These covenants were widespread across the United States from the 1910s through the 1940s, and were used to enforce residential segregation in neighborhoods where legal tools like zoning would not suffice.
The Wiestoria subdivision in northeast Bend, Oregon contains 160 properties with covenant language recorded in Deschutes County deed records. Oregon was unique among states in that it explicitly excluded Black residents in its original state constitution — a provision not removed until 1926.
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 made racially restrictive covenants unenforceable, and the Oregon Removal of Discriminatory Restrictions from Title Act (2021) created a formal process for property owners to remove these clauses from their deeds.
Although these covenants can no longer be enforced, they remain recorded in county deed records — a permanent reminder of the legal architecture of segregation that shaped neighborhoods we live in today.
The following organizations and resources provide context, research support, and pathways for property owners who wish to formally remove restrictive covenant language from their deeds.
The CSV below contains all 160 properties with address, owner (organizations only — private owners listed as "Private owner"), lot, block, and deed reference. Copy or download it.