In 1930, Shawneetown, Illinois, had a population of 1,440, including 55 Black families with 192 family members, whose occupations included minister, teacher, carpenter, farm labor, hotel porter, laundress, sawmill labor, private maid, sand and gravel labor, mechanic, and stave mill labor. In the early years, the Black population played a vital part in the growth of the city and farming community. A majority of the Black families gradually moved away, mostly for education and economic reasons. Two of the original families remain: Steve Green, the local plumber, and his son, Steven Michael Green, who returned in 2004, and Ruebena Newsom, widow of Ivory Newsom; they are respected for their lives of integrity and their contributions to the community. After the devastation caused by the 1937 flood, the original group of Black families moved from Shawneetown on the river to Shawneetown three miles inland to start life anew. The Dunbar School was relocated with the moving of the town in 1939-40, then closed in the 1950's because of integration concepts and economic conditions, and was torn down in 2000. The new inland community included families living on Washington Drive, Dunbar Drive East, later Green Drive, and Dunbar Drive West.