Simpson Hotel (former Hotel Hobbs) - 1914, River Front Lounge (former Bonnie Heather Bar/Pool Hall) - 1925, Old Duncan Bus Station now Hotel Duncan - 1920. Hats made from the fur of beavers were very popular in the 1800s. [10][2][4][9], The California volunteers pursuing the Apaches in 185, discovered the first minerals in the Greenlee area. This 2,440-mile Road of Dreams speckled with romantic and unconventional attractions symbolized a pathway to easier times. . Cambridge University Press. [12][8][9][13], The Duncan Pride Society was established on March 8, 2001. Just one year before construction on Route 66 began, the Chicago Tribune suggested in an editorial on August 29, 1925, that black people avoid recreational sites altogether: We should be doing no service to the Negroes if we did not point out that to a very large section of the white population the presence of a Negro, however well behaved, among white bathers is an irritation. Although the term most often refers to the forced exclusion of Blacks, the history of sundown towns also includes prohibitions against Jews, Native Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and other minority groups. Whats it like to be woken up by a bear while camping? First, its a quaint little town worthy of a good walkabout. James Duncan Smith became the managing director of the Arizona Copper Company, and, after Purdy was moved to the south bank of the river, it was renamed Duncan. Duncan is in the Gila River valley, four miles (6 km) west of the Arizona-New Mexico border. Not only were they shut out of pools and beaches, black Americans also couldnt eat, sleep, or even get gas at most white-owned businesses. They began to proliferate during the Great Migration, starting in about 1910, when large numbers of African Americans left the South to escape racism and poverty. Duncan was founded in the mid 19th century, and the land was added to the United States as a part of the Mexican Cession. Cotton is the principal agricultural commodity. Alan Threatt Sr., a black man, owned the gas station and served black motorists from 1915 to the 1950s in Luther, Oklahoma. The Duncan area along the Gila River is renowned for Native American artifacts such as arrow heads, pottery, burial sites, cave paintings and other remnants of the Anasazi and other pre-historic cultures, as well as artifacts from garrison camps of the expedition of Francisco Vzquez de Coronado. Principal Economic Activities As stated earlier, a sundown town (also known as a gray town) is an area in the U.S. where Black people are essentially forced out of the public once the sun goes down. The Spanish-Pueblo Revival style of the building features a conference room with seven 20-foot murals painted by a Zuni artist. Many of the buildings along Route 66 are physical evidence of racial discrimination, providing a rich opportunity to reexamine Americas story of segregation, black migration, and the rise of the black leisure class. The existence of sundown towns has been recirculating on Black Twitter. 2020 Sundown Town Resolution. Cattle and calves and dairy are leading Arizona ag products, with cotton, lettuce and hay positioned as top-produced crops. Of course Route 66 wasnt any more racist than any other road in America at the time. Sundown Towns Black People Should Be Aware Of - Black America Web The population density was 317.6 inhabitants per square mile (122.6/km2). This may be a regrettable fact to the Negroes, but it is nevertheless a fact, and must be reckoned with [T]he Negroes could make a definite contribution to good race relationship by remaining away from beaches where their presence is resented. Called Purdy in the Post Office register of 1883, it was founded by Messrs. Purdy and Bachelor as a way station on an ore haulage line that linked the railhead in Clifton with Silver City, New Mexico. (Excluding Federal Holidays) In response, Victor H. Green, a postal worker from Harlem, compiled the Negro Motorist Green Book, a guide to accommodations that served Black travelers. Duncan - History and Social Justice Home Arizona Duncan James W. Loewen (1942-2021) We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began. Duncan prospered until the Interstate Highway (I-10) was build further south. 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. 'Mass evacuations' lifted in Duncan, Arizona amid flooding - FOX 10 Phoenix A Brief History - Town of Duncan In 1921, the Tulsa Race Riot erupted in the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Sundown towns once drove out people of color or prohibited them from living within city limits. Duncan High School (mascot: Wildkats; school colors: red, grey, and white) competes in many sports, but is renowned for their football team. With the rail, settlement of the fertile, easily irrigated valley boomed. The per capita income for the town was $13,642. Mass evacuation underway in Arizona town as river overflows, reaches ullstein bild/Getty Images The Chicago suburb of Cicero was one of the most infamous sundown towns to ever exist in Illinois. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Racial Conflict - Segregation/Integration, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/the-roots-of-route-66/506255/, https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/sundown-towns-3658/, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. The rise of sundown towns made it difficult and dangerous for Blacks to travel long distances by car. 151 miles to Atlanta, GA. 155 miles to Greensboro, NC. What's the elevation of Duncan Arizona? The name derives from the posted and verbal warnings issued to Blacks that although they might be allowed to work or travel in a community during the daytime, they must leave by sundown. Town Hall 506 SE Old West Hwy Duncan, Arizona 85534. The Gila River, near Duncan, which is east of Safford along the Arizona-New Mexico border, reached a major flood stage Monday morning. Lemons, Limes, Mandarins, Grapefruit, and Oranges thrive in the warm sun and fertile soil of this region. Long-held jealousies over black prosperity and Greenwoods wealth ignited a riot. List of historic properties in Duncan, Arizona - Wikipedia Greenwood was an unusually vibrant community of successful black entrepreneurs, doctors, and lawyers. Your email address will not be published. Location of Duncan in Greenlee County, Arizona, Last edited on 10 February 2023, at 23:59, "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Duncan town, Arizona", "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990", National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Duncan,_Arizona&oldid=1138676476, Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, This page was last edited on 10 February 2023, at 23:59. In the mid-19th century, the Victor H. Green, a black postal worker from Harlem, New York, published his guide from 1936 until 1966. Bank of Duncan - built in 1908 and located in 118 Main Street. Given this mass denial, its not surprising that Route 66 is weighted down with nostalgia, suffocating from an idealized past that never was. JAVASCRIPT IS DISABLED. Duncan, Arizona 85534, Hours: Uncovering the distribution of 'sundown towns' - Mapbox Ones chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 28. Booker T. Washington called it Black Wall Street, and it was arguably the wealthiest black neighborhood in the South. After just one Black family moved into an apartment there in 1951, a mob of 4,000 white people attacked the entire building. If it does, I hope they appreciate it. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was "all white" on purpose. Green modeled his book after Jewish travel guides created for the Borsht Belt in the 1930s. No franchises. Black veterans were once blocked from taking advantage of the GI Bill, missing out on valuable educational resources. No Negroes. The humiliation of being shut out of not only public spaces but entire towns was bad enough, but for black people, there were always plenty of even bleaker fearsevery stop was a potential existential danger. Terrorism is not new, and to think so is a grievous slight to the nations native peoples, to its multitudes of immigrants, and to its legions of black Americansall of whom have long been terrorized for calling America home. Today, Route 66 has surrendered to a series of bypasses, causeways, and highways, but the path it traced is still troubled: American Owned signs line the old Route 66; they are code for Not Owned by Immigrants. In Noel, Missouri, Somali immigrants say they are not welcome at Kathys Kountry Kitchen, where even now servers wear T-shirts reading, I got caught eating at the KKK. Stories like these are why the rosy hue of Route 66 nostalgia leaves a bitter chill in the souls of black people. And driving was the most popular pastime. After 16 hours, at least 300 people had died, 35 blocks of the Greenwood District had burned to the ground, and more than 10,000 black residents had been left homeless. Third, the Simpson Hotel B&B is located here. Not when a struggle for social mobility continues to take a debilitating toll on black Americans. Sundown Towns -- 137 Sundown Towns Across 21 States -- Are The Litmus Test of America's Transformation https: . Serious flooding leaves town of Duncan, Arizona, under inches of - KNXV Next door, a half-moon sign announces that the turquoise front surrounded by cream-colored, textured brick houses the Bank of Duncan, established in 1908. A black couple, Nolie and Lela Murray, owned the property and offered black people traveling on Route 66 much-needed lodging and some good old-fashioned Western recreation. Town of Duncan. Duncan is at the juncture of the Gila River and the Arizona-New Mexico state border. You could easily wind up in the wrong town after dark. In 1930, for instance, 44 of the 89 counties along the famed Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles featured no motels or restaurants and prohibited Blacks from entering after dark. Copyright 2023 Arizona Department of Transportation, State of Arizona. Cheryl Resur, known as The Cookie Lady, happily sells us a toothsome assortment. In its most blatant form, signs were posted at the city limits. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. The public schools are innovative and have won national awards. As the Equal Justice Initiatives Bryan Stevenson points out: Civil rights in America is too often seen as a three-day carnival: On day one, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. Office: (928) 865-4149Emergency: 911. For black folks, it meant encountering fresh violence and the ghosts of racial terrorism already haunting the Mother Road. Ive been questioning the existence of racial equality ever since. The Simpson Hotel has a wooden toy pony in a first-floor window. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Black motorists of course also had to avoid sundown towns such as Edmond, Oklahoma. One of the finest B&Bs in all of Southern Arizona. Other towns passed ordi-nances in Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Maryland and probably many other states. Alan Hjorth drops in to visit; he and his wife moved from Utah because her family is from here, and now, they love their town. Although 6 million black people hit the road to escape the Jim Crow South, they quickly learned that Jim Crow had no borders. In 1978, at the age of 7, I was riding in the car with my mother in Houston, Texas, when I saw a prison chain gang; shackled men were working in a sugarcane field. Being a Sundown Town meant for decades, Blacks and other groups were prevented from being out at night. In 2018 the estimated population was 789. The lynching of two Black teenagers in Marion, Indiana, in 1930, for instance, resulted in the towns 200 Black residents moving away never to return. Other spots in Illinois with reputations as sundown towns or of racial . He couldnt understand how America, a country with so much wealth, could allow its citizens to go hungry. 506 SE Old West Hwy TEMPE, AZ The city of Tempe has declared June 19 a city holiday in honor of Juneteenth . Sundown Towns are all-white communities, neighborhoods, or counties that exclude Blacks and other minorities through the use of discriminatory laws, harassment, and threats or use of violence. All rights reserved. I wanted to share the real story of Route 66its promise of freedom and its failure to live up to that promise. Published Jul 25, 2022 8:52 pm Last updated Jul 25, 2022 8:52 pm. The earliest record of legal restrictions on the nighttime activities of Black people dates back to the 1714 . The town of Duncan was actually established in 1883 with the coming of the railroad, but the early settlement here was started in the 1870s along the Gila River on an important stage & freight route.
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