History of Sundown Towns California Antioch, California, residents burned Chinatown and banned Chinese people after sunset when one doctor's report on April 29, 1876, pointed to Chinese sex workers for spreading venereal disease.[22] Beverly Hills, California, was planned as an "all-White suburb" along with Culver City, Palos Verdes Estates, Tarzana, and others.[23] Burbank, California, barred members of the Civilian Conservation Corps from locating a Black-owned business in Griffith Park in the 1930s on the grounds of an "old ordinance of the cities of Burbank and Glendale which prohibited Negroes from remaining inside municipal limits after sun down."[24] Culver City, California, was planned as an "all-White suburb" along with Beverly Hills, Palos Verdes Estates, Tarzana, and others.[23] Gone With the Wind producer David Selznick was concerned by the pushback from African Americans alleging racism in the movie's screenplay, after it was filmed in Culver City during its time as a sundown town.[25] Deed restrictions exist today that disallow the ownership, transfer to, or leasing of any property to people of color, but these restrictions remain unenforcible. El Segundo, California, along with neighboring Manhattan Beach and Hawthorne, existed as a sundown town. The city allowed real estate covenants to restrict the ownership of property to white people exclusively, and disallowed the presence of people of color after dark.[26] This trend continued well into the 1960s, even after laws were revised to allow Black community participation. By 1970, census data shows that the African American population in El Segundo grew from less 1% to only 3%.[27] Glendale, California, was a sundown town at least until the 1960s.[28] In 2020, Glendale's city council passed a resolution that formally apologized for its past sundown town status.[28] Hawthorne, California, had a sign during the 1930s that read, "Nigger, Don't Let the Sun Set on You in Hawthorne."[29] Hawthorne's former status as a sundown town was mentioned by the Los Angeles Times in 2007.[30] Hemet, California, was once a sundown town where Black visitors were allowed to work during the day but were not allowed to stay the night.[31] Manhattan Beach, California, was influenced by the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s to condemn Black-owned businesses and restrict Black home ownership, as well as their use of the beach. Bruce's Beach was a popular African-American beach resort in the town from 1912 to 1924 when the city used eminent domain to close it.[32] In 2021, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve returning the county land to the heirs of Charles and Willa Bruce. The complex process of transferring the parcels to their great-grandsons was completed in 2022. In January 2023 the Bruce family announced their decision to sell the beach back to the county for $20 million.[33] Palos Verdes Estates, California, was planned as an "all-White suburb" along with Beverly Hills, Culver City, Tarzana, and others.[23] The Commonwealth Trust Company filed the Palos Verdes Protective Restrictions in Los Angeles County in 1923. These restrictions established rules for the developer and all land owners, including the limitation of all non-white people to occupy or use property.[34] Palos Verdes specifically excluded Mexican-Americans from living in the estates, yet Mexican-inspired architecture was mandated in most of the area.[25] Piedmont, California, had its first Black homeowners, Sidney and Irene Dearing, in 1925 after they bypassed the city's restrictive covenants for housing by using a White family member to purchase their home.[35][36] The Dearings faced the threat of a 500-person mob who planted bombs on the property when the Dearings refused to leave, and when the chief of police, a Ku Klux Klan member named Burton Becker, chose not to protect the family, they were forced to sell the home back to the city.[37] San Leandro, California, used racial covenants during a post-World War II development boom to prevent those not of White ancestry, especially African Americans, to own property or live in the city. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was nicknamed "the whitest city west of the Mississippi" for its nearly all-White population and continued racial restrictions on who could reside. Ku Klux Klan activity was publicly prominent until the late 1980s.[38][39] Taft, California, posted "No Colored Allowed" signs that were removed prior to 1975.[40][41] Tarzana, Los Angeles, California, was planned as an "all-White suburb" along with Beverly Hills, Culver City, Palos Verdes Estates, and others.[23] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sundown_towns_in_the_United_States History of Sundown towns Sundown Towns: America’s Hidden History of Racial Exclusion September 28, 2025 https://ourhistorynow.com/sundown-towns-americas-hidden-history-of-racial-exclusion/ From Britannica https://www.britannica.com/place/sundown-town Sundown Towns: Racial Segregation Past and Present https://www.abhmuseum.org/sundown-towns-the-past-and-present-of-racial-segregation 10 Sundown Towns That Shaped A Dark Chapter In Black American History Written by Shannon Dawson Published on August 9, 2025 https://newsone.com/playlist/10-sundown-towns-history/ The Hidden History of Sundown Towns: America’s Unspoken Racial Terror Written by Kayla https://thisisblackhistory.wordpress.com/2025/04/03/the-hidden-history-of-sundown-towns-americas-unspoken-racial-terror/ File Created: December 2025