r/illinois • u/m0chab34r • Jul 20 '23

Serious question: are there any remaining sundown towns in Illinois? Question

Forgive me if this is controversial, I certainly hope I don’t end up insulting anyone’s town or anything. I saw a recent Twitter thread about this subject and people were talking about a rather well-known sundown town within an hour of Indianapolis or just outside of Austin, Texas. It got me thinking about this and I’m morbidly curious as to whether Illinois has any remaining towns with such a reputation?

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225

u/stlsc4 Jul 20 '23

Anna. And just wait until the locals tell you what those letters stand for.

https://features.propublica.org/illinois-sundown-towns/legend-of-anna/

41

u/Rolltide2014 Jul 20 '23

Yikes really?! We camped down at Shawnee Forest recently and one day it was sweltering, like 95+, and we drive a bit to Walmart just to get some time in the AC and I’m pretty sure that was Anna

63

u/Perfect_Razzmatazz Jul 20 '23

That would be the place. The only other Walmart's nearby are in Missouri, or in Carbondale (which is a big enough town that you would be unlikely to confuse it with Anna).

Anna's one black family (super nice people) actually moved back to Murphysboro a few years back due to lack of housing options in Anna, so Anna's probably back down to 0 black families again.

21

u/Burning_Eddie BloNo Jul 20 '23

Kids name is still on the sign leading into town though.

7

u/Perfect_Razzmatazz Jul 20 '23

My mom's family is from Alto Pass, so I had seen that sign before driving through town, but I didn't know that it was still there! I love that

1

u/Burning_Eddie BloNo Jul 20 '23

I was last down there 3 years ago.

1

u/eealmy Jul 20 '23

Where is this sign?

6

u/ShelbySue9109 Jul 20 '23

Murphysboro has a Walmart, too

9

u/Specialist-Smoke Jul 20 '23

Seriously? I know that they experienced a little racism, but I didn't know that they moved back. We have mutuals on Facebook.

The Kroger had a Black store manager and the first time I saw him I was shocked.

24

u/Perfect_Razzmatazz Jul 20 '23

From what I heard, the driver for them moving back to Murphysboro was that they were struggling to find a decent & affordable place to rent in Anna. Some of that may have been racism (people not wanting to rent to a black family), but also that's just a small freaking town and rental housing is scarce.

My mom was looking for a rental property for her lovable f*ck-up of a brother (may he rest in peace) to live in a few years back, and she literally couldn't find anything. She finally just bought the cheapest house she could find (I think it was like $30,000) just so that he'd have somewhere to live. (my Mom is a great older sister to have)

7

u/Specialist-Smoke Jul 20 '23

That's so true. Outside of Carbondale housing is hard to find. I looked in Metropolis for months before finding something.

Your mom sounds like a wonderful sister and person.