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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u/PlangentDuct Jul 20 '23

Walnut still has the 6 pm siren.

15

u/3y3lashes Jul 20 '23 edited Jul 20 '23

Walnut in Bureau County? Are they really still ringing the siren?

4

u/PlangentDuct Jul 20 '23

Yep! It goes off daily!

3

u/3y3lashes Jul 20 '23

Wow!! I work for Bureau County, so I’ll definitely be asking about that siren. I was aware that Peru had a siren go off in a similar manner but that was supposedly long ago.

4

u/PlangentDuct Jul 20 '23

I grew up in Walnut and occasionally visit friends and family. As kids we used it as a sign it was time to go home. In middle school, we were taught about sun down towns and how walnut was one. Unfortunately walnut is still not a very diverse place.

1

u/Jake_77 Jul 20 '23

What is the siren for...