The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-05-13

lation by 22.3 miles since 1920 is the smallest
the advance was only IA miles, and in 1920
it was down to 9.S miles.
On the other hand, the southwark advance Of
7.6 miles, recorded in 1880, is far above the
average. Indeed it is a trihe more than the net
southwark movement since 1870; that is to say,
the excess of southwark mileage over nOrthward
The westward advance is reflection of the
development Of the natien-the tremendous
strides made by agriculture in the states west of
the Mississippi; the development of the great oil
industries in Texas and Oklahoma and other
parts of the West, and the steady growth of in
dustry in general in those areas. All these are
in the picture. OIL cattle wheat, manufacturing,
moving pictures, have all had and still exert an
important influence on the steady movement into
the West.
A remarkable fact in the shifting Of the center
of population is the closeness with which through
out its westward path it has chung to the thirty
ninth parallel Of latitude Since 1870 it has
progressed almost in a straight line, reaching
its furthest point north % miles east Of Balt-
more in 1870 and its furthest south point in 1880
in Greene county, Indiana. Yet the span
only ola miles. The greatest movement west
was during the decade Immediately preceding
the Civil war, when the advance was S06 miles,
while the least movement was in the decade from
III
the 40 years covered by the census records the
advance has totaled $50 miles, an average of
little more than three miles annually, about
II y miles decade. That does not sound very
big, but it means a lot in the development of
the United States.
Reference was made previously to the high
southwark advance and the reason for the south
ward pull of the last 10 years is chiefly Califor-
nia-south as well as west-and Florida-south
as well as east. The increases in the populations
of Texas and Oklahoma may appear also to have
had some influence, but the increases in PennsyI-
vania and New York probably Offset that growth
In the southwest
If it be asked whether the California-Florida
increase in population was greater than the
growth in Michigan and the North Atlantic
states, the answer is the technical definition of
center of population given above.
An increase of 100000 persons in Los Angeles.
more than $500 miles from the old center of
population in Indiana, would counterbalance an
increase Of 100000 in Detroit, only couple of
hundred miles away.
One of the most interesting results Of each
decenniaI census is the graphic picture which it
paints of Uncle Sans westward march across
the continent Here. in brief, Is that picture
over the period of 14O years from 1870. the date
Of the first census to 1880, the date of the last
one: From the 1870 position in Maryland the
center moved in ten years almost directly west
TO a point about IS miles west Of Baltimore, and
from 1900 it continued its westward swing, Dip
ping slightly to the south to point in Virginia
40 miles northwest by west of Washington. In
this decade it shifted 40 miles. the movement
being due principally to the annexation of the
territory OF Louisiana.
In the next ten years, 1910 to 1920 1t reached
a point about 16 miles east of Moorfield in what
fS now 10 West HorQ
there was a slight southwark movement which
was due mainly to the increasing population of
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi From 1920
to 1890 the movement continued west and south
to point aout 10 miles wesf-southwest of Moor
field, this being the most decided movement to
the south in any decade. The reason was the
annexation of Florida and increasing settle
ments in the southwest, notably Alabama Louisi-
ana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
From 1880 to 1910 the center continued west
but slightly changed it's course to the north,
reaching point 16 miles south of Clarksburg
W. Va During this decade population had in
creased rapidly in the prairie states and in the
southern parts of Michigan and Wisconsin
From 1910 to 1850 it moved west and slightly
south again, reaching a point about % miles
southeast of Parkersburg. W. Va. the change of
direction to the south being largely due to the
annexation of Texas.
From 1850 to 1850 it moved west and slightly
north, reaching a point 20 miles south by east
of Chillicothe, Ohio, while from 1880 to 1870 it
moved west and sharply north. reaching point
about 4S miles east by north of Cincinnati. This
northward movement was due in part to the
waste and destruction in the south consequently
upon the Civil war. and in part to the fact that
the census Of 1870 was defective In its enumer-
alton of the Southern people, especially Of the
newly enfranchised negro population.