ST. CLOUD, Fla. — After becoming St. Cloud’s first African American councilmember in November 2024, Jennifer Paul announced a proclamation at a recent meeting that the city's status as a “Sundown Town” was officially over.

What You Need To Know

  • Like other towns in the segregated south, St. Cloud was known as a “Sundown Town” — an unwritten rule that allowed Black people to pass through town during the day, but if they were caught at night in areas designated for white people, they could be arrested, or worse

  • In November, Jennifer Paul became the first African American councilmember elected in St. Cloud
  • Paul said when she was campaigning, one of the concerns she heard from residents was that the town still hadn’t officially denounced a part of its history

  • At a St. Cloud City Council meeting in January, Paul announced a proclamation that declared St. Cloud’s status as a "Sundown Town" was officially over

Paul said during her campaign that one main concern she heard from residents was the town still carried a label that embodied deep division from decades ago.

“They also had concerns of the image here in St. Cloud being a former 'sundown town,' so I wanted to brainstorm to figure out what I could do to make residents feel welcome here,” said Paul.

At the January meeting, she said: “Casting aside the darkness of our city’s former reputation, to joyfully declare on this 9th day of January 2025, that St. Cloud is now a place of hope, opportunity, and new beginnings shining brightly on all citizens."

“I think it needs to be recognized so we can move forward," Paul said. "We recognize it and it’s time to move forward and make a difference in our community."

Like in other segregated towns in the south, as a "sundown town" it was an unwritten rule that Black people were allowed to pass through town during the day, but if they were caught at night in areas designated for white people, they could be arrested, or worse.

Alicy Eady has lived in St. Cloud for 83 years and remembers when her uncle and others found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and feared for their lives.

“I remember another time the KKK was on 441 right here. I remember that,” said Eady. “They had to run to keep from getting killed, I remember that.”

She also recalled having to use the back entrances of restaurants and other public places to enter. However, she said even during the height of segregation, most people didn’t make her feel inferior.

“I can only speak for me," she said. "I was always treated like the rest. I didn’t see a difference."  

However, her good friend Freddie Holcy remembers an incident where a man was not happy with him going to a bar in town because of the color of his skin.

“I went back out to the car, and he stood outside there and got his gun out," Holcy said. "So, I didn’t say anything and eased on into my car and backed on out, because I’m by myself, if you know what I mean."

Holcy said just to see a movie in town, he had to go in groups to avoid trouble.

“We went 10 to 15 of us, so we didn’t have that problem," he said. "Because we had enough of us to defend ourselves."

He said decades ago, most people in St. Cloud began to evolve past the racial divisions. 

“A lot of the people during the time that I came, they’ve passed on, and that made a difference,” said Holcy. “And then, we’ve had a lot of people coming from other places, moving in, and they were not that type of person. So that made a real difference in St. Cloud, and the whole area to tell you the truth.”

Despite it being all these years later, Eady and Holcy said it’s good to see the city declare the division of the past is no longer accepted.