America Cities on the Move (c1883)
Trace population rankings from 1790-1880
The 1880 census was the first census in the United States to record a city with over one million residents: New York City, with a population of 1,206,299 residents. In the chart above, US cities are ranked by population from 1790-1880, demonstrating both the growth of cities and the changing geographical distribution of residents.
Red lines connect each city to itself over time, allowing a chart reader to quickly get a sense of stability of relative city size over time - and trace the changes in relative rankings between census. A city’s entry to list is represented by arrow fletchings to left of city. (Below - Chicago and San Francisco join top 40 cities in 1850). The atlas also shows when cities consolidate the communities around them (squiggled lines leading to Philadelphia and Brooklyn in 1860).
In the country’s earliest years, the largest cities remain relatively stable, with increasing fluctuation over time. The population of each city is represented a both numeric text and a horizontal bar graph within each city’s cell. As the population of the biggest cities expands, some of the largest cities in 1870 and 1880 have populations so large that their vertical bar graph turns down to accommodate its size.
The 1880 census itself was seen as more statistically sound than the 1870 census, with notable population rises in certain areas of the country that were understood to be not merely a result of population growth, but of more accurate counting. The official count population count rose around 30% between the 1870 and 1880 censuses. At the time of its publishing, the 1880 census was regarded as the largest and most accurate census taken of the country.
Henry Gannett was the first Chief of the United States Geologic Survey and served as the Chief Geographer of the 1880 census. Gannett was one of the country’s most impactful geographers for many years, having his hand in everything from laying out census enumeration districts to the founding of the US Board on Geographic Names. The work itself draws directly on data produced by the 1880 census, and is dedicated to Dr. Francis Walker, the superintendent of the 1880 census.
~ Gannett and Hewes’ Visualizations of the 1880 Census by Meagan Snow
Title: Scribner's statistical atlas of the United States, showing by graphic methods their present condition and their political, social and industrial development
Names: Hewes, Fletcher W. (Fletcher Willis), 1838-1910.
Gannett, Henry, 1846-1914, joint author.
Created / Published: New York, C. Scribner's sons [c1883]
Library of Congress Control Number: a40001834
Some Things Don't Change.
The 3rd graphic looks like my March Madness bracket after the first couple of rounds.