City Residents | 2000+ | 2000+ | 2000+ | 1790 | 1790 | 1790 | |||||
(See notes below.) | If Cap | City | Population | Cap Pop | Multi Cities Pop | Ratio of Cap to Multi Cities | City | Population | Cap Pop | Multi Cities Pop | Ratio of Cap
to |
Delaware | Capital | Dover | 32,500 | 32,500 | 105,200 | 31% | |||||
Wilmington | 72,700 | ||||||||||
Pennsylvania | Capital | Harrisburg | 48,700 | 48,700 | 2,620,700 | 2% | |||||
Altoona | 49,300 | ||||||||||
Millcreek | 52,200 | ||||||||||
Levittown | 54,600 | ||||||||||
Lancaster | 56,200 | ||||||||||
Bethlehem | 71,200 | ||||||||||
Scranton | 75,900 | ||||||||||
Reading | 81,100 | ||||||||||
Upper Darby | 81,800 | ||||||||||
Erie | 103,700 | ||||||||||
Allentown | 106,400 | ||||||||||
Pittsburgh | 331,300 | ||||||||||
Philadelphia | 1,508,300 | ||||||||||
New Jersey | Capital | Trenton | 85,100 | 85,100 | 1,059,700 | 8% | Trenton | 1,946 | 1,946 | 65,107 | 3% |
Toms River | 88,000 | Greenwich | 2,035 | ||||||||
Edison | 99,000 | Eastern-Precinct | 2,068 | ||||||||
Elizabeth | 121,300 | Hillsborough | 2,201 | ||||||||
Paterson | 149,200 | Piscataway | 2,261 | ||||||||
Jersey City | 242,500 | North-Brunswick | 2,312 | ||||||||
Newark | 274,600 | Hopewell | 2,320 | ||||||||
Bernardstown | 2,377 | ||||||||||
Hardyston | 2,393 | ||||||||||
Kingwood | 2,446 | ||||||||||
Bridgewater | 2,578 | ||||||||||
South-Amboy | 2,626 | ||||||||||
Windsor | 2,838 | ||||||||||
Middletown | 3,225 | ||||||||||
Upper-Freehold | 3,442 | ||||||||||
Woodbridge | 3,520 | ||||||||||
Lower Freehold | 3,785 | ||||||||||
Lebanon, Readington, & Tewksbury | 4,370 | ||||||||||
Shrewsbury | 4,673 | ||||||||||
Amwell | 5,201 | ||||||||||
Newton, Independence, & Hardwicke | 6,490 | ||||||||||
Georgia | Capital | Atlanta | 421,000 | 421,000 | 421,000 | 100% | |||||
Connecticut | Capital | Hartford | 121,500 | 121,500 | 384,500 | 32% | |||||
New Haven | 123,300 | ||||||||||
Bridgeport | 139,700 | ||||||||||
Massachusetts | Capital | Boston | 591,900 | 591,900 | 591,900 | 100% | Boston | 18,038 | 18,038 | 18,038 | 100% |
Maine | Capital | Augusta | 18,500 | 18,500 | 217,400 | 9% | |||||
Biddeford | 21,100 | ||||||||||
Auburn | 23,100 | ||||||||||
South Portland | 23,400 | ||||||||||
Bangor | 31,400 | ||||||||||
Lewiston | 35,500 | ||||||||||
Portland | 64,400 | ||||||||||
Massachusetts including Maine |
Capital | Boston | 591,900 | 591,900 | 591,900 | 100% | Boston | 18,038 | 18,038 | 18,038 | 100% |
Maryland | Capital | Annapolis | 36,200 | 36,200 | 1,790,800 | 2% | |||||
Woodlawn | 36,400 | ||||||||||
Hagerstown | 36,700 | ||||||||||
Montgomery Village | 38,600 | ||||||||||
North Bethesda | 39,200 | ||||||||||
Glen Burnie | 39,500 | ||||||||||
Essex | 39,500 | ||||||||||
Catonsville | 40,200 | ||||||||||
Bel Air South | 40,600 | ||||||||||
Potomac | 45,500 | ||||||||||
Rockville | 48,700 | ||||||||||
Bowie | 50,900 | ||||||||||
Aspen | 51,000 | ||||||||||
Towson | 52,300 | ||||||||||
Frederick | 54,100 | ||||||||||
Gaithersburg | 54,300 | ||||||||||
Bethesda | 56,100 | ||||||||||
Germantown | 56,300 | ||||||||||
Ellicott City | 58,100 | ||||||||||
Wheaton-Glenmont | 58,600 | ||||||||||
Dundalk | 62,900 | ||||||||||
Silver Spring | 63,700 | ||||||||||
Columbia | 90,800 | ||||||||||
Baltimore | 640,600 | ||||||||||
South Carolina | Capital | Columbia | 116,500 | 116,500 | 116,500 | 100% | |||||
New Hampshire | Capital | Concord | 40,900 | 40,900 | 236,000 | 17% | Concord | 1,747 | 1,747 | 29,145 | 6% |
Nashua | 87,200 | Chester | 1,902 | ||||||||
Manchester | 107,900 | Chesterfield | 1,905 | ||||||||
Weare | 1,924 | ||||||||||
Dover | 1,998 | ||||||||||
Westmoreland | 2,018 | ||||||||||
Amherst | 2,369 | ||||||||||
Barrington | 2,470 | ||||||||||
Gilmantown | 2,613 | ||||||||||
Londonderry | 2,622 | ||||||||||
Rochester | 2,857 | ||||||||||
Portsmouth | 4,720 | ||||||||||
Virginia | Capital | Richmond | 197,000 | 197,000 | 1,063,700 | 19% | Richmond | 3,761 | 3,761 | 3,761 | 100% |
Chesapeake | 204,900 | ||||||||||
Norfolk | 232,300 | ||||||||||
Virginia Beach | 429,500 | ||||||||||
West Virginia | Capital | Charleston | 53,100 | 53,100 | 53,100 | 100% | |||||
Virginia & West Virginia |
Capital | Richmond | 197,000 | 197,000 | 1,063,700 | 19% | Richmond | 3,761 | 3,761 | 3,761 | 100% |
New York | Capital | Albany | 95,600 | 95,600 | 9,153,500 | 1% | Albany City | 3,498 | 3,498 | 151,640 | 2% |
Ramapo | 109,900 | Montgomery | 3,563 | ||||||||
Syracuse | 146,600 | Half-Moon | 3,602 | ||||||||
Yonkers | 197,100 | Warwick | 3,603 | ||||||||
Rochester | 219,200 | Rhynebeck | 3,662 | ||||||||
Buffalo | 290,700 | S. Hampstead | 3,828 | ||||||||
New York | 8,094,400 | Kingston | 3,929 | ||||||||
Caughnewaga | 4,261 | ||||||||||
Pawling | 4,330 | ||||||||||
Mowhawk | 4,440 | ||||||||||
Hills-Dale | 4,556 | ||||||||||
Livingston | 4,594 | ||||||||||
Clinton | 4,607 | ||||||||||
K[i]nderhook (i?) | 4,661 | ||||||||||
Haverstraw | 4,826 | ||||||||||
Cambridge | 4,996 | ||||||||||
Washington | 5,189 | ||||||||||
Fredericks T. (Town?) | 5,932 | ||||||||||
Fishkill | 5,941 | ||||||||||
Connasoxharrie | 6,156 | ||||||||||
Canan Town | 6,692 | ||||||||||
Stephen Town | 6,795 | ||||||||||
Bal[i]s Town (i? l?) | 7,333 | ||||||||||
Ransselaerwick Town | 8,318 | ||||||||||
City of N York | 32,328 | ||||||||||
North Carolina | Capital | Raleigh | 281,200 | 281,200 | 837,900 | 34% | |||||
Charlotte | 556,700 | ||||||||||
Rhode Island | Capital | Providence | 173,800 | 173,800 | 173,800 | 100% | Srovidence (sic) (in Providence County) | 6,380 | 6,380 | 13,096 | 49% |
Newport | 6,716 | ||||||||||
Total | Total OK | 2,313,500 | 18,825,700 | 12% | Total OK | 35,370 | 280,787 | 13% | |||
Notes: | |||||||||||
1. Total OK in the totals row means that the sum for the column where it appears equals the sum in another column that should have the same sum (i.e., the Population column listing city populations should be matched by the Multi Cities Pop column for the same year), after adjustment to prevent double-counting for Massachusetts, Maine, Virginia, and West Virginia. | |||||||||||
2. Data for 2000+ is from 2002 Commercial Atlas & Marketing Guide (Rand McNally, 133d ed. 2002) (population data post 2000) (year and source of population data may vary by city, according to publisher) (estimates as of Jan. 1, 2001, if 25,000 or more or as of 2000 or recently if smaller). | |||||||||||
3. Data for 1790 is from Return of the Whole Number of Persons Within the Several Districts of the United States, According to An Act Providing for the Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States, Passed March the First, One Thousand Seven Hundred Ninety (Phila.: Joseph Gales) (Woodbridge, Conn., or New Haven, Conn.: Research Publications, microfilm), reel 1 (title in film, immediately preceding images: United States Census of Population 1790.1). (See note 4, infra.) | |||||||||||
4. In continuation of note 3, supra (the division of what would be one note being necessitated by a table software limitation), the following is part of the citation therein: (overwriting in image of title p. ignored; comma after First in title uncertain; Ninety in title partly determined per id., p. 3) (title on box: U.S. Decennial Census Publications, 1790-1970: Population 1790: 1790.1 thru 1790.7). (See note 5, infra.) | |||||||||||
5. In continuation of notes 3-4, supra, the following is part of the citation therein: (data reported as of 1791, per id., p. 3 (Truly stated from the original Returns deposited in the Office of the Secretary of State./TH. JEFFERSON./October 24, 1791) (each total is of all individuals in a geopolitical unit). | |||||||||||
6. The data source listed in notes 3-5, supra, was validated by comparison of small samples of data with that appearing in editions with nearly identical titles, one printed by Childs & Swaine and the other in Philadelphia and reprinted by J. Phillips, London, 1793, both microfilmed on the same reel and identified as image sets [1790.1-1] and [1790.1-2], respectively (bracketing so in original microfilm). | |||||||||||
7. Cities listed are the capital and all the more populous cities of each state, except that whatever city was the capital in 2000 was presumed to have been the capital in 1790 and whether Maine and West Virginia had capitals in 1790 is unknown but presumed (if they lacked capitals, that would be insignificant; see notes 13 & 14, respectively, infra). For 1790, some city or town data was lacking, sometimes within entire states. | |||||||||||
8. Cities, towns, and any similar geopolitical units other than counties and parishes (if parishes in one state are equivalent to counties in other states) are treated as comparable; the 1790 Census refers to most subcounty or subparish localities as towns. | |||||||||||
9. Multiple localities may have the same name, even within the same state, whether all are in this table or not. | |||||||||||
10. Cities may be as defined by states or by U.S. Bureau of the Census. For Silver Spring, Md., population figures are available for both definitions: 77,700 for the Census-defined boundaries and 63,700 for the state-defined boundaries. | |||||||||||
11. Boundaries of states and localities may have changed between 1790 and the latest date for data in this table, one major example being New York City. Boundary changes were not reflected in this table, comparison being based on place name or other |
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12. That a locality with a given name in 1790 is not the locality with the same name in modern times is entirely possible. | |||||||||||
13. For Massachusetts and Maine, since in 1790 Maine was part of Massachusetts, the capital of Massachusetts and the more populous cities of both states are used for data needed for comparison to 1790 data. | |||||||||||
14. For Virginia and West Virginia, since in 1790 census data for both were combined, the capital of Virginia and the more populous cities of both states are used for data needed for comparison to 1790 data. |
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Appendix first publicly posted to the World Wide Web July 24, 2004; revised (to add links) and posted August 17, 2004.
Minor revisions: Copyright © 2004 Nick Levinson
Balance: Copyright © 2003 Nick Levinson
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