An Interactive Map of the American Urban Centres that Ranked in the Top 100 Most Populated 1790-1900

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Legend
3 Map
4 Observations

• 4.1 Urban Centres by Division 
• 4.2 Urban Centres by Cluster 

5 My Other Population Data Releases
6 References: Complete External List

1 Introduction

Plotted in this article are the top 100 most populated American urban centres for each decade since the 1790 census (first year it was taken). Also included are the Canadian centres that would have ranked among the top 100 American centres. The data for the Canadian centres is less reliable though. When including the Canadian centres I didn't exclude any American ones in their place. This means that the totals for each census add up to more than 100.

One thing to note about the 1790 and 1800 censuses is that at the time in the USA an urban centre was defined as an incorporated community with more than 2,500 inhabitants. Due to this, only 24 places ranked in the 1790 census and 33 for the 1800 census (Hence, the corresponding Canadian data follows the same rules). Another thing to note is that I denote New Orleans as ranking in the top 100 beginning with the 1790 census despite the Louisiana Purchase not occurring until 1803 which means that New Orleans wouldn't have ranked in the top 100 until the 1810 census. In 1750 New Orleans already had around 3,000 inhabitants and by the 1810 census it had 17,242. Therefore it likely would have ranked in the top 100 if it had been part of the USA at the time and that's why I included it.

By clicking on one of the icons on the map a box will load. If you clicked on an icon for a centre that was no longer present in the top 100 by the 1900 census I include which years the centre did rank within the top 100 including the corresponding ranks and populations (sometimes included is the 1900 population without a rank-I may add more data in time). If you click on one of the icons that was present in the 1900 census I include what census the centre first ranked within the top 100.

2 Legend

Icon Shapes:

• Star: Urban centre was present in the top 100 at the 1790 census. 
• Diamond: Urban centre was present in the top 100 for the first time in the 1800 census. 
• Square: Urban centre was present in the top 100 for the first time between the 1810 and 1860 censuses. 
• Circle: Urban centre was present in the top 100 for the first time between the 1870 and 1900 censuses. 

Icon Colours:

• Red: Urban centre was no longer present in the top 100 at the 1900 census. 
• Yellow: Urban centre was present in the top 100 at the 1900 census. 

3 Map

There's a full screen option on the upper right corner of the map interface, clicking on it will give you a search bar to search places on the map. Here's a version of the map with Google Street View enabled. It tends to be less stable and you might have to reload since the layer crashes now and then. Map

4 Observations

4.1 Urban Centres by Division

Below is a table showing urban centres by province/state/territory/district according to how divisions were in the year 1900. The first number following the name represents the number of urban centres in the top 100 present in 1900. The second number represents how many have ranked in the top 100 between 1790-1900. The percentage of how many existed in 1900 out of the total number urban centres since 1790 is included following the two numbers. Also included is the 1900 population. Canada is in red.

1. Massachusetts, USA: 12/30 | 40% | 2,805,346
2. Pennsylvania, USA: 10/21 | 48% | 6,302,115
3. New York, USA: 9/21 | 43% | 7,268,894
4. Ohio, USA: 7/11 | 64% | 4,157,545
5. New Jersey, USA: 7/8 | 88% | 1,883,669
6. Connecticut, USA: 4/7 | 57% | 908,420
7. Indiana, USA: 3/6 | 50% | 2,516,462
8. Rhode Island, USA: 2/6 | 33% | 428,556
9. Virginia, USA: 2/6 | 33% | 1,854,184
10. Ontario, CA: 3/5 | 60% | 2,182,947
11. Iowa, USA: 2/5 | 40% | 2,231,853
12. Maine, USA: 1/5 | 20% | 694,466
13. California, USA: 3/4 | 75% | 1,485,053
14. Michigan, USA: 3/4 | 75% | 2,420,982
15. Texas, USA: 3/4 | 75% | 3,048,710
16. Kentucky, USA: 2/4 | 50% | 2,147,174
17. Illinois, USA: 2/4 | 50% | 4,821,550
18. Maryland, USA: 1/4 | 25% | 1,188,044
19. New Hampshire, USA: 1/4 | 25% | 411,588
20. North Carolina, USA: 0/4 | 0% | 1,893,810
21. Missouri, USA: 3/3 | 100% | 3,106,665
22. Minnesota, USA: 3/3 | 100% | 1,751,394
23. Georgia, USA: 3/3 | 100% | 2,216,331
24. Alabama, USA: 2/3 | 67% | 1,828,697
25. Kansas, USA: 1/3 | 33% | 1,470,495
26. Tennessee, USA: 2/2 | 100% | 2,020,616
27. Quebec, CA: 2/2 | 100% | 1,648,898
28. Nebraska, USA: 2/2 | 100% | 1,066,300
29. Washington, USA: 1/2 | 50% | 518,103
30. District of Columbia: 1/2 | 50% | 278,718
31. Nova Scotia, CA: 1/2 | 50% | 459,574
32. South Carolina, USA: 1/2 | 50% | 1,340,316
33. Louisiana, USA: 1/2 | 50% | 1,381,625
34. Newfoundland: 0/2 | 0% | 220,984
35. Wisconsin, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 2,069,042
36. Manitoba, CA: 1/1 | 100% | 255,211
37. Arkansas, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 1,311,564
38. New Brunswick, CA: 1/1 | 100% | 331,120
39. Delaware, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 184,735
40. Oregon, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 413,536
41. West Virginia, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 958,800
42. Colorado, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 539,700
43. Hawaii Territory, USA: 1/1* | 100% | 154,001
44. Utah, USA: 1/1 | 100% | 276,749
45. Mississippi, USA: 0/1 | 0% | 1,551,270
46. Vermont, USA: 0 | 343,641
47. Florida, USA: 0 | 528,542
48. Indian Territory (Oklahoma), USA: 0 | 790,391
49. South Dakota, USA: 0 | 401,570
50. North Dakota, USA: 0 | 319,146
51. Montana, USA: 0 | 243,329
52. Wyoming, USA: 0 | 92,531
53. Idaho, USA: 0 | 161,772
54. Arizona Territory, USA: 0 | 122,931
55. New Mexico Territory, USA: 0 | 195,310
56. Alaska Territory, USA: 0 | 63,592
57. Nevada, USA: 0 | 42,335
58. Prince Edward Island, CA: 0 | 103,259
59. British Columbia, CA: 0 | 178,657
60. Northwest Territories (includes Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), CA: 0 | 211,649

*Honolulu, not included on map.

It's interesting that by the 1900 census North Carolina didn't contain any urban centres within the top 100. What's even more interesting is that it didn't even rank within the top 200 either (U.S. Bureau of the Census (1900)). Despite this, during previous censuses it had a number of urban centres which did rank within the top 100. These included Raleigh, Fayetteville, New Bern, and Wilmington. North Carolina is the only state that was part of the original 13 colonies that didn't have an urban centre rank in the 1900 census.

A pie chart showing the distribution of urban centres per state/province/territory/district that ranked in the top 100 most populated at some point between the 1790-1900 censuses.  

A pie chart showing the distribution of urban centres by state/province/territory/district that ranked in the top 100 most populated at the 1900 census. 

In order for an urban centre to continually rank in the top 100, each decade it would have to have a net increase large enough to keep up with the rate of increase other urban centres are experiencing at the same time.  

4.2 Urban Centres by Cluster

When one looks very closely at the map you can spot a number of areas where urban centres appear to cluster. Typically when there's a city drawing in a number of people the towns immediately surrounding it also experience a growth in population. In the chart below I highlight the clusters you can find on the map. The primary urban centre is named first followed by the urban centres surrounding it.

• New York City, New York (10): Brooklyn, New York; Williamsburg, New York; Yonkers, New York; Hoboken, New Jersey; Jersey City, New Jersey; Elizabeth, New Jersey; New Brunswick, New Jersey; Newark, New Jersey; Paterson, New Jersey;
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (7): Northern Liberties Township, Pennsylvania; Southwark District, Pennsylvania; Kensington District, Pennsylvania; Spring Garden District, Pennsylvania; Moyamensing Township, Pennsylvania; Camden, New Jersey; 
• Boston, Massachusetts (7): Charlestown, Massachusetts; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Somerville, Massachusetts; Chelsea, Massachusetts; Roxbury, Massachusetts; Dorchester, Massachusetts; 
• Providence, Rhode Island (5): Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Cumberland, Rhode Island; North Providence, Rhode Island; Warwick, Rhode Island; 
• Albany, New York (5): Troy, New York; West Troy (Watervliet), New York; Cohoes, New York; Schenectady, New York; 
• Salem, Massachusetts (4): Marblehead, Massachusetts; Beverly, Massachusetts; Danvers, Massachusetts; 
• Washington, DC (3): Georgetown, DC; Alexandria, Virginia; 
• Cincinnati, Ohio (3): Covington, Kentucky; Newport, Kentucky; 
• Springfield, Massachusetts (3): Chicoppe, Massachusetts; Holyoke, Massachusetts; 
• San Francisco, California (2): Oakland, California; 
• New Orleans, Louisiana (2): Lafayette, Louisiana; 
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (2): Allegheny, Pennsylvania; 
• Kansas City, Missouri (2): Kansas City, Kansas; 
• Louisville, Kentucky (2): New Albany, Indiana; 
• Minneapolis, Minnesota (2): St. Paul, Minnesota; 
• Seattle, Washington (2): Tacoma, Washington; 
• Scranton, Pennsylvania (2): Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; 

Many times the centres which grow around larger urban centres aren't even in the same state. Over time many of these surrounding urban centres are absorbed by the growing primary urban centre. The introduction of new technologies like the electric streetcar and subsequently the automobile accelerated this process. All of this later led to suburbanization. For more information on that topic you can read one of my other articles: Using Population Data & Google Street View to Illustrate how Many of North America's Beautiful Buildings were Destroyed and What we can do Now 

In the peculiar case of Philadelphia, its city boundaries stayed the same for a very long time and the way the city grew (north and south) didn't correspond to its boundaries which stretched east from the Delaware River west towards the Schuylkill River.

Colton, G. W. (1856) The United States of America. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection.

5 My Other Population Data Releases

For links to all of my related writings you can visit my Population Data and Architecture Articles page.

• The Population of Every Urban Centre in the World with More than 100,000 Inhabitants in the Year 1900. 
• The Population of Every Urban Centre in North America with more than 5,000 inhabitants in the year 1900. 
• The Population of Every Urban Centre in Canada and the USA with more than 5,000 Inhabitants in 1900. 
• The Population of Every Incorporated Urban Centre in Canada & Newfoundland in the Year 1901.

You can help support me and my work by becoming a patron: http://www.patreon.com/billywilson

6 References

To keep things neat and manageable, I utilize one universal reference list for all of my population and architecture related articles: Reference List for Population Data and Architecture Articles. 

The Population of Every Municipality in Canada & Newfoundland with more than 500 Inhabitants in the Year 1901

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Methods of Collection

3 Legend

• 3.1 Column Headers
• 3.2 Abbreviations
• 3.3 Railway Lines

4 The Population Data and Interactive Map

5 Observations

• 5.1 Overview
• 5.2 The Most Populated Municipalities in the Year 1901 by Provinces and Territories
• 5.3 Municipalities by Urban Designation

6 Further Reading and Related Articles
7 Glossary

8 References: Complete External List

1 Introduction

I have an obsession with collecting population data for the year 1900/1901 & I've been collecting data since around 2011. It gives you a lot of insight into how the world was at the time. The further back in time you go the more difficult it is to find reliable comprehensive sources of populations data.

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). British America. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9] 

The map above shows the territorial divisions of the Dominion of Canada and the Colony of Newfoundland around the turn of the twentieth century.

My main interest in historic population data stems from the fact that you can use it to infer where infrastructure would have been built at a particular time in history. Buildings are created by humans, so where there are humans, there ought to have been buildings of some type (even is it's a tent, tipi, or a hut) built by them.

In 1901, Montreal was the most populated municipality in Canada. It isn't a surprise that it's also one of the most renowned cities in Canada for historic pre-1900 architecture. Image via: Google Street View.

To me, the years 1900/1901 were a pivotal time in history. It was when Queen Victoria died and King Edward VII ascended to the throne formally closing the Victorian era. It was when new technologies were coming out. Steel was being used to construct buildings of a height greater than six stories. Horseless carriages were beginning to be seen. Even technology for motion pictures was being developed.

Place d'Armes, Montreal, Quebec. Image via: Google Street View.

In the image above, the tall red stone building with a clock tower on the left is the New York Life Insurance Building in Montreal, Quebec. Erected between 1887-1889, it is considered to be Canada's first skyscraper. It incorporated new technologies using iron and steel to help support the structure.

Industry was also exploding. Things were becoming more and more massed produced. Soon assembly lines and systems of interchangeable parts would come into existence. Automobiles would become more common than horses on the streets.

A cotton mill in Marysville, New Brunswick. Image via: Google Street View.

Marysville, which is now a part of Fredericton, is considered to be the best preserved 19th century mill town in Canada. It comes complete with still intact 19th century duplexes that are still used as residences. In the year 1901 the municipality was the 182nd most populated in all of Canada and the 27th in New Brunswick containing 1,892 inhabitants.

Through all of these technological innovations, by 1900/1901 Victorian society still had a delicate taste in architecture that would gradually be lost over subsequent years following the Victorian era. It's my desire to find and admire Victorian and Georgian era architecture of all types (as well as equivalent architecture in other parts of the world) and it is this that drives me to collect so much data regarding this time in history.

Lower-Town, Quebec City. Image via Google Street View.

Quebec City is well known for its old architecture, dramatic location, fortifications, château, citadelle, French culture, and relatively long European history for North America, being founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. It was the third most populated municipality in Canada and the second most in Quebec in the year 1901.

Even some of the least populated communities listed in this article can boast interesting pre-1901 architecture. Below are a couple of examples.

Above is the community of Yamachiche, Quebec. A village known for its Picturesque 19th century brick houses. It was the 337th most populated municipality in Canada and 94th in Quebec being the home of 1,100 inhabitants in the year 1901. Image via: Google Street View.

Above is Millbrook, Ontario. A village that only had 917 inhabitants in 1901 making it the 402nd most populated municipality in Canada. Image via: Google Street View.

2 Methods of Collection

Initially when collecting the data for this article I used data from Library and Archives Canada. (1901). 1901 Census. [10] through a website that summarized each census area by the number of lines per page. I was able to estimate (with great accuracy) the population of a municipality to the nearest 50. Since then I've revised and corroborated my data with Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. (1903). [9] where in their indices they indicated the populations of all of the municipalities in their atlas.

Rand McNally is an American company centred in Chicago and many of their place names for Quebec and New Brunswick were Anglicized making place identification difficult (since the names are typically in French by convention). This difficulty was compounded since many communities in Quebec have amalgamated or changed their names numerous times since 1901. I had to do a lot of research to track down the current names and locations of these municipalities. In section 4.5 I have an interactive Google map displaying every municipality found in this article.

I also referred to Dept. of the Interior, Canada. (1911). Population, 1911: Cities and towns with population upwards of 7,000. [8] published by the Canadian Department of the Interior which highlighted the population trends of municipalities that had more than 7,000 inhabitants in 1911 all the way back to the first census in 1871.

A number of municipalities especially in the Maritimes are more like "rural municipalities" that are highly decentralized. Many of them have also declined in population as well since fishing and farming have decreased. Many other communities all over Canada especially in British Columbia, the Maritimes, and Quebec were once mining centres that have nearly become ghost-towns. A number of rail-towns and ports have also declined.

The rate of incorporation for municipalities with populations lower than 2,000 appears to vary from region to region. For instance, in the Maritimes municipalities don't appear to have been formally incorporated unless they had a couple thousand inhabitants opposed to the threshold being around 1,000 for much of Ontario and Quebec. When it comes to Western Canada the threshold appears to be much lower though. All of this is what I've observed and I haven't found an official statement to confirm my observations.

Newfoundland's data is the hardest to come by since Newfoundland at the time wasn't part of the Canadian Confederation and didn't take censuses during the same years. It is likely largely underrepresented in this article especially for communities with less than 2,000 inhabitants. With many of my figures I've had to estimate the populations using data that was collected by businesses and churches around 1901. It's because of this that I exclude Newfoundland from the main population data and give it a subsection of its own.

Many of the municipalities listed do not exist anymore since they've become amalgamated with nearby municipalities as they grew (see section 5.1). The rise of the automobile & public transportation also allowed for the development of commuter neighbourhoods (see section 5.2).

Many of the county seats were identified by using maps published by Rand McNally, Cram, and the Dominion Publishing Company. For Quebec, the seats were identified by Appleton, D. & Co. (1891). Map of Quebec 50. [30]. Ontario's and some of Quebec's were also verified by the Dominion Publishing Company. (1899). The Canadian Dominion Survey, With Distances, A New Railway, Post-Office,Township and Precinct Map Of Ontario and Quebec. [31]. Manitoba's and British Columbia's were identified by using Cram, G. F. (1901). Cram's Standard American Railway System Atlas of the World.  [5].

3 Legend

In this section I outline what each column header and abbreviation means in section 4.

3.1 Column Headers

In section 4 are two tables. The first one displays every municipality in the Dominion of Canada with more than 500 inhabitants in the year 1901. The second one displays what data has been collected for the Colony of Newfoundland. The tables include the following headings which can be clicked on to sort ascending or descending:

• Untitled: This number column is permanent in its order and doesn't change as you sort by different columns. This can be used for reference as you're comparing data (particularly amalgamation and agglomeration populations). 
• # (Number): This column indicates the population rank of the municipality within the Dominion of Canada in the year 1901. 
• Municipality: The name of the municipality is given. Alternative spellings are separated by "/" and if the municipality has been renamed (but not absorbed, amalgamated, or reincorporated as massive area [i.e., Mississauga]) the new name will be in (parentheses). 
• County: The name of the county the municipality is located in. If it is located in a district and not a county the name is followed by "Dist.". If the county has changed name, amalgamated, dissolved, or reincorporated as a different entity, that is stated in (parentheses) unless it has formed a regional municipality which in that case the name will be under "Amalgamation".
• # in Co. (Number in County): This is the municipality's 1901 population rank relative to the other municipalities in its county.
• Total in Co. (Total in County): This is the total number of municipalities with more than 500 inhabitants in the year 1901 present in the county the municipality is found in. This is given for reference since it can give you insight as to how the municipality compares to its neighbours. 
• Seat: If the municipality is the seat of its county a "Yes" is displayed.
• Prov. (Province): The province the municipality is found in. If it was located in a territory in 1901 the name of the modern province it is currently located in is located at the end in (parentheses).
• # in Prov. (Number in Province): This is the municipality's 1901 population rank relative to other municipalities in its province. 
• Cap. (Capital): If the municipality is a capital, whether it is the provincial capital (Prov.) or the federal capital (Fed.) is stated in this column.
• Pop. (Population): The 1901 population of the municipality.
• U.D. (Urban Designation): The formal designation of either City, Town, Village, or Unincorporated (Uninc.).
• Amalg.? (Amalgamation?): If the municipality no longer exists because it has been part of an amalgamation, a "Yes" is displayed in this column. 
• Amalg. (Amalgamation): If the municipality has been part of an amalgamation the primary predecessor municipality (most populated or namesake) is stated in this column. When sorting by this column the primary predecessor municipality will rank first. 
• Amalg. Pop. (Amalgamation Population): The sum of all of the municipalities that existed in 1901 that contained more than 500 inhabitants that have amalgamated with the primary predecessor municipality. This includes the primary predecessor municipality's population (e.g., the population of Montreal proper (primary predecessor municipality) in 1901 was 267,730 inhabitants and when you add the 1901 population of all of the municipalities that currently make up Montreal's present day incorporation it adds up to 334,193 inhabitants). This column also contains the population of all of the municipalities which didn't amalgamate to allow for a population comparison.
• Diff. (Difference): The amalgamation population minus the population proper of the primary predecessor municipality.
• Agglom.? (Agglomeration?): If the municipality is currently situated within the commuter area of a much larger present day municipality a "Yes" is displayed.
• Agglom. (Agglomeration): If the municipality is currently situated within the commuter area of a much larger present day municipality the abbreviated name of the larger municipality is given in this column.
• Agglom. Pop. (Agglomeration Population): The sum of all of the municipalities that existed in 1901 that contained more than 500 inhabitants that are within an municipality's modern commuter area. This includes the population of the of the primary urban predecessor municipality (or municipality) proper and all of the municipalities that have been annexed by it. This column also contains the population of all of the municipalities which didn't amalgamate or happen to be within the commuter area of a more influential modern municipality to allow for population comparison.
• Δ Diff. (Total Change in Difference): The agglomeration population minus the population proper of the primary predecessor municipality.
• Rail Companies: Which rail companies provided service in the area [7] [5]. 
• # of Rail Lines: An enumeration of the number of lines radiating from each municipality (node) [7] [5]. 
• Navigable Waterbody: The name of the navigable waterbody the municipality is on [7] [5]. 
• Great Lakes Waterway: If the municipality is in some way connected to the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River by a navigable route, a "Yes" is displayed in this column [7] [5]. 
• Ocean: If the municipality is on or is in some way connected to an ocean by a navigable waterway (naturally, by canal, or other engineering projects), the name of that ocean is displayed in this column. If the municipality is on a landlocked navigable waterbody "Inland" is displayed [7] [5]. 
• Electric Streetcars: If the municipality possessed an electric streetcar system in the year 1901, the year it first opened as an electric route is stated along with when it was discontinued. If the municipality was a commuter suburb of a larger one with a streetcar system, many times it was also serviced by it. In these cases if they were serviced by it before or by 1901 the same dates stated for the primary municipality will also be stated for them. 
• Banks: A "Yes" is displayed if the municipality had banking services in 1901 [5]. 
• Sources: The sources for the population figure. Each number corresponds to the numbers used in the reference section at the end of this article. 

3.2 Abbreviations

3.3 Railway Lines

It is important to note though, that the amalgamation and agglomeration populations do not reflect the total population that would have resided within those areas in 1901 since we are only using urban populations (threshold of 500 inhabitants) and discarding the rural population that would of also occupied the area.

Also, concerning the counties column there are two special cases. When it comes to the District of Algoma, since 1901 parts of it have broken off and formed the Districts of both Sudbury and Manitoulin. Due to this the numerical ordering is inconsistent for Algoma when sorting by counties. When it comes to the municipality of Bear River, it's split between the counties of Annapolis and Digby. Since each municipality is only listed once in the data, I've chosen to list it as being present under Annapolis' count of four municipalities and leave Digby as missing one of its four municipalities. 

4 The Population Data and Interactive Map

In this section are two interactive tables and an interactive Google map. One table is for the Dominion of Canada and the other is for the Colony of Newfoundland. The tables have their own independent scroll bars on the bottom and on the right of their interface. You can use them to navigate from column to column and row to row.

The data for Canada and Newfoundland are displayed separately because Newfoundland's data is incomplete since the colony didn't take censuses during the same years as the Dominion of Canada and data is scarce.

Beneath the tables is the interactive Google map, close by to allow one to go back and forth easily. A gold star icon represents 100,000+ inhabitants, red star 10,000-100,000, diamond 5,000-10,000, square 2,500-5,000, circle 1,000-2,500, and pink circle 500-1,000. When you click on an icon it will display the municipality's population and rank for the year 1901. Since I've updated the data on this article since making the map the rank in the description of each icon is slightly inaccurate. So it's best to refer to the data in the article. Nevertheless, the rank still gives you a very good ballpark measurement. There's a full screen option on the map in the upper right of its interface, that version has a search bar that you can use to search for any of the municipalities.

- Interactive Map with Street View enabled (Unstable)

- Information last updated 02/09/2014

5 Observations

5.1 Overview

In the year 1901 the population of the Dominion of Canada was 5,371,315 inhabitants & the population of the Colony of Newfoundland was 220,984. At the time only 38% of the dominion was urbanized. Today, 80.7% of Canada's population is urbanized. Below is a provincial-territorial-colonial breakdown of the population followed by percent urbanization [1] which everything is sorted by. Beneath them are figures that have been derived from this article specifically:

• British Columbia: 178,657 | 50%: 
  Municipalities: 27
• Ontario: 2,182,947 | 43%: 
  Municipalities: 292
• Quebec: 1,648,898 | 40%: 
  Municipalities: 237
• Nova Scotia: 459,574 | 28%: 
  Municipalities: 72
• Manitoba: 255,211 | 28%: 
  Municipalities: 23
• Northwest Territories (at the time included a large portion of Manitoba & what would become both Alberta & Saskatchewan): 211,649 | 24%: 
  Municipalities: 20
• New Brunswick: 331,120 | 23%: 
  Municipalities: 37
• Prince Edward Island: 103,259 | 14%: 
  Municipalities: 6
• Newfoundland: 220,984 | ?%: 
  Municipalities: 10

A pie chart showing the distribution of population in what would become Canada today.

A pie chart showing the distribution of the municipalities listed in this article by province/territory.

Below is a series of maps illustrating the population density present in Canada in 1901 (published in 1906). The maps shown from top to bottom are as follows: The Maritime Provinces, Quebec & Ontario, Manitoba & Saskatchewan, and Alberta & British Columbia. 

Dept. of the Interior (1906). Density of Population Maritime Provinces, Quebec, Ontario. Retrieved from Natural Resources Canada [7].

Dept. of the Interior (1906). Density of Population British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba. Retrieved from Natural Resources Canada [7].

It's interesting to note the correlation between the maps above and the interactive Google map of the municipalities listed in this article in a section further down. This helps confirm the validity of the data collected in this article. 

5.2 Population Distribution Among Municipalities

The chart below show the distribution of the municipalities by population. It only includes around the 187 most populated (1,827 and up) due to practical limitations.

The immense magnitude of the cities of Montreal and Toronto in relation to the other municipalities in the chart above is astonishing.

Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario, the 29th most populated in the Dominion of Canada in 1901 with 9,747 inhabitants can boast some pretty substantial Victorian constructions. To the right is the Walper Terrace Hotel, built in 1893. Explore on Google Street View.

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). Montreal. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9] 

The map above shows the wards and communities that surrounded the city of Montreal around the turn of the twentieth century. The communities visible here that are listed in this article include: Côte-des-Neiges, Côte-Saint-Paul, Outremont, Maisonneuve, Sainte-Cunégonde, Saint-Henri, Saint-Louis-du-Mile-End, Verdun, and Westmount. Interestingly, Saint-Henri happened to be the twelfth most populated municipality in Canada in 1901.

5.3 Municipalities by Urban Designation

The only rule that I know of is that to qualify as a city in British North America in the 1800's you had to have a population of at least 10,000 inhabitants.

• Unincorporated: 199
• Villages: 266
• Towns: 206
• Cities: 46

A pie chart showing the distribution of the urban designations of "unincorporated', "village", "town", & "city".

St. Marys, Ontario, the 97th most populated in Canada in 1901 with 3,384 inhabitants. It was incorporated as a town. It is also known as the "Stone Town". Explore on Google Street View.

6 Further Reading and Related Articles

For links to all of my related writings you can visit my Population Data and Architecture Articles page.

• Historic Canadian Architecture Pinterest Board. 
• Victorian Skyscrapers Pinterest Board.

7 Glossary

• Amalgamation: The process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. 
• British North America: A term to refer to the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America. Largely used in the 19th century. 
• Commuter City: A smaller city that is found on the periphery of a much larger city. Commuter cities are also commonly referred to as a "bedroom community" since many of the inhabitants may live in them but travel to the primary city for their occupation.  
• Incorporated: Refers to a "municipal corporation" which is a political subdivision composed of citizens and a geographic area. In this article's case it may be a village, town, or city. 
• Urban Designation: The official title of "unincorporated", "village", "town", or "city".
• Primary Predecessor Municipality: The dominant municipality that is usually thought of as absorbing other municipalities through the process of amalgamation. Typically the name of the dominant municipality is retained. 

8 References

To keep things neat and manageable, I utilize one universal reference list for all of my population and architecture related articles: Reference List for Population Data and Architecture Articles. 

The Population of Every Municipality in the Americas with more than 5,000 Inhabitants Around the Year 1900

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Methods of Collection
3 Legend

• 3.1 Column Headers
• 3.2 Abbreviations

4 The Population Data and Interactive Map
5 Observations

• 5.1 Population and Number of Municipalities per Colony/Dominion/Country

6 Further Reading and Related Articles
7 Glossary
8 References: Complete External List

1 Introduction

I have an obsession with collecting population data for the year 1900/1901 & I've been collecting data since around 2011. It gives you a lot of insight into how the world was at the time. The further back in time you go the more difficult it is to find reliable comprehensive sources of populations data.

My main interest in historic population data stems from the fact that you can use it to infer where infrastructure would have been built at a particular time in history. Buildings are created by humans, so where there are humans, there ought to have been buildings of some type (even is it's a tent, tipi, or a hut) built by them.

Pre-1900 buildings, particularly those built between 1700-1900, to me comprise some of the most aesthetically pleasing architecture ever built. All of the images below showcase European derived architecture from around this time period in the Americas.

Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico was home to 33,890 inhabitants in the year 1895 making it around the 183rd most populated in the Americas. Explore on Google Street View.

Salvador, Bahia, Brazil was home to 174,412 inhabitants around the year 1900 making it the 29th most populated in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Explore on Google Street View.

Québec City, Québec, Canada was home to 68,840 inhabitants in the year 1901 making it around the 74th most populated in the Americas. It is one of only four still largely intact walled cities in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Explore on Google Street View.

Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico was home to 7,082 inhabitants in 1895 making it around the 1,101st most populated in the Americas. It is named as one of the 100 Historic World Treasure Cities by the United Nations. Explore on Google Street View.

Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia was home to around 10,000 inhabitants around 1900 making it around the 716th most populated in the Americas. It is one of only four still largely intact walled cities in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Explore on Google Street View.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States was home to 1,239,697 inhabitants in the year 1900. This made it the 3rd most populated in the Americas and the 9th most populated in the world. Explore on Google Street View.

Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico was home to around 39,912 inhabitants in the year 1895 making it around the 142nd most populated in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. Explore on Google Street View.

Cusco, Cusco, Peru was home to around 20,000 inhabitants around the year 1900 making it around the 334th most populated in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. It was also the historic capital of the Pre-Hispanic Inca Empire. Explore on Google Street View.

The Park Slope neighbourhood, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. In 1900 NYC was home to 3,437,202 inhabitants making it the most populated municipality in the Americas and the second most populated in the world. Explore on Google Street View.

Ciudad de Cuetzalan, Puebla, Mexico was home to 5,176 inhabitants in 1895 making it around the 1,566th most populated in the Americas. Explore on Google Street View.

Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil was home to 111,556 inhabitants in the year 1900 making it around the 41st most populated in the Americas. Explore on Google Street View.


Campeche, Campeche, Mexico was home to 16,647 inhabitants in the year 1895 making it around the 400th most populated in the Americas. It is one of only four still largely intact walled cities in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Explore on Google Street View.

Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina was home to 663,854 inhabitants around 1900 making it the 4th most populated in the Americas and one of the most populated in the World. Explore on Google Street View.

Tlacotalpan, Veracruz, Mexico was home to 5,770 inhabitants in 1895 making it around the 1,407th most populated municipality in the Americas. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. Explore on Google Street View.

Staunton, Virginia, United States was home to 7,289 inhabitants in the year 1900 making it around the 1061st most populated in the Americas. Explore on Google Street View.

Salamina, Caldas, Colombia was home to around 8,000 inhabitants around the year 1900 making it around the 956th most populated in the Americas. Note the dramatic mountain landscape the town is build on. Explore on Google Street View.

Seattle, Washington, United States was home to 80,671 inhabitants in 1900 making it around the 63rd most populated in the Americas. Explore on Google Street View.

Just like the other population data I've released, this is a work in progress. I will be adding to & refining the data as I come across new information. I invite you to help me locate reliable sources of data to add to these collections. Below is a series of maps of the Americas for reference. Each has a description which contains a link back to the original high resolution map. 

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). North America, Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9]

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). South America, Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9]

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). Mexico, Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9]

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). Central America, Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9]

Rand McNally and Company. (1903). West Indies, Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. Retrieved from the David Rumsey Collection. [9]

2 Methods of Collection

The data used for the American municipalities came from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1900). [2]. It appears to be a complete source of information for the majority of the American municipalities. A problem arose concerning New England's municipalities since many times what they define as a "town" is more like a township with a few village centres in it. It is because of this and the inability to discriminate between many actual municipalities and those that included a large rural population thereby inflating it, there may be an overrepresentation of municipalities especially in Massachusetts and Connecticut due to their high population counts.

One exception to note concerning the American population data is that although St. Joseph, Missouri's official population figure for 1900 was 102,979 inhabitants I have calculated a different figure of approximately 68,000 inhabitants. I did this because the official was questionable since the civic leaders at the time tried to artificially inflate St. Joseph's population count. When one looks at the trends for St. Joseph, the population in 1890 was 52,324 and in 1910 it was 77,403. There is no known explanation for why the population would have lost 25,576 inhabitants during the first decade of the twentieth century. This is a very significant decline especially at that time since many municipalities were still growing.

Although Hawaii isn't part of North America, I include it in the data since it is currently a constituent state of the U.S.

Since Britain and its dominions did censuses during the second year of each decade opposed to the USA which did them during the first year, the population data for Canada is for 1901 opposed to 1900 for the USA. Newfoundland's data is very difficult to come by since it was a colony not yet part of Canada at the time. Some fairly good figures have been made for the municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants from Darling & son Ltd. (1901). Census of the British Empire. [1] and I'm fairly sure that nearly all of them are listed in this article. Much of the data for Canada came from the Dept. of the Interior, Canada. (1906). Atlas of Canada. [7]. Which included the populations of urban areas in Canada for the year 1901.

The data for Mexico from Rand McNally & Co.'s Enlarged Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide. (1903). [9] is for 1895. Not many other sources were used since this one was the most comprehensive and accurate single source I could find. Other sources tend to round up the population figures. This source also correlates with Noriega, E. (1898). Geografía de la República Mexicana. [52] which also cites 1895 population figures for Mexican municipalities.

Rand McNally's business atlas also provided and supplemented much of the data for the Caribbean and Central America. For places like Costa Rica though, it appears that some of the figures might have been estimates since they tend to be rounded to the nearest thousand. Other sources found also rounded the figures to similar amounts. Overall, Rand NcNally's business atlas has been quite helpful in supplying a lot of data for many places in this article.

Data collected for many places in Haiti was rounded and in some cases it appears to be bit higher in population than expected. This observation was made when plotting the municipalities onto the interactive Google map. I speculate that some of the figures may have included large adjacent rural parish populations (i.e., some municipalities and parishes might have been consolidated). Although it is also possible that some municipalities have simply lost population and infrastructure.

Rand McNally's business atlas also provided much of the data for the South American population data. It was also supplemented with Cram, G. F. (1901). Cram's Standard American Railway System Atlas of the World. [5]. The population data from this atlas is rounded to the nearest thousand and it appears to be less accurate. Some figures appear to be a bit on the enthusiastic side. Due to this, municipalities that had a population figure of 5,000 were excluded. 

When it comes to data from Lahmeyer, J. (2006). Population statistics. [6] it is also rounded. Many of the figures from Rand McNally's atlas tend to be quite close to the figures cited by Lahmeyer except Lahmeyer's is typically rounded to the nearest hundred or thousand keeping a minimum of three significant figures. Lahmeyer's data seemed a bit off from Rand's South American population data so I excluded it as a source for South America's data.

A couple of other sources were used for Latin America. The data for the Chilean municipalities was corroborated by the 1895 Chilean census [53]. The data for Paraguay was corroborated by a document published by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1892 [54].

The administrative division between different places in Latin America varies (like the aforementioned New England example). There may be a number of urban areas that were not incorporated & were part of regional municipalities or departments (i.e., in Puerto Rico) so it's difficult to speculate their populations. Also, some incorporated municipalities might cover larger areas leading to a higher population count (i.e., in El Salvador).

 

3 Legend

In this section I outline what each column header and abbreviation means in section the following section, 4.

3.1 Column Headers

• Untitled: This number column is permanent in its order and doesn't change as you sort by different columns. This can be used for reference as you're comparing data. 
• # (Number): This column indicates the population rank of the municipality within all of North America. 
• Municipality: The name of the municipality is given. Alternative spellings are separated by "/" and if the municipality has been renamed (but not absorbed, amalgamated, or reincorporated as massive area) the new name will be in (parentheses). 
• Admin. (Administrative Division): The principle administrative division the municipality is found in (i.e., state, province, territory, department, etc.). 
• C/D/C (Country/Dominion/Country): For a complete breakdown, see section 5.1 
• Population: The population of the municipality in c. 1900. 1900 (USA), 1901 (British Empire), 1895 (Mexico). 
• # in Admin. (Number in Administrative Division): This is the municipality's c. 1900 population rank relative to the other municipalities in its administrative division. 
• Total in Admin. (Total in Administrative Division): This is the total number of municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants c. 1900 present in the administrative division the municipalities is found in. 
• Admin. Cap. (Administrative Division): If the municipality is the capital of the administrative division that it is found in a "yes" is displayed. 
• # in C/D/C (# in Country/Dominion/Colony): The municipality's c. 1900 population rank relative to other municipalities present in the country, dominion, or colony it is found in. 
• Total in C/D/C (Total in Country/Dominion/Colony): The total number of municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants c. 1900 present in the country, dominion, or colony that the municipality is found in. 
• Cap. (Capital): If the municipality is the highest capital in the country, dominion, or colony c. 1900 a "yes" is displayed (London, Washington, Paris, Amsterdam/The Hague, and Copenhagen take precedent over their colonies though). 
• Continent: North America (including the Caribbean) or South America. 
• # by Continent: The municipality's population rank within the continent it is found on. 
• Empire: Which empire the municipality is found in. i.e., USA, British, French, Dutch, Danish, 
• # in Empire: If the municipality is part of an empire this column displays the municipality's population rank relative to the other municipalities in that empire with more than 5,000 inhabitants found within the Americas. 
• Total in Empire: If the municipality is part of an empire this column displays the number of municipalities with more than 5,000 inhabitants found within that empire within the Americas. 
• Language: The primary languages spoken in the country the municipality is found in. French and English speaking Canada is differentiated. 
• # by Language: The municipality's population rank by language predominantly spoken. 
• Navigable Waterbody: The name of the navigable waterbody the municipality is on [5]. 
• Ocean: If the municipality is on or is in some way connected to an ocean by a navigable waterway (naturally, by canal, or other engineering projects), the name of that ocean is displayed in this column. If the municipality is on a landlocked navigable waterbody "Inland" is displayed [5]. 
• Sources: The sources for the population figure. Each number corresponds to the numbers used in the reference section at the end of this article.

3.2 Abbreviations

4 The Population Data

In this section is one interactive table and an interactive Google Map. The table has its own independent scroll bars on the bottom and on the right of its interface. You can use them to navigate from column to column and row to row.

Beneath the table is the interactive Google Map, close by to allow one to go back and forth easily. A star icon represents 100,000+ inhabitants, diamond 20,000-100,000, square 10,000-20,000, and circle 5,000-10,000. When you click on an icon it will display the corresponding municipality's population and rank. Since initially making the map I've updated the ranking so it might be a little bit off the further you go down. The table is the most reliable source. There's a full screen option on the map in the upper right of its interface, that version has a search bar that you can use to search for any of the municipalities.

- Map of the Americas with Street View enabled (Unstable, reverts to normal map frequently).

- Information last updated 10/11/2014.

5 Observations

5.1 Number of Municipalities per Colony/Dominion/Country

The following table shows all of the colonies, dominions, countries in the Americas in the year 1900. They are ranked by their populations. The entire population of the Americas in the year 1900 was around 145,720,075 inhabitants. 140,250,475 lived in one of the countries or dominions and 5,469,600 lived in a territorial possession.

Below is a pie chart showing the distribution of population between the individual entities listed in the table above.

Below is another pie chart, this one showing the distribution of municipalities in the Americas by the entities listed in the table at the beginning of this section.

6 Further Reading and Related Articles

For links to all of my related writings you can visit my Population Data and Architecture Articles page.

You can help support me and my work by becoming a patron: http://www.patreon.com/billywilson

7 Glossary

• Amalgamation: The process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. 
• British North America: A term to refer to the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America. Largely used in the 19th century. 
• Commuter City: A smaller city that is found on the periphery of a much larger city. Commuter cities are also commonly referred to as a "bedroom community" since many of the inhabitants may live in them but travel to the primary city for their occupation. 
• Incorporated: Refers to a "municipal corporation" which is a political subdivision composed of citizens and a geographic area. In this article's case it may be a village, town, or city. 
• Urban Designation: The official title of "unincorporated", "village", "town", or "city". 
• Primary Predecessor Municipality: The dominant municipality that is usually thought of as absorbing other municipalities through the process of amalgamation. Typically the name of the dominant municipality is retained. 

8 References

To keep things neat and manageable, I utilize one universal reference list for all of my population and architecture related articles: Reference List for Population Data and Architecture Articles.