Cities In Maryland With The Most Historic KKK Members

The cities in Maryland with the most historic KKK members are Hurlock and Oakland for 2026 based on Saturday Night Science.

We analyzed research using Saturday Night Science from Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped Klaverns by city from 1915-1940. This report analyzes the locations of historic KKK organizations to see where they were the most prevalent in Maryland.

The city in Maryland with the most number of Klaverns was Baltimore with 3 Klaverns. The city with the most number of Klaverns per capita was Hurlock with 0.0005 Klaverns. There were historically 25 Klaverns in Maryland, across 20 places in Maryland with at least 1 Klavern during the period of reference.

Hate groups can be hard to measure because, typically, there’s no record of where they exist. But there is data on where there were distinct Klaverns of the Ku Klux Klan in each state. These cities have historically been the most racist in Maryland based on the number of KKK Klaverns.

This report does not speak to the current people who live there or the current state of the KKK in the same towns or areas.

1

No. 1 most historically racist place in Maryland

Hurlock, MD

2,056 people
1 Klaverns · #1 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Dorchester County, Maryland
2

No. 2 most historically racist place in Maryland

Oakland, MD

2,165 people
1 Klaverns · #2 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Garrett County, Maryland
3

No. 3 most historically racist place in Maryland

Snow Hill, MD

2,720 people
1 Klaverns · #3 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Worcester County, Maryland
4

No. 4 most historically racist place in Maryland

Rising Sun, MD

2,870 people
1 Klaverns · #4 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Cecil County, Maryland
5

No. 5 most historically racist place in Maryland

Indian Head, MD

3,885 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Indian Head, MD
Source: Wikipedia User PierreSelim | CC BY-SA 3.0
1 Klaverns · #5 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Charles County, Maryland
6

No. 6 most historically racist place in Maryland

Perryville, MD

4,391 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Perryville, MD
Source: Public domain
1 Klaverns · #6 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Cecil County, Maryland
7

No. 7 most historically racist place in Maryland

Capitol Heights, MD

4,452 peopleSnackAbility 5/10
5/10
1 Klaverns · #7 most historically racist in Maryland
Located in Prince George’s County, Maryland
8

No. 8 most historically racist place in Maryland

Brunswick, MD

6,006 peopleSnackAbility 6/10
6/10
Brunswick, MD
Source: Public domain
1 Klaverns · #8 most historically racist in Maryland
Map of Brunswick within Maryland Located in Frederick County, Maryland

Brunswick is a city in Frederick County, Maryland, United States at the Maryland/Virginia border. The population was 5,870 at the 2010 census.

9

No. 9 most historically racist place in Maryland

Hyattsville, MD

18,049 peopleSnackAbility 7/10
7/10
Hyattsville, MD
Source: Wikipedia User Famartin | CC BY-SA 4.0
2 Klaverns · #9 most historically racist in Maryland
Map of Hyattsville within Maryland Located in Prince George’s County, Maryland

Hyattsville is a city in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and also a close, urban suburb of Washington, D.C. The population was 17,557 at the 2010 United States Census.

10

No. 10 most historically racist place in Maryland

Cumberland, MD

20,557 peopleSnackAbility 5/10
5/10
Cumberland, MD
Source: Wikipedia User 0915426A | CC BY-SA 4.0
2 Klaverns · #10 most historically racist in Maryland
Map of Cumberland within Maryland Located in Allegany County, Maryland

Cumberland Maryland, officially the City of Cumberland, is a western gateway city and seat of Allegany County, Maryland, United States and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a population of 103,299. Cumberland is a regional business and commercial center for Western and the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Cumberland is commonly referred to as “Where The South Begins,” as official United States Census Bureau records place it below the Mason-Dixon line.

The receipts

Compare the top ten

Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Maryland’s statewide median.

City Population vs MD
1 Hurlock 2,056
2 Oakland 2,165
3 Snow Hill 2,720
4 Rising Sun 2,870
5 Indian Head 3,885
6 Perryville 4,391
7 Capitol Heights 4,452
8 Brunswick 6,006
9 Hyattsville 18,049
10 Cumberland 20,557
City Klaverns vs MD
1 Hurlock 1
2 Oakland 1
3 Snow Hill 1
4 Rising Sun 1
5 Indian Head 1
6 Perryville 1
7 Capitol Heights 1
8 Brunswick 1
9 Hyattsville 2
10 Cumberland 2
City Klaverns /100k vs MD
1 Hurlock 49
2 Oakland 46
3 Snow Hill 37
4 Rising Sun 35
5 Indian Head 26
6 Perryville 23
7 Capitol Heights 22
8 Brunswick 17
9 Hyattsville 11
10 Cumberland 10

On the map

Where Maryland’s historic Klaverns were

Saturday Night Science

Methodology: How We Measured The Most Historically Racist Places In The Old Line State

While there are surveys and public polls on what places might be the most racist, we didn’t want to rely on speculation and opinion. Instead, we looked at the hard numbers from where KKK organizations have existed.

Specifically, we analyzed research out of Virginia Commonwealth University that mapped the Klans in each area and gave a history of their recruitment from 1915-1940.

  • Number of historic KKK Klaverns (1915-1940) per current resident

Using Saturday Night Science, we analyzed the locations of historic KKK organizations per capita using current population data.

The full plate

Cities With Historically High KKK Membership In Maryland

Click any column to sort. Search by city name.

RankCityPopulationKlavernsKlaverns /100k
1Hurlock2,056149
2Oakland2,165146
3Snow Hill2,720137
4Rising Sun2,870135
5Indian Head3,885126
6Perryville4,391123
7Capitol Heights4,452122
8Brunswick6,006117
9Hyattsville18,049211
10Cumberland20,557210
11Cambridge12,51118
12Havre de Grace13,36017
13Elkton15,67316
14Westminster18,65615
15Hagerstown40,29525
16Annapolis38,59913
17Odenton38,78713
18Bethesda62,02412
19Columbia102,11611
20Baltimore622,27130

Source: VCU Mapping the Klan, 1915-1940; current population data. 20 cities with at least one Klavern.

Summary

There You Have It – The Most Historically Racist Cities In Maryland

When you’re looking at the places in Maryland with the highest number of historical KKK Klaverns per capita, this is an accurate list.

Below is a chart that lists all cities in Maryland with at least one KKK organization from 1915-1940.

The cities with the largest number of KKK Klaverns per capita were Hurlock, Oakland, Snow Hill, Rising Sun, Indian Head, Perryville, Capitol Heights, Brunswick, Hyattsville, and Cumberland.

Chris Kolmar
About the author

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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