Decennial Census Historical Facts

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Within Decennial Census of Population and Housing

Decennial Census Historical Facts

Censuses are not conducted in a vacuum. They occur amidst internal and external crisis, shifts in cultural interests, and events that become "defining moments" for each decade. Census data reflect the growth of the population as well as the changing values and interests of the American people.

Decennial Historical Facts provides a portrait of the United States both statistically and culturally in the following four areas:

  • Pop Culture – key milestones from the decade following the census.
  • Population
  • Census Details
  • 10 Largest Urban Places

1890
  • 2020
  • 2010
  • 2000
  • 1990
  • 1980
  • 1970
  • 1960
  • 1950
  • 1940
  • 1930
  • 1920
  • 1910
  • 1900
  • 1890
  • 1880
  • 1870
  • 1860
  • 1850
  • 1840
  • 1830
  • 1820
  • 1810
  • 1800
  • 1790

1890

ICONS: Ellis Island, Chicago World Columbian Exposition, USS Maine

Population

62,979,766 U.S. Resident Population
17.8
 Population per square mile of land area
25.5
 Percent increase of population from 1880 to 1890
42
 Number of States

10 Largest Urban Places

Rank
 Place
 Population
1
 New York City, NY 1,515,301
2
 Chicago, IL 1,099,850
3
 Philadelphia, PA 1,046,964
4
 Brooklyn, NY 806,343
5
 St. Louis, MO 451,770
6
 Boston, MA 448,477
7
 Baltimore, MD 434,439
8
 San Francisco, CA 298,997
9
 Cincinnati, OH 296,908
10
 Cleveland, OH 261,353

The 1890 Census

Cost $11,547,000
Cost per Capita (cents) 18.3
Total Pages in Published Reports 26,408
Number of Enumerators 46,408
Census Bureau Director Robert Percival Porter
Number of Questions on the Questionnaire 30
Number of Questions on the Long Form N/A

Pop Culture

  • Photographer Jacob Riis publishes How the Other Half Lives, in 1890, documenting the horrible living conditions immigrants faced living in New York City's tenements.
  • Wyoming and Idaho are admitted as the 43rd and 44th states in July 1890.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky conducts the first performance at New York's Carnegie Hall on May 5, 1891.
  • The Ellis Island Immigration Station begins processing immigrants to the United States on January 1, 1892.
  • More than 25 million people visit the 1893 Chicago World Columbian Exposition between May 1 and October 30, 1893.
  • On September 20, 1893, the Duryea Brothers road-test the first-ever, American-made, gasoline-powered automobile in Springfield, Massachusetts.
  • On August 28, 1894, Congress passes the first graduated income tax. The U.S. Supreme Court declares the "direct tax" unconstitutional the following year.
  • Ex-slave and civil rights advocate Frederick Douglass dies on February 20, 1895.
  • The first U.S. Golf Open is held in Newport, RI, on October 4, 1895.
  • The last great North American "Gold Rush" begins on April 6, 1896 when gold is discovered in the Yukon District of Canada.
  • William McKinley is inaugurated as the 25th President of the United States on March 4, 1897.
  • The battleship USS Maine explodes in Havana, Cuba's harbor on February 15, 1898.
  • Fighting erupts between the United States and Philippine revolutionary forces on February 4, 1899. The "Philippine Insurrection" would officially end on July 4, 1902.
  • The United States annexes Hawaii on July 7, 1898.

Related Information

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021