Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-10-14
WEST vIRclNIA's GROWTH
is SHOWN IN DETAIL
Census Bulletin Discloses Instructive
Facts as to Urban b8oyement-
eleven Counties Lost.

even LounttS5 Lost.
Washington. Oct 11.-F5llowi1g the
preliminary announcements which
have been made by the Census Bureau
from time to time of the aggregate
population Ct all places In Wet Vir-
giHia, as enumerated at the Thirteenth
Census, taken as Of April Is, 1910,
| Census Director Durand has issued q
| statement giving additional advance
! details. of VIII ch the more important
| relate to the states urban and rural
| population. The information was Ia
ken from the first state population
| billetil for West Virginia, prepared
urder the supervision Of William G.
Hunt, oh eff statistician for population.
The population OF West Virginia is
Poi, 119. as compared with $3.50 in
| 1900. al increase during the last de-
cade of 262 .319. or 27.4 per cent. In
the same period the total population
OF continental United States increased
| 81 per cent. The rate OF increase for
the state during the last decade has
been larger than that fer any other
decade since 1880
Has Thirty-one Cities.
The state has 81 cities. Wheeling,
the largest, has a population OF 41,641
and Huntington the second city, 3D..
161 inhabitants. Charleston, Parke~s-
burg. Bluefield and Martinsburg. with
% .996. 1882. IL, 1873 and 1888 inhab-
tants. respectively, are the only other
cities in the state having over 10000
lnhabi tants There are also s cities
with 5000 to 10000, 9 with $500 to
5000 AID 10 with less than $500 liz.
habdtants. The aggregate population
of the 81 cities is 232 ,61s. or 10 per
cent Of the total for the state.
Morgantown shows the highest per-
ctntage of increase for the decade.
1928 per cent, and Wheeling the low
est. IL per cent. The high rate shown
for Morgantown Is due in large part
to the annexation Ct three towns.
blueiield, Charleston, Clarksburg and
Huntington show an increase Of over
100 per cent.
The increase i'm the population Of
Wheeling was less during the last de-
cade than during any preceding lie
cade since its Incorporation as a city.
The largest increase, both absolute
and relative, was during 1S701S89
namely. 11.457. or 1914 per cent The
percentage Of increase fer the three
decades from 1910 to 1870 ranged from
GO to As per cent.
County Populations Given.
West Virginia has 50 counties. The
population OF these counties ranges
from 1888 in Grant county to 81,457I
in Kanawha county. There have been
no changes in the territorial boun-
daries of the counties since 1900.
Forty-fcur counties have increased
during the last decade. the rates of
increase ranging from per cent IN
Pendleton and Wayne counties to
1853 per cent i'm Mcdowell county
and the absolute increases from 49,
IN Pendleton county to 80, 100 in Nc
Dowell county. Nineteen counties
show a larger rate of increase than
the state as a whole. Eleven counties
have gone backward, the rates of de-
crease ranging from three-tenths of l
per cent in Jefferson county to 1876
Per cent in Peasants county, and the
absolute decreases from as in Jeffer-
son county to 2,041 In Tyler county
City Movement There Too:
The Census Bureau. for purposes of
discussion, has defined urban popula-
ton as that residing in cities and
ether Incorporated places Of $500 iii
habitants or more and rural popula-
ton as that residing outside OF such
incorporated places.
The urban territory in 1910 con-
tanned 22S,242 inhabitants, or 1877 per
cent of the total population. while
500 SIT inhabitants, or S1.3 per ceat,
lived in rural territory. The urban
territory as it existed in 19OO-that IS,
the incorporated places then having
500 inhabitants or more-contai1ed
125, 465 Inhabitants, or 1871 per cent
OF the total population, while S33, 1886
inhabitants. or $50 per cent lived in
rural territory. There has thus been
considerable increase in the proper
ton CT urban population.
The urban population is contained
in 25 places of $500 inhabitants or
more each comprising 81 cities and
towns. The 1874 places OF less than
$500 inhabitants each, comprising 10I
cities 162 towns and 10 Villages have