Vidor, Texas in the previous past had been a hotbed for wayward racism, backwards ignorance, and being the State Headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan at one point in time during the middle of the 20th Century. There has always seemed to be an atmosphere of poverty, racism, and isolation in Vidor that had really continued to thrive.
The Ku Klux Klan groups that had a stranglehold in local politics that had ruled Vidor with an iron fist were known as Knights of the White Camellia (KWC), White Camellia Knights (WCK) and Vidor Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The surrounding thick forests provided some cover for secret meetings of the Ku Klux Klan.
EVEN in 1920 when Vidor had a population of 50 people that was roughly male and all white. So despite local historians and citizens stating that black people had lived in Vidor prior to Charles Sheridan Vidor and his men moving there is false. The United States Census books show Vidor had an all-white population back then. Vidor has always been white by default. White flight found a haven in Vidor as well as Rose City and Lumberton in 1920.
In the 1920s, Vidor, Texas was known as the Bloody Vidor. The reason for that is because violence and bar fights were part of the culture in Vidor, Texas. Violence was a recreational sport back then in Vidor The local KKK was no exception to this. Violence was a recreational sport for the KKK back then as well. The violent activities performed by the KKK had ranged from shootings, hangings, lynchings, arson, murder, and beatings along with cross burnings. Violence and terrorism performed by the local KKK was a common factor in Vidor, Texas at that time. Vidor was a sundown town by 1920.
By 1929, the town of Vidor had faced poverty, violence, fire, and isolation. The reasons for these factors was because of the Great Depression that had struck the United States economy with a fatal blow to the NYSE stock market.
By 1930, it was clear that the local KKK did not want black citizens living in Vidor. The reason for that is because of a local tale that a black men had raped a white woman in the middle of the night at midnight. The women had screamed loudly and had gotten the local KKK's attention. So the local KKK had formed a local search party to find the black rapists. The KKK had hung two black men before they got the right one. The fourth one got away. There were 3 nooses from a tree at a fishing hole nearby and nooses hanging from a sign in the middle of Vidor. It was at that point that the KKK members had decided they did not want black citizens living in the city of Vidor.
Charles Sheridan Vidor was a racist city official who was the towns founding father and local KKK member that happened to make it very clear in law and order the nobody black would live there. He carried two .38's on his hips. So the townspeople easily complied.
In the 1950s is when Vidor had became a white flight haven in East Texas. It was known to many citizens in East Texas that Vidor was a white flight haven for racist bigots and the KKK. Vidor was a Democratic city right then. The town of Vidor was still very small.
In 1960s and 1970s, Vidor had continued to attract large numbers of residents as white citizens left Beaumont. Vidor was a haven for white flight. There have been local stories that had persisted of black people stopping for gas and just being chased out of town. Hippies being refused serviced because of their long hair along with many other horrible treatments. Vidor was the national headquarters for the KKK along with Dallas and Pulaski along with several other klaverns. A Klan bookstore welcomed shoppers on Main Street and the Klan catered local functions. The KKK was headquartered in Vidor.
The local VOKKKK had made the local newspaper headlines in the Vidorian newspaper during the 1980s era. Local klansman A.W. Harvey of Vidor's Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had ran for mayor of Vidor in an unsuccessful attempt in the 1980s. Most of the KKK left Vidor by 1987. By the 1980s, things were quiet in the small town of Vidor for a while.
In the 1990s is when Vidor started getting riled up wild again!
In 1993, the US government had to bring blacks into Vidor's public housing after a court order from the Black vs. Young court case that caused a court order that public housing complexes be desegregated back in 1981. Most public official did not comply. So the White Camellia Knights and KKK had held a march in the community. The KKK had forced black families to move out of Vidor by 1994. By 1995, the racial tension had calmed down and black citizens had moved in again with no hassle.
By 2000, Vidor had became a mill town and a business town again. The city official of Vidor started encouraging people to move to Vidor in the mid 2000s.
The town of Vidor had suffered considerable hurricane damage from Hurricane Katrina in the mid 2000s which led city officials and local politicians to change the image of Vidor around as a city. 2008 is when the city of Vidor decided to change their image problem. 2011 is Vidor, Texas once again made the national headline news again. By 2012, everything got quieted down.
As for the sundown town signs…
In the middle of the town of Vidor at the intersection of I-10 & Main Street and the outskirts of the city limits in all directions, there were signs from the 1930s that read, One read, "Niggers read this and run. If you can't read, run anyway." and another that simply said "Nigger don't let the sun set on you in Vidor." . Vidor was known for these two prominent hand-painted signs on the outskirts of town. The first sign was posted on the West End of Vidor. The other sign was posted on the East End of Vidor. There were 12 sundown signs scattered around the city of Vidor. By the 1970s only two sundown signs remained intact. The sundown signs were taken down in the late 1980s by the US Government. This is what had made Vidor a sundown town.
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