Home » North Carolina » Swain County

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Swain County

North Carolina

Basic Information

Type of Place
County
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?
Perhaps, Some Oral Evidence
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 0
1880
1890 6,577 225
1900 8,401 174
1910 185
1920 13,224 115
1930 11,568 195
1940
1950
1960 8,387 70
1970
1980
1990 11,268 196
2000 12,968 221
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

“I became keenly aware of prejudice at the age of
twelve when I finally comprehended the meaning of a
sign that stood at the county line. It read ‘Nigger,
Don’t Let The Sun Set On Your Head In This County.'”
-from Lucky Duck, The Memoirs of Donald Edward
Rose

The only area in Swain County that allows black
residents is Charleston Township, which is the
location of an instiutional residence of some sort
(most of the black residents are males between 15 and
21).