Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-24
The Center of Population of This
Great Republic
NOW IN THE STATE OF INDIANA
Once 1t Was onithe Eastern Sho'
of Maryland.
CHI NGES BY ABE S


population in the last ten years. and
naturally the aggregate has moved the CEN
ter point from its. latitude and longitude of
1890. 1t is now at Columbus, Indiana, about
twenty miles from Westport in the same
state where 1t stood ten years ago
The center was computed in 1880 to in
fuence the selection of a site for the pro-
posed new capital of the country. 1t was
found that the center of the four millions
of population We then had was a spot on
the eastern shore of Maryland, twenty
three miles east of Baltimore. This fact
was a strong argument in favor of Balti-
more and Annapolis, who were earnest
rivals for the prize.
Since 1TD the westward progress of the
center point of population has been sos
miles. From the peach orchards on the
beautiful shores of the Chesapeake to the
fertile meadows of southern Indiana is a
long journey, even IL. these days of railroads
and telegraphs. But when Washington
chosen as the site of the new capital the
men who journeyed that far were looked
upon as great travellers. They were rarer
than men who have been around the world
In our day. Pioneers had crossed the AL
leghenies to settle in Kentucky and Ten
nesSee, and there faint glimmering
of the possibility of the ultimate settle
ment of the rich lands of the west. On this
account Washington selected the banks Of
the Potomac for the new capital, suppos-
geographical and business center of the
country would, sooner or later, be fixed
for all time at that spot. Even when he
died in 179S, it seemed to him that the city
he had founded would be the emporium of
the west and the fixed center of population.
Was Then in Maryland.
1t was not until two years after Wash
ington's death that the center of population
touched the meridian of longitude on which
the city of Washington stands. 1t had
travelled from 1890 to 1900 a distance OF
forty-One miles, and was still in the state
of Maryland. The growth of the country
in that period was entirely in the region
west Of the Alleghenies, largely in Ohio
and Kentucky.i This great western coun-
try was then peopled by savage tribes OF
Indians, and the pioneers who made their
way into it carried to their daily tasks in
the corniela in the forest their trusty
rifles together ,.-thHthe ak or the hoe.
The ordinance of i7S7. together with the
purchase of the Indian titles to land. gave
some sense of security TO these hardy fore
runners of civilization, and they poured in
by the thousands in 1.-THE last decade of the
eighteenth century.
The Louisiana Purchase.
In the absence of wagon roads or water
communication with the seaboard these far
western settlers developed commerce by
means of hatboats with the French mer-
chants of New Orleans. This suggested
1893. BY this purchase the vast territory
stretching from the mouth of the Missis-
sippi to the region that now forms Montana
and Wyoming, comprising fourteen states,
was added to the United States. In conse-
quence the center point of population after
1910 moved nearly eleven miles to the south
in making its westward progress of thirty
SIX miles. 1t had now passed out of Mary
land into Virginia, within whose bounda-
ries it remained for half century.
The annexation of the Louisiana territory
was not the only cause OF this downward
movement Of the center point The lnVen-
ton of the cotton gin had tremendous ef-
feet upon the increase Of population in the
first twenty years after the center point
passed the longitude of Washington. Eli
Whitney invented the cotton gin while
teaching school in Georgia, whittier he had
gone from Yale College in 1892. The ex
port Of cotton that year was only l3S.OU
pounds, worth $50 600. Whitney's invention
increased the export in 1900 to lS,OD,oO
pounds, worth 100000. This rapid devel-
opment naturally called for a great In
crease in population, much of which, OF
course, slave, but considerable part
cons: sted of English and German immi-
grants. -#r
1t Slowly Crosses Virginia.
In the next decade also the center point
dipped slightly southwark, reaching point
sixteen miles north of Woodstock, Va In
this interval the westward progress of the
country was greater than in any preceding
ten wears The distance between the center
points of 1910 and 1870 precisely fifty
miles. 1t was if the entire population
of the United States, which was then be-
tween 1000 900 and 5000, 900, had marched
westward Just five miles every year, every
man. woman and child, however, turning a
little all the while to the left. The intiu-
ence of the cotton gin in the states OF
Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia produced
there the greatest increase of population
known in any part of the United States.
There was also in this decade something
IS !, .i,,
Fultons demonstration with the Clermont
in 1907 had reduced the long journey neces-
sary to reach the west or south by nearly
one-half.
In the decade from 1920 to 1880 the CEN
ter point travelled thirty-nne miles, again
being drawn southwark. The settlement OF
| the Louisiana purchase and the acquisition
| of Florida together with the continuing de-
velopment in agriculture and business of
| the cotton states. had so strong attrac-
| ton that this time the population center
| was twenty miles further south than it had
| been ten years before, and nearly forty
| miles further than it was in 1890. Since
| 1880 1t has slowly moved northward.
The Center Moves NOrthward.
| In 1910 the center was tfty-five miles far
| Their west at a point sixteen miles south of
Clarksburg now in West Virginia. In that
| distance it had gone northward ten miles.
| This northward tendency was due, probably,
to the openingrof the national road over the
| Alleghenies and to- the largely increasing
traffic of passenger packets on the Erie
| canal BY way of the canal and the great
| lakes the pioneers aof Ohio, Michigan and
| Illinois made a longer journey in going to
| their new homes than their fathers had
| made fifty years before in going to Ken
lucky and Tennessee but t!av made 1t in
ten days. where the eformer were never less
than month on the road. 1t was during
| the period from 1880 to 1910 that the
| prairie states OF Indiana and Illinois, and
| southern Michigan ocand Wisconsin, were
settled up.
| The annexation ofsTexas drew the center
point slightly south~ard in it's westward
| march from 1910 tof1S50. In the latter year
| it was twenty three miles southeast of
| Parkersburg, ". Va, and fifty-ive miles
west of the Previous center. During this
decade the railroads began to play their
mart in the westward course of empire.
Great causes combined in the following
decade to hasten the westward march. The
invention of the reaper and mower, the in
yention of the threshing machine the rapid
extension of the railroad system and the
German revolution of 1S4S produced the