York County, Pa., by the U.S. Census numbers, Part II
The Mount Rose exit of Interstate 83 has been jammed with an ever-growing number of motorists since the interstate opened in the late 1950s. It has been designed, redesigned again and again to keep up with the growing number of motorists, including many who commute to Maryland. (See additional aerial photo below, from the other side of town.) Also of interest: Population tops 400,000. York County, by the numbers, Part I and YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Post-high-school prospects rising and Despite historic occurrence among Pennsylvania Dutch, rate is falling and York countians tipping the scales – 2/3 of us are fat or obese.
With U.S. Census numbers starting to flow, it’s time to note some historical facts revealed by the every-10-year count.
For example, when the 6,000-plus Confederates invaded York on June 28, 1863, they probably matched the population of the 8,600-person borough. Many Yorkers had fled to safer places.
Here are some more pieces of the past, followed by a chart showing population trends over the centuries: …
Across town from the Mount Rose exit of Interstate 83, the Hawk Lake golf course in West Manchester Township has given way to a proposed Memorial Hospital site. Land designated for recreation has become more valuable for residential and commercial development, as population grows in York County. A growing York-area population apparently has also convinced Memorial Hospital officials that the region will support a new hospital campus in addition to the always expanding WellSpan footprint.
– The first census in 1750 shows York’s population at about 100 and the county at 6,000.
– At the start of the Civil War in 1860, the county’s census of 68,200 compared to the combined population of York, Springettsbury, Spring Garden and Manchester townships in 2000.
– In 1860, York borough’s population of 8,600 was slightly lower than the combined census of Red Lion and Dallastown boroughs in 2,000.
– Between 1880 and 1930, the Industrial Revolution quadrupled growth of York’s population and doubled York County’s.
– York City’s population peaked in 1950 at 59,704.
– Projections call for York County’s population to easily top 400,000 for the first time. The city, projected to remain above 40,000, will drop below 10 percent of the county’s population for the first time since 1830.
Also of interest:
For additional trends about York County, check out YorkCount indicators.
Archives
– All York Town Square posts from the start. (Key word search by using “find” on browser.)
Census chart appeared in “East of Gettyburg,” numbers courtesy of Georg Sheets’ “Made in York.” For a decade-by-decade listing, see that book. Photos courtesy York Daily Record/Sunday News.
*Edited, 3/9/11.
