1890 United States census
The 1890 United States census was taken beginning June 2, 1890. The census determined the resident population of the United States to be 62,979,766, an increase of 25.5 percent over the 50,189,209 persons enumerated during the 1880 census. The data reported that the distribution of the population had resulted in the disappearance of the American frontier.
| 1890 United States census | ||
|---|---|---|
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Seal of the Department of the Interior | ||
1890 census form | ||
| General information | ||
| Country | United States | |
| Authority | Census Office | |
| Results | ||
| Total population | 62,979,766 ( 25.5%) | |
| Most populous | New York 6,003,174 | |
| Least populous | Nevada 47,335 | |
This was the first census in which a majority of states recorded populations of over one million and the first in which three cities, New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia, recorded populations of over one million. The census also saw Chicago rise in rank to the nation's second-most populous city, a position it would hold until Los Angeles, the 57th-most populous city as of 1890, supplanted it in 1990. This was the first U.S. census to use machines to tabulate the collected data.
Most of the 1890 census materials were destroyed on 10 January 1921 when the Commerce Department building caught fire, and in the subsequent disposal of the remaining damaged records.