The 11th Decennial Census taken in June 1890 marks the first national count in which Washington is counted as a state, rather than a Territory. Washington has seen phenomenal growth in the previous 10 years, with its population well more than quadrupling. The Territory has added nine new counties since the 1880 census in anticipation of statehood, and every county save two see increases in population. The westward trend of population concentration is well illustrated in 1890, with King and Pierce counties replacing Walla Walla and Whitman counties as the state's most populous. All ethnic groups with the exception of Chinese see substantial growth, but the number of Native Americans living off-reservation declines. The ratio of women to men declines somewhat, but more women are in the workforce..
Special Note on the 1890 Census: Technology Takes Over
As the population of the country burgeoned in the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Census Bureau was having increasing difficulty processing the counts with each succeeding census. The magnitude of this problem was driven home when the full tabulation of the 1880 census was not officially finished for nearly a decade. Clearly the days of hand counting were past, and the bureau turned to technology to aid its efforts.
A young census employee, Herman Hollerith, was involved in the 1880 count and saw the need for automated counting. After trying unsuccessfully to build a counting machine that would use perforated tape, Hollerith found inspiration in the Jacquard weaving loom, and he invented an electronic counting device that used the same sort of punch cards as weavers had been using since the early part of the nineteenth century.
The Hollerith Machine revolutionized the census. The data gathered by enumerators was transferred to punch cards. The cards were then fed into the Hollerith Machine, which used metal pins to complete circuits through the punched holes, and these circuits counted and cross-tabulated census data. The Census Office leased a fleet of the machines for the 1890 census count, which finished months ahead of schedule and far under budget. In 1896, Hollerith founded the Tabulating Machine Company, and almost 20 years later, after several mergers and management changes, this company became the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation.
Population Overview
November 1889 was a big month for new states, with North and South Dakota admitted on November 7, Montana on November 8, and Washington on November 11. In the preceding 10 years Washington's population grew from 75,116, to 349,390 an increase of 274,274 (365.13 percent), making it the 34th most populous state at the time it entered the union. The state's population density in 1890 was 5.22 persons per square mile, compared to 1.12 10 years earlier. So rapid was Washington's growth in the 1880-1890 decade that the census bureau took special notice:
"The growth of Washington has been phenomenal, the population in 1890 being nearly five times that of 1880. As is shown by the state census taken in 1885, this growth has been almost entirely during the last five years of the decade. The inducements which have attracted settlers are in the main its fertile soil and ample rainfall, which enable farming to be carried on without irrigation over almost the entire state" ("Progress of the Nation").
There were 34 counties in Washington Territory in 1890, nine more than the 25 at the time of the 1880 census. (Today Washington has 39 counties.) If 1889 was a big year for new states, 1883 was a big year for new counties in what was still Washington Territory. The following county adjustments and additions were made by the Territorial Legislature between 1880 and statehood in November 1889:
- 1881: Garfield County created from part of Columbia County.
- 1883: Asotin County formed from part of Garfield County.
- 1883: Adams County formed from parts of Whitman County.
- 1883: Franklin County formed from parts of Whitman County.
- 1883: Lincoln County formed from part of Spokane County.
- 1883: Douglas County formed from part of Lincoln County.
- 1883: Kittitas County formed from part of Yakima County.
- 1883: Okanogan County formed from part of Stevens County.
- 1883: Skagit County formed from part of Whatcom County.
Population Statistics: Counties
The population of each of Washington Territory's 34 counties in 1890, with comparisons to the 1880 count, was:
- King: 63,989, increase of 57,079 (826 percent) above 1880 count of 6,910
- Pierce: 50,940, increase of 47,621 (1435 percent) above 1880 count of 3,319
- Spokane: 37,487, increase of 33,225 (780 percent) above 1880 count of 4,262
- Whitman: 19,109, increase of 12,095 (172.44 percent) above 1880 count of 7,014
- Whatcom: 18,591 increase of 15,454 (492.64 percent) above 1880 count of 3137
- Walla-Walla: 12,224, increase of 3,508 (40.25 percent) above 1880 count of 8,716
- Clark: 11,709, increase of 6,219 (113.28 percent above 1880 count of 5,490
- Lewis: 11,499, increase of 8,899 (342.27 percent) above 1880 count of 2,600
- Thurston: 9,675, increase of 6,405 (195.87 percent) above 1880 count of 3,270
- Lincoln: 9,312 (did not exist in 1880)\
- Chehalis: 9,249, increase of 8328 (904.23 percent) above 1880 count of 921
- Kittitas: 8,777 (did not exist in 1880)
- Skagit: 8,747 (did not exist in 1880)
- Snohomish: 8,514, increase of 6,677 (481.39 percent) above 1880 count of 1,387
- Jefferson: 8,368, increase of 6,656 (388.79 percent) above 1880 count of 1,712
- Columbia: 6,709, decrease of 395 (.56 percent under 1880 count of 7,103
- Cowlitz: 5,917, increase of 3,855 (186.95 percent) above 1880 count of 2,062
- Klickitat: 5,167, increase of 1,112 (27.42 percent) above 1880 count of 4,055
- Kitsap: 4,624, increase of 2,886 (166.05 percent) above 1880 count of 1,738
- Yakima: 4,420, increase of 1,609 (57.24 percent) above 1880 count of 2,811
- Pacific: 4,358, increase of 2713 (164.92 percent) above 1880 count of 1,645
- Stevens: 4,341, increase of 3,096 (248.67 percent) above 1880 count of 1,245
- Garfield: 3,897 (did not exist in 1880)
- Douglas: 3,161 (did not exist in 1880)
- Mason: 2,826, increase of 2,187 (342.25 percent) above 1880 count of 639
- Clallam: 2,771, increase of 2,133 ((334.32 percent) over 1880 count of 638
- Wahkiakum: 2,526, increase of 928 (58.07 percent) above 1880 count of 1,598
- Adams: 2,098 (did not exist in 1880)
- San Juan: 2,072, increase if 1,124 (118.56 percent) above 1880 count of 948
- Island: 1,787, increase of 700 (64.39 percent) above 1880 count of 1,087
- Asotin: 1,580 (did not exist in 1880)
- Okanogan: 1,467 (did not exist in 1880)
- Skamania: 774, decrease of 35 (4.33 percent) under 1880 count of 809
- Franklin: 696 (did not exist in 1880)
Population Statistics: Cities and Towns
The 10 largest cities and towns in Washington state in 1890 were:
- Seattle: 42,837 (1,112.5 percent increase over 1880 count of 3,553)
- Tacoma: 36,006 (3,472 percent increase over 1880 count of 1,008)
- Spokane: 19,222 (5,299.43 percent increase over 1880 count of 356)
- Bellingham: 8,135 (no count available for 1880)
- Walla Walla: 4,709 (31.24 percent increase over 1880 count of 3,588)|
- Olympia: 4,698 (281.33 percent increase over 1880 count of 1,232)
- Port Townsend: 4,558 (397.05 percent increase over 1880 count of 917)
- Vancouver: 3,545 (105.86 percent increase over 1880 count of 1,722)
- Ellensburg: 2,768 (no count available for 1880)
- Centralia: 2,026 (no count available for 1880)
Population Characteristics: Race
The 1890 census was the third census following the end of the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, but the question of how to classify America's African American population still emphasized degrees of "blackness" in a manner that would be unacceptable today. In 1890 census takers (called "enumerators") were instructed in how to handle the count of the 7,470,040 American citizens who were once slaves or descended from slaves.
"The word 'black' should be used to describe those persons who have three-fourths or more black blood; 'mulatto,' those persons who have from three-eighths to five-eighths black blood; 'quadroon,' those persons who have one-fourth black blood; and 'octoroon,' those persons who have one-eighth or any trace of black blood" (Measuring America).
It is not clear from the enumerators' instructions just what the purpose of this racial parsing was at the time. The term "colored" was used to describe African Americans and all other non-Caucasian racial groups, including what were termed "civilized Indians.
The 1890 counts, by racial classification, were:
- Whites: 340,513, up from 67,199 in 1880 (+506.72 percent)
- "Negro Descent": 1,602, up from 325 in 1880 (+492.92 percent)\
- Black: 1,044
- Mulattoe: 371
- Quadroon: 101
- Octoroon: 86
- Chinese: 3,260, up from 3,186 in 1880 (+0.23 percent)
- Japanese: 360, up from a single person of Japanese descent in 1880 count.
As in the 1870 and 1880 censuses, the approach to the Indian count deserves separate comment. Although the 1890 census was the first to include the enumeration of all Indians as a goal, in one respect it seemed a step backwards.
Under the U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, the Census was to count only "Indians not taxed." In the 1870 census, Indians on reservations and those "roaming individually, or in bands, over unsettled tracts of country" had been considered "Indians not taxed." Ten years later, believing that this classification system had resulted in a serious undercount, the 1880 the census included under "Indians not taxed" only those Indians actually living on reservations, and included in the category of "civilized Indians" all Indians who were not on reservations, including those "roaming individually, or in bands, over unsettled tracts of country."
The 1890 census reverted back to the pre-1880 definition and instructed it enumerators accordingly:
"By the phrase 'Indians not taxed' is meant Indians living on reservations under the care of Government agents or roaming individually or in bands over unsettled tracts of country.
Indians not in tribal relations, whether full-bloods or halfbreeds, who are found mingled with the white population, residing in white families, engaged as servants or laborers, or living in huts or wigwams on the outskirts of towns or settlements, are to be regarded as a part of the ordinary population of the country, and are to be embraced by the enumeration" (Prologue magazine).
Although the reasons for this change are not clear, it may have been justified by the fact that for the first time, the Census Bureau in 1890 made a concerted effort to count all Native Americans, regardless of their status as "taxed" or "untaxed," with Congress empowering the Superintendent of the Census to
"employ special agents or other means to make an enumeration of all Indians living within the jurisdiction of the United States, with such information as to their condition as may be obtainable, classifying them as to Indians taxed, and Indians not taxed" (Prologue magazine).
With those caveats, the 1890 census provides the following figures for Washington state's Indian population:
- Total number of Indians: 11,181
- Reservation Indians not taxed: 7,516
- Indians off reservation, self-supporting, and taxed: 3,655
- Indians in prison: 10
Population Characteristics: Native-born and Foreign-born
For purposes of the census, "native-born" refers to those born in America's states and territories, and "foreign-born" refers to those born in other countries or colonies, including what is today Canada
- Washington Territory native-born population in 1890: 259,385 (up from 60,313 in 1880)
- Washington Territory foreign-born population in 1890: 99,005 (up from 15,803 in 1880)
- Native-born males: 152,632
- Native-born females: 106,753
The number of people living in Washington in 1890 who were born in the state or in Washington Territory was 54,227. The other states contributing the most people to the native-born population of Washington Territory in 1890 were:
- Illinois: 17,053
- New York; 16,065
- Iowa: 14,512
- Ohio: 13,882
- California: 12,803
- Missouri: 12,359
The countries contributing the most people to the foreign-born population of Washington Territory in 1890 were:
- Canada and Newfoundland: 17,412
- Germany: 15,399
- Sweden: 10,272
- England: 9,854
- Norway: 8,334
Population Characteristics: Age
The 1890 census provides detailed information on the age of the state's residents, subdivided by sex, nativity, and race. Only the classification by sex is included here:
- Total males, 1890: 217,562 (62.27 percent of total population)
- Total females: 131,828 (37.73 percent of total population)
Under five years of age
- Males: 19,494
- Females: 18,705
Five to nine years of age
- Males: 18,103
- Females: 17,449
10-14 years of age
- Males: 14,734
- Females: 14,218
15-19 years of age
- Males: 14,025
- Females: 12,261
20-24 years of age
- Males: 26,402
- Females: 14,481
25-29 years of age
- Males: 31,823
- Females: 13,887
30-34 years of age
- Males: 27,156
- Females: 11,456
35-44 years of age
- Males: 33,211
- Females: 14,462
45-54 years of age
- Males: 18,093
- Females: 8,356
55-64 years of age
- Males: 12,394
- Females: 6,187
Over age 65
- Males: 2127
- Females: 366
Population Characteristics: Sex
Total male population of Washington state in 1890: 217,562 (62.27 percent)
Total male population of Washington Territory in 1880: 45,973 (61.20 percent)
Total female population of Washington state in 1890: 131,828 (37.73 percent)
Total female population of Washington Territory in 1880: 29,143 (38.80 percent)
- Total white males: 211,126 (97.04 percent of all males)
- Total white females: 129,387 (98.15 percent of all females)
- Total Negro males: 1,104
- Total Negro females: 498
- Total Chinese males: 3,210
- Total Chinese females: 50
- Total Japanese males: 294
- Total Japanese females: 66
- Total "civilized" Indian males: 1,828
- Total "civilized" Indian females: 1,827
The almost exact correlation in numbers between Indian males and females is remarkable, and perhaps suspicious in light of the ever-changing methods used by the Census Bureau to count the country's First Peoples.
Population Characteristics: Marital Status
Total male population 1890: 217,562
- Single: 146,851
- Married: 63,538
- Widowed: 5,145
- Divorced: 761
- Status unknown: 1,267
Total female population 1890: 131,828
- Single: 69,902
- Married: 56,380
- Widowed: 4,986
- Divorced: 447
- Status unknown: 113
Population Characteristics: Education
Total public schools in Washington Territory, 1890: 879
Academies and other schools: 159
- Total teachers: 1,844
- Total male teachers: 753
- Total female teachers: 1,091
Total student enrollment: 60,194
- Total white enrollment: 60,162
- Total white male enrollment: 30,011
- Total white female enrollment: 30,151
The 1890 educations statistics for "coloreds" included persons of Negro descent, Chinese, Japanese, and "civilized Indians." Separate numbers were provided for African Americans, but not for the other racial groups:
Total colored enrollment: 679
- Total colored male enrollment: 327
- Total colored female enrollment: 352
- Total Negro enrollment: 104
- Total Negro male enrollment: 48
- Total Negro female enrollment: 56
Although the black population of the state increased by nearly 500 percent between 1880 and 1890, the number of Negros enrolled in schools actually dropped by 2 percent. The census records do not appear to explain this lack of progress in black education.
Population Characteristics: Illiteracy
Under the general category of "illiteracy," the 1890 census included persons who could read but not write, and persons who could neither read nor write.
- Total persons age 10 years of older: 260,940
- Total males age 10 years and older: 165,444
- Total females age 10 years and older: 95,496
Total illiterates 10 years of age and older: 11,778 (4.51 percent of age group)
- Males: 7,639
- Females: 4,139
Total who could read but not write: 2,111 (0.81 percent of age group)
- Males: 1,225
- Females: 886
Total who could neither read nor write: 9,667 (3.70 percent of age group)
- Males: 6,414
- Females: 3,253
Populations Characteristics: Occupations
Total population 10 years and older, 1890: 275,639
Total population 10 years and older, 1880: 55,720
Increase in population 10 years and older, 1880-1890: 219,919 (+253 percent)
- Total residents working at occupation, 1890: 164,696 (59.75 percent)
- Total residents working at occupation, 1880: 30,122 (54.06 percent)
The census bureau in 1890 used five primary classifications for its occupational statistics:
- Agriculture, Fisheries, and Mining
- Professional Services
- Domestic and Personal Services
- Trade and Transportation
- Manufacturing and Mechanical Industries.
The total population 10 years and older in 1890 and their distribution by sex among various classes of occupation were:
- Total population 10 years and older: 275,639
- Total male population 10 years and older: 179,965
- Total female population 10 years and older: 95,674
- Total persons engaged in agriculture, fisheries, and mining: 47,943
- Total males engaged in agriculture, fisheries, and mining: 47,291
- Total females engaged in agriculture, fisheries, and mining: 652
- Total persons in professional services: 8,214
- Total males engaged in professional services: 6,598
- Total females engaged in professional services: 1,616
- Total persons engaged in personal and domestic services: 92,282
- Total males engaged in personal and domestic services: 86,692
- Total females engaged in personal and domestic services: 5,590
- Total persons engaged in trade and transportation: 29,266
- Total males engaged in trade and transportation: 28,421
- Total females engaged in trade and transportation: 845
- Total persons engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries: 36,973
- Total males engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries: 34,570
- Total females engaged in manufacturing and mechanical industries: 2403
Population Characteristics: Dwellings and Families
Number of dwelling in Washington state in 1890: 68,833
Number of dwellings in Washington Territory in 1880: 15,512
- Number of persons per dwelling, 1890: 5.08
- Number of persons per dwelling, 1880: 4.84
- Number of families, 1890: 70,977
- Number of families, 1898: 16,380
- Average size of families, 1890: 4.92
- Average size of families 1880: 4.59 persons
Population Characteristics: Disabilities
Some of the terminology used in the 1890 census to classify people with disabilities can be jarring to modern ears. The categories used were "Insane," "Feeble-minded," "Deaf and Dumb," and "Blind." The term "Feeble-minded" replaced the term "Idiotic" used in previous years, which might be deemed a slight improvement by the standards of the day.
- Blind persons in Washington state, 1890: 111
- Ratio per 100,000 population: 31.8
- Blind persons in Washington Territory, 1880: 47
- Ratio per 100,000 population: 62.6
- Deaf mutes in Washington state, 1890: 116
- Ratio per 100,000 population: 23.8
- Deaf mutes in Washington Territory, 1880: 24
- Ratio per 100,000 population: 32.0
- Insane persons in Washington state, 1890: 380
- Ratio per 100,000 of population: 108.8
- Insane persons in Washington Territory, 1880: 135
- Ratio per 100,000 of population: 179.7
The count of those classified as "feeble-minded" seems especially problematic, in that the census maintains that there were exactly 1,000 feeble-minded persons in Washington state in 1890 and precisely the same number in Washington Territory in 1880. Both the roundness of the number and the sameness of counts taken a decade apart raise suspicions of inaccuracy.
- Feeble-minded persons in Washington state, 1890: 1,000 (all white)
- Feeble-minded males, 1890: 447
- Feeble-minded females, 1890: 553
- Feeble-minded persons in Washington Territory, 1880: 1,000 (952 white, 48 colored)
- Feeble-minded males, 1880: 619
- Feeble-minded females, 1880: 381
It should be noted that the census records contain much more detailed information on the disabled than is presented here.
Miscellaneous Statistics: Value of Real and Personal Property
The assessed value of real and personal property in Washington Territory rose astronomically between 1880 and 1890.
- Total value of real and personal property, 1880: $23,810,603
- Total value of real and personal property, 1890: $760,698,726
- Increase in value 1880-1890: $736,888,123
Miscellaneous Statistics: Established Churches:
A careful count was made in the 1890 census of all the churches in the country, by denomination. Some churches, such as the Baptist, had several divisions, which are not separately set out here.
Total churches in Washington state, 1890: 892
- Methodists: 239
- Congregationalists: 104
- Presbyterian: 99
- Baptist: 96
- Roman Catholic: 86
- Disciples of Christ: 86
- United Brethren: 47
- Lutheran: 35
- Adventist: 31
- Protestant Episcopal: 23
- Unitarian: 12
- Evangelical Association: 7
- Plymouth Brethren: 6
- Reformed: 5
- Salvation Army: 5
- Spiritualists: 4
- Dunkards: 3
- Christian Scientist: 3
- Jewish: 1
- Latter-day Saints: 1
- Theosophical Society: 1
Characteristics of Population: Dying
Washington state population 1890: 349,390
- Total deaths, 1890: 2,695
- Total male deaths: 1,566
- Total female deaths: 1,129
- Deaths per 1,000 population 1890: 7.71
- Deaths per 1,000 population 1880: 10.05
- Deaths per 1,000 population 1870: 9.31
