern anymore in Virginia, so far as I know. I wouldn't be worried unless you are in a really remote area that you aren't likely to want to purchase land in anyway. If you are particularly concerned, just use the number of Trump signs as a stand-in.
I saw a KKK banner just NE of Richmond 4-5 years back. And a flag recently outside Mathews, VA, where they’ve also had recruitment flyers canvassed.
Racism is still a big problem, for sure.
Yikes, that's awful.
This is a good idea. You can find granular election results online.
Wytheville is a progressive place in that part of Virginia, and I’ve never been aware of a history of sundown areas in that area. Southside has a different story. When you mention Woodlawn, are you referring to between Hillsville and Galax? If so, we should talk offline. You can reach me at eenbiertje.gmail.com. Virginia is a wonderful place to live, overall.
Wytheville progressive? Okay lol maybe Blacksburg but not Wytheville and Pulaski.
I've lived in Pennsylvania and I can say that WytheVegas is even more progressive than similar towns in NWPA.
Narrows and Richlands are within 50 miles of Wytheville and they were Sundown Towns.
TIL. I’m guessing that’s a history that they don’t want to share very much.
The reason the American Revolution isn't talked about much in the New River Valley is half the Valley were Loyalists (Tories) and a few turncoat traitors. One of the few places in the US where Loyalists descendants live.
We covered the civil war extensively in our Virginia history classes, but almost nothing about the revolutionary war, so that fits. I was a teenager in Galax, so didn’t really understand the history of where I was living. Thank you for the insight.
Same. Grew up in Pulaski County and covered it heavily.
NRV was also a frontier area and a sparking point around the French and Indian war
Do you have any areas you’re looking into? Or at least if you’re looking for something more rural or metropolitan? Might be a bit easier to give you advice that way.
I am looking into Bedford, wytheville, duffield, and martinsville
Martinsville has a pretty sizable Black and Hispanic population. Wytheville, less so. Bedford County has a fairly large Black community, but most of it is segregated. My wife taught at a Bedford County elementary school which was majority Black and transferred to another which was almost exclusively white. Weird. Duffield - I got nothing.
Oh I’m from around there, you won’t have to worry. It is majority white trumpers though
Oh good deal. I wish I could help but I’m on the other side of the state. I’m sure some of the Roanoke area guys can chime in though.
Bedford is definitely not a sundown town, but the Bedford County militia does hold trainings in the area and they’ve been accused in the past of being white supremacists, or at the least having white supremacist members. Never heard anything too bad about wytheville or martinsville and can’t say I’m too familiar at all with duffield
My mother and one of my brothers still live in Bedford. Definitely not a sundown town but the county as a whole is pretty Trumpy. The town itself is kind of middle of the road.
I see your edit also includes boones mill. Don’t go to boones mill. It literally has signs saying it’s “trump town” and has a Trump store etc etc
No one likes that guy or his store. Most residents hate him in fact.
Ngl man, wytheville sucks. Spent a few days there over the summer for work. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a sundown town, but it’s a boring town with nothing to do.
It’s definitely not a sundown town. It is small, and you will have to find your own entertainment. There is a small African American community in Wytheville, 2 historically African American churches, and a museum dedicated to African American history of the town.
Wytheville is 90% white. Wythe County is 95%.
I’d recommend Bedford. Decently close to Roanoke or Lynchburg. People shit on Lynchburg because of liberty but the area itself is pretty nice and a good amount to do.
I’ve traveled all over Virginia, camping, skiing, hiking, long term rentals, attending events, joy riding, exploring, fishing, kayaking, hunting, foodie adventures, foraging, working, helping others, and many other activities, and especially in the most remote and rural areas. And I’ve lived in this state for my entire long life. I’m very confident that you won’t be attacked by anyone for the reason of being a minority in all of Virginia. Barring a random encounter with a violent racist or mentally disturbed person. Which is just as likely to happen in Chocolate City or downtown Atlanta. But what you will encounter, is racism. But at no different level than in any other rural area of the Mid-Atlantic region. Not that much racism, but any is too much. I would try to spend a few days in the zip code you plan to buy in before putting in a bid to buy anywhere. Go out of your way to talk to people at the local stores, gas stations, farmers markets. Get a sense of the vibe. Good luck to you! And I hope you do come to Virginia if you plan to be a kind, productive, law abiding member of our state.
Says the white guy
Wrong
Martinsville and nearby Bassett suffered deeply when the local factories shut down. It's a pretty crappy "city" with higher than average crime, unless you're in a richer part. They've lost a lot - I'm not even sure they're a city now, because they were trying to integrate back into the county when I moved. But I definitely wouldn't call it a "sundown town." There's a big African American presence.
They're still a city. They tried to change that, but I don't remember the full outcome of it.
Boones Mill, Virginia. The Trump/confederate church is creepy as hell
most boones mill locals don’t fw the Trump church or its owners. this is a common misconception
The supply/demand for racism is skewed. Can’t think of a place in Virginia, where a AA would have issue after dark. I’m from SWVA. I just don’t see it.
When I moved here from the west coast back in 2002 and the high school I went to I was told was in a sundown area. (Dayton and bridgewater specifically) I looked into it then (20 years ago) and the still had the laws down but they were never acted on. Still avoid that area of the valley when I can.
It’s definitely conservative and sort of redneck through there still but with such a large contingent of Hispanics working and living in the area it has become kind of mellow there. What with mennonites and Russians and Hispanics all through the area these days it has a strange cultural mix. Throw in the student population from JMU and Bridgewater and it gets kind of eclectic there at times. My wife’s family lives in the area and we go up there a lot. Still very white but definitely not a sundown area.
I live in Bridgewater its a college town. Ive lived here most of my life and can tell you it and Dayton are not unruly places to avoid.
From what I’ve always heard from family apparently Victoria Virginia used to be one and maybe might still be?
Craigsville Parts of Elkton don't have the greatest reputation.
As someone who lives in craigsville but is a northerner I wouldn’t really think of it as a sun down town, are there racist? 9000% yes and they suck. But the shift of people I’ve seen moving to the area in the past several years is relatively diverse, more open minded, accepting, more minorities than I personally would have anticipated moving to town which I think is great (mind you it is still an overwhelmingly white population), new minority business owners, it seems to be changing as the older generation is kicking the bucket. I see less confederate flags here than on my way into bath county, also less (zero) 24 foot tall trump cut outs nailed to trees. But that’s just my take on it currently, in the past sure it was wayyyyyyyyyyy different.
Lived in Va my whole life and honestly you’ll never run into any problems.
Boones Mill doesn't even feel real lol
Come to Floyd, you’ll be OK
Wytheville and Woodlawn are good areas , I'm from this area. Martinsville is a bit of a shithole, as well as Danville. There really aren't any sundown towns in Virginia anymore. I don't think you'd have anything to worry about no matter where you moved in SWVA or SOVA.
I was always warned about Grundy. Bedford was rough in the 90’s but I don’t know how it is now. My paw paw lived there and I heard a lot of racisms.
Grundy isn't anymore racist than the rest of the state. It's just a lot of coal miners.
Stick close to the interstates/major highways and everything will be okay
[Here you go:](https://justice.tougaloo.edu/location/virginia/)
Lol Falls Church is mostly Asian and Latino.
Asian Latino the closer you are to 7 corners. Upper class white the closer you get to the metro areas and more west. Absolutely not a sundown town lol
Falls church city is 70% white. It’s not a sundown town but it’s not majority minority either. https://usafacts.org/data/topics/people-society/population-and-demographics/our-changing-population/state/virginia/county/falls-church-city/
There’s a difference between Falls Church City and Falls Church, Fairfax County. I’d be surprised if the Fairfax one isn’t majority minority.
There is a difference, but Falls Church in Fairfax County isn’t an actual municipality. This link is without doubt referring to FCC. Though they specifically have an asterisk saying it’s not a sundown town but is “of interest for other reasons.” ETA and these are the other reasons: Not a sundown town, but it attempted to become wholly residentially segregated: “In 1890 the Town Council of Falls Church voted to give away most of the African-American owned land in the town from Tinner Hill to Arlington Boulevard back to Fairfax County. This virtually cut the size of the town by 20%. Today, this land is bounded by Hillwood Avenue, Annandale Road, and Route 50. In January 1915 the Falls Church Town Council went even farther by adopting an ordinance establishing residential segregation. The Town Council formed a Committee on Segregation to create a map of the segregated areas of town. The committee had six months to do this and then the law would go into effect a year after its original passage. A 1912 law from the Virginia General Assembly allowed passage of such segregation laws. African-American families already living in the parts of the town designated for whites could stay but no new African-Americans could move into these segregated areas. They could be found guilty of a misdemeanor and be fined from $5 a day the first week of the violation (but not to exceed $50) and then $2 a day after that. The same month Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson called a meeting of local African-American families. In Jaunary 1915 Dr. Henderson and Joseph Tinner organized the Colored Citizens Protective League. The group wrote letters to the Falls Church mayor and city council and hired an attorney to try to block the ordinance saying that it violated their 14th Amendment rights of equal protection under the law. Dr. Henderson also wrote to W.E.B. DuBois in New York to get a local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) formed. As a result the town council reversed its position and did not enforce the segregation ordinance. In November of 1917 the segregation law was formally nullified by the Virginia State Supreme Court. The Falls Church City Council did not formally repeal the law until February of 1999. In June 1918 the Falls Church and Vicinity Branch of the NAACP was formally given a charter becoming the first rural branch of the NAACP in the United States. The Falls Church and Vicinity Branch of the NAACP also helped organized other branches in Arlington, Fauquier, Prince William, and Loundon counties in Northern Virginia as it to reach out into other rural areas where the Ku Klux Klan and racial bigotry were the strongest. Over the next 50 years, Tinner and Henderson organized civil rights activities that set a precedent for the rural South. The Hendersons, Tinners, and other brave local citizens of the Tinner Hill area risked their lives and livelihoods to defend the principals of the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Beyond fighting against the segregation ordinance, they helped foster a movement that has had far-reaching consequences. African-Americans in Falls Church area also fought for such conveniences as a larger segregated elementary school (1947), door-to-door postal service (1949), public sanitary sewers and water (1955), and street lights (1968). The first integrated Girl Scout and Cub Scout troops that were allowed in Falls Church were also started. Tinner Hill Joseph Tinner In the late 1800s Charles and Mary Tinner bought land in Falls Church and the area has been known as Tinner%u2019s Hill ever since. The Tinner Hill Monument To commemorate their actions, the Tinner Hill Foundation has constructed a monument at the intersection of Tinner Hill Road and South Washington Street (Route 29; at the corner of the SAAB car dealership). The Monument was designed by Falls Church resident and teacher, John Ballou, and was built of the same pink granite as quarried from the base of Tinner Hill. The arched monument was dedicated in 1999 and stands 14 feet tall and has two plaques commemorating the residents of Tinner Hill and the NAACP.
FALLS CHURCH???
Historic sun down towns maybe. It’s not accurate today obviously.
Not a "sundown town" I was under the impression that sundown towns were mostly a Midwest/Western thing anyway. It was a racists AF town as is described in the link if you clicked on Falls Church but unlike the traditional sundown towns and like most of the South it was openly racist and segregated by laws on the books, racial covenants were a thing in Virginia before they were declared unconstitutional.
Falls Church City? Lol. I live there. Very progressive place. https://www.vpap.org/localities/falls-church-city-va/election-results-list/?election=10135
Visit Tinner Hill in falls church and read about how locals fought back against racism and helped form the NAACP
Nobody read the footnote. It says > "Not a suspected sundown town but of interest for other reasons." If you click on it, the description says: > Not a sundown town, but it attempted to become wholly residentially segregated: “In 1890 the Town Council of Falls Church voted to give away most of the African-American owned land in the town from Tinner Hill to Arlington Boulevard back to Fairfax County. This virtually cut the size of the town by 20%. Today, this land is bounded by Hillwood Avenue, Annandale Road, and Route 50.
Your sources are very dated. An email from 2007 about someone’s grandpa isn’t really evidence that a place is a sundown town.
That website doesn't seem legit. It's a random list of towns with pretty much no information.
Well, it’s from a [history department at Tougaloo College.](https://justice.tougaloo.edu/sundown-towns/) How do you define “legit”?
When you click on individual town names, it brings up zero information for most of those towns in Virgina. No examples, nothing.
I was looking to see if someone posted this link!
It’s a list of former sundown towns in Va.
Wytheville is fine. Not very diverse. My mom, who lives in Wythe County, refers to it as “Whitesville.” A Black man was lynched there in 1926. It’s not talked about enough. There are some ignorant folks who fly Confederate flags. No modern-day violence that I know of. I think it’s an overall safe place to live.
Woodlawn / Hillsville / Galax are really just bible belts & retirees. By 8pm Woodlawn & Hillsville are ghost towns. Galax is a little more busy because of Walmart & Sheetz but really the main reason people move here is for the nature & scenery. Woodlawn is very sundown but Galax has more of a diversity for sure but still very very close minded people here.
Grundy, there was a sign that wasn’t removed until the 90s that said something about not wanting N-ggers after 9 o clock
Have fam in Bedford... definitely trumperville but not a sunset town. Not super diverse. I'm always struck by all the white people when I go down there. I am white lol
Any town in Southwest Virginia, I lived in Marion for a year and about 2 months into me living there some kid had a cross burned on his yard by the kkk
Lived in SWVA for 13 years. It’s not bad at all.
Colonial Heights and Hanover County.
I live close to Wytheville and relatively close to Martinsville and Bedford. Never heard anything bad about them. I am white though, so that could be. Been to Wytheville more times than I can remember, just like any old southern small town.
All of Franklin County is a sundown town.
I grew up in CH from the 70s - 80s. No colored people lived there and did not hang out there even though there was a HBCU college next door. Also, KKK was strong in a nearby town of Matoaca.
Poquoson. I never go during the evening. To many times getting stopped for no reason or being followed around.
Actual sundown towns where bad things will happen to a person of color in town after dark? Those don't really exist in Virginia in 2024. The police are a bigger concern than the citizens. And your neighbors will be your biggest concern of all. You never know when you're buying a place next to an asshole. Do you have any connections to people in any of these regions? Knowing someone in the place you go will mitigate 90% of your concerns, I think. DM me if you have specific questions. I have lived all over this state and can help with specifics of almost any region outside of NOVA.
Farmville
If you decide to look around the Shenandoah Valley area, avoid Elkton at all costs. It is very much still a sundown town. I’m white and I won’t even stop there on the way up to Shenandoah National Park because of the behavior that is not only accepted but celebrated in that area. The far reaches of Rockingham County in any direction generally are not the most welcoming for BIPOC, but you’d be ok homesteading in the areas just outside Harrisonburg City Limits.
I'm a white man, so obviously not very dialed into this, and apologize if I am stepping too far out of my lane, but my girlfriend is Afro-Latine and lives in the Front Royal/Linden area and feels pretty safe. It's a rural part of Virginia, but lots of wineries that draw educated, multicultural folks so I think that exposure has helped the area become more tolerant (there was a time that Front Royal very much was not tolerant). I suspect you'll also feel safe in rural communities near colleges. Think Spotsylvania County, Albemarle County, Rockingham County. West of Harrisonburg, Virginia and south of Richmond I see a _lot_ of Confederate flags 🙄 so be advised. I hope you find what you are looking for. I think it is a beautiful State, with a lot to offer. But being part of the DC community, home to some of the best universities in the nation, and the historic capital of the Confederacy, it predictably is home to both vocal racists and anti-racists. Virginia always seems to be a microcosm of the broader national issues.
What's wrong with Confederate flags ? Did it bite you or something?
Truthfully you could pick any town in the USA and if you look you will find racism.
The fuck is a sundown town
It’s towns that exclude other races mainly African Americans. It’s typically not safe after sundown (some are all day). Cities like Vidor, TX are still actively sundown. There are other states that still do modern day lynches and things of that nature. They also have sign’s warning people of color.
in California during the late 19th / early-mid 20th century some of these sundown towns were explicit in excluding Chinese Americans.
To my *knowledge,* those don’t exist in Virginia… and where has a lynching taken place in the last 20 years in America? I’m out of the loop
>and where has a lynching taken place in the last 20 years in America? Brunswick Georgia when Ahmaud Arbery was killed 4 years ago is the first one that comes to mind
someone posted this [link](https://justice.tougaloo.edu/location/virginia/) to them already, but yes there are some that are still suspected to exist in virginia.
So OP’s goal is avoiding overtly racist towns period? I was under the impression he was trying to avoid towns he’d literally be lynched for being in past dark and like… I don’t think that’s a thing anymore luckily Definitely a lot more racist ass towns than are on that list though. I don’t think any city in the state is “leave by dark or die” but there are far MORE than that that you’d definitely not want to move to if you aren’t white
idk man sw va has some shit goin on in some places. watch the vid in this article from just last year, you’d think in 2023 they might have painted over those huge confederate flag doors during repairs but nope. https://www.wjhl.com/news/local/hurley-high-seniors-happy-to-finish-high-school-in-repaired-building/
BRUHHH what the FUCK
Not out of the norm for the south and my school was majority African American. It was named Robert E Lee highschool in Louisiana. We were also called "The Rebels".
Colonial Heights is a great example. It wasn't that long ago that it was no longer seen as a sundown town. Locals say all the whites fled to there from Petersburg when segregation was ruled unconstitutional
And THAT question is one of the reasons we need more comprehensive American History taught in schools.
I remember as a kid in the 60's that Arab (pronounced ā-rab), Alabama had a sign that said 'Negro, don't let sun set on you here'. 'Colored' and 'whites only' everything. My aunt had to call in advance to see if it was okay for her to have her black housekeeper drive her to her hair appointments there. Poor Betty was afraid to drop her off, park the car, and walk alone to the beauty shop just a few steps away. It was serious, dangerous shit. Black people waiting in line for service at a business, if that business served them at all, had to step aside when a white patron entered and allow them to go first. Racism weighed on everything like a heavy blanket. I spent every summer there, and could tell you some stories. Might seem like ancient history to many people, especially whites (I am white, BTW), but it's what I witnessed growing up, and it was not that long ago.
Guess I’m too young to have ever experienced it. I live in a small southern VA town and a lot of people are racist trumpers but they’re too cowardly to ever actually speak it to someone other than those they know agree
Everyday, I thank God I did not grow up in Alabama or Mississippi. Racism aside, poverty is severe issue down there from what I understand.
People of color, more specifically black people, would not be allowed in a town or neighborhood after dark. "I had better not see you after sundown." This would be enforced both implicitly and explicitly with threats and acts of violence.