| In July 1790, the U.S. Congress authorized the selection of
a site “not exceeding 10 miles square” somewhere in the Potomac
River region to serve as the permanent seat of the United States government.
In the interim, Philadelphia would serve for a decade as the nation’s
capital. On Dec. 12, 1800, Washington, D.C., officially became the nation’s
capital. In commemoration of this event, the Census Bureau offers the following:
D.C. . . . Then and Now
14,093
The population of the District of Columbia (D.C.) at the time of the 1800
census. This included the population of three places within the district:
Washington (3,210), Georgetown (2,993) and Alexandria (4,971). At the
time, the district included territory taken from Virginia in 1791 but
later retroceded to Virginia in 1846. A total of 8,144 people lived within
the District of Columbia’s current boundaries. <http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-1-1.pdf>
570,898
Estimated D.C. population as of July 1, 2002. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/000456.html>
802,178
Population of the district, according to the 1950 census. This was its
peak population.
<http://www.census.gov/prod/cen1990/cph2/cph-2-1-1.pdf>
157
Number of D.C. residents per square mile in 1800. At the time, the District
contained 90 square miles of land. (Source: Historical Statistics
of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)
9,317
Number of D.C. residents per square mile in 2000. The city reached its
highest density in 1950, with 13,151 residents per square mile. Since
1940, the District has consisted of 61 square miles of land. <http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en>
(Source: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times
to 1970.)
About 1-in-5
Ratio of district residents who lived in a rural area in 1800. The district
continued to have a rural population as late as 1880, when 18,000, or
1-in-10, of its residents lived in rural areas. (Source: Historical
Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)
72
Percentage of D.C.’s population who were minorities as of July 1,
2002. The 1960 census was the first to show that D.C. had become a majority-minority
place. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001342.html>
(Also Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to
1970.)
Down on the Farm ... in D.C.
1,000
The number of D.C. residents who lived on farms in 1910, the most recent
census to show a farm population in the district. As late as 1950, 1,000
acres of D.C. land consisted of farmland. (Source: Historical Statistics
of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.) |
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