Home » Wisconsin » Port Washington

James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

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

Port Washington

Wisconsin

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Don’t Know
Unions, Organized Labor?
Don’t Know

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?
Surely Not

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860 2565 0
1870
1880
1890
1900 3010 0
1910 3792 0
1920 3340 1
1930 3693 0
1940 4046 0
1950 4775 3
1960 5984 2
1970 8752 5
1980 8612 6
1990 9338 11
2000 10467 73
2010 11,250 242
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

email 3/2008

I went on business trip to bar here with my boss. Bartender said, “one of them came into town the other day, the cops followed them around until they got out.” I had to ask, “one what?” but you know…

According to a resident of nearby Saukville, WI: “I went to middle and high school in Port in the 90’s. Up until middle school, I was (to my memory) the only obvious non-white in my class, and the number only increased to about ten when I graduated, most of whom were either Mexican or Asian, even if only half. The last year I was there (1999), I recall an incident where someone had written “Die Nigger” on the walls in the school. Two black brothers who actually did enter school were very quickly expelled after a few fights. A few years after I left, there was a so-called “racist party” held by a bunch of students. However, now I’ve been told it’s not nearly as bad, and more integrated as people have moved out of Milwaukee.”

Email from a longtime resident of Hidden Hills, a neighborhood within Port Washington: “I was a huge fan of the Milwaukee Braves and Hank Aaron was one of their premier players. He was ones of my heroes.

“Little did I know that Hank could not live in Hidden Hills. I found out that Hank and his family wanted to buy a home in our subdivision. He was prevented tom doing so by the covenants written into the deeds for the properties in Hidden Hills .
I found this out from my father. He verified what for me was an incredible story. The best offensive player on the Braves team could not live where I lived because of the color of his skin.”