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Facts by Decade

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Within Historical Censuses & Surveys

Facts by Decade

Censuses are not conducted in a vacuum. They occur amidst internal and external crisis, shifts in cultural interests, and events that become "defining moments" for each generation. Census data reflect the growth of the population as well as the changing values and interests of the American people.

Fast Facts provides a portrait of the United States both statistically and culturally. In addition to census-related statistics, the innovations, events, and icons of each decade are highlighted. Each page illustrates the thought and culture of the population counted during each decade's census.

1910
  • 2020
  • 2010
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  • 1990
  • 1980
  • 1970
  • 1960
  • 1950
  • 1940
  • 1930
  • 1920
  • 1910
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  • 1860
  • 1850
  • 1840
  • 1830
  • 1820
  • 1810
  • 1800
  • 1790

1910

ICONS: HMS Titanic, Jim Thorpe, World War I

Population

92,228,496
 U.S. Resident Population
26.0
 Population per square mile of land area
21.0
 Percent increase of population from 1900 to 1910
46
 Number of States

10 Largest Urban Places

Rank
 Place
 Population
1
 New York City, NY 4,766,883
2
 Chicago, IL 2,185,283
3
 Philadelphia, PA 1,549,008
4
 St. Louis, MO 687,029
5
 Boston, MA 670,585
6
 Cleveland, OH 560,663
7
 Baltimore, MD 558,485
8
 Pittsburgh, PA 533,905
9
 Detroit, MI 465,766
10
 Buffalo, NY 423,715

The 1910 Census

Cost $15,968,000
Cost per Capita (cents) 17.3
Total Pages in Published Reports 11,456
Number of Enumerators 70,286 (plus 335 supervisors)
Census Bureau Director Edward Dana Durand
Number of Questions on the Questionnaire 32
Number of Questions on the Long Form N/A

Pop Culture

  • W. D. Boyce incorporates the Boy Scouts of America on February 8, 1910.
  • Fire kills 146 workers at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, on March 25, 1911.
  • Arizona becomes the 48th state and last of the contiguous states admitted to the Union on February 14, 1912.
  • HMS Titanic strikes an iceberg on April 14, 1912.
  • Jim Thorpe, and American Indian from Oklahoma's Fox and Sac Nation, wins gold medals in the pentathalon and decathalon during the 1912 Olympic Games.
  • Willa Cather publishes O Pioneers! in 1913.
  • The Panama Railway steamship "SS Ancon," made the first official transit of the Panama Canal on August 15, 1914.
  • President Woodrow Wilson signs the Jones-Shafroth Act on March 2, 1917, establishing the right of U.S. citizenship to residents of Puerto Rico.
  • On April 6, 1917, the U.S. Congress declares war on Germany, marking America's entry into World War I.
  • The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified on January 16, 1919, prohibiting the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" in the United States. "Prohibition" would be repealed in 1933.
  • Eight members of the Chicago White Sox are eventually banned for life from baseball after convictions for intentionally losing games, allowing the Cincinnati Reds to win the 1919 World Series.
Page Last Revised - October 31, 2023