YORK, Pennsylvania (CNN)  -- The city of York is steeped in history. The central Pennsylvania town was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and it was even, briefly, the nation's capital.



A week of race riots in York, Pennsylvania, left two dead 39 years ago.



Sen. Hillary Clinton's rally here Saturday, on the corner of Market and Beaver Streets, was down the block from a local landmark that touches on a less-heralded chapter in the city's history: the site of the monument that wasn't.



A few months ago, Mayor John Brenner and others pushed for a memorial at the corner of George and Market Streets, in the center of town, that would remind York residents of a deadly week of race riots 39 years ago.



The violence claimed two victims: police officer Henry Schaad, and minister's daughter Lillie Belle Allen, in murders that went unsolved for decades. Schaad was white, Allen black.



But disputes over nearly every aspect of the project brought emotional responses that seemed to split along racial lines, including disagreements over inspiration, location and design. The process stalled entirely a few weeks ago, as organizers went back to the drawing board.



This dispute is emblematic of the divide facing both Democratic candidates in next Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary.



"The issue of race has touched this community, much more deeply than it has in other places. It's not in the forefront, it's not usually discussed, but that issue has been very important to people here," said local NAACP chapter president Eric Kirkland, in a row house just off George St., the main drag that bisects the city's downtown.



"Historically, this has been a very racially hostile area. Race relations have always been strained here. There's an old guard, and they have those old ideas," he said.



But the face of York itself has changed. A decade ago, the town was 70 percent white. City officials say black and Latino residents now make up roughly 45 percent of the population of 41,000.



Sen. Barack Obama is expected to win the overwhelmingly Democratic town, locals say, and Clinton has the edge in York County, an area dominated by white, working-class, conservative voters -- a group that has largely backed the New York senator this year.



But presidential loyalties here this primary season don't fall neatly along racial lines -- York's residents are split between the two candidates in patterns that defy traditional assumptions.



Neatly manicured lawns in some of the city's mostly white suburbs are dotted with Obama signs. In the city, a restaurant window near Newberry Street -- where Allen was killed nearly four decades ago -- has a Clinton sign taped to the inside glass.



Seven years ago, the town's mayor and several other white men were arrested for Allen's 1969 murder. In the shadow of a pending indictment, Mayor Charlie Robertson -- up for re-election -- won the Democratic primary in 2001. He later stepped down. Eventually, he was acquitted by a local jury. Two others were convicted of murder and others took plea deals.



In the wake of the trials, the city became a magnet for outside hate groups, who clashed with anti-racist demonstrators in the center of town. In the years since, the most public division in York has been the measure of progress.



Some, including Kirkland, say race is still a central issue here. Others -- including many resentful of the city's national notoriety after Robertson's arrest -- say it is not.



But most residents fall somewhere in between, caught in a decades-long conversation that moves in fits and starts, spurred along by activists and city officials. The national dialogue may have turned to race this campaign season -- but in York, where the discussion has been on the agenda for years, many say they're all talked out.



"Race is here. It's an undercurrent," said York Mayor John Brenner, an Obama supporter. "I do think in places like York that actually had civil unrest in
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"The issue of race has touched this community, much more deeply than it has in other places. It's not in the forefront, it's not usually discussed, but that issue has been very important to people here," "The issue of race has touched this community, much more deeply than it has in other places. It's not in the forefront, it's not usually discussed, but that issue has been very important to people here," York, Pennsylvania, 39 years ago. York, Pennsylvania, along racial lines
question: What did the local NAACP president say?, answer: "The issue of race has touched this community, much more deeply than it has in other places. It's not in the forefront, it's not usually discussed, but that issue has been very important to people here," | question: What did the NAACP president say?, answer: "The issue of race has touched this community, much more deeply than it has in other places. It's not in the forefront, it's not usually discussed, but that issue has been very important to people here," | question: Where did the race riots take place?, answer: York, Pennsylvania, | question: When were the race riots?, answer: 39 years ago. | question: What was the site of the deadly race riots of 1969?, answer: York, Pennsylvania, | question: Where do the presidential loyalties not fall neatly?, answer: along racial lines