Where Should the New School Go? A Council Reads the 1890 Census

Use ward census data and real city counts to weigh both sides of a council debate.

The council meeting

Read the census table and the minutes. Then answer the questions.

Lakeport (an invented city) by Ward, U.S. Census
Ward	What is there	1880	1890	Born abroad, 1890
River Ward	Docks, lumber mills	18,000	21,000	48%
Market Ward	Downtown stores, offices	12,000	10,000	30%
Northside Ward	Rolling mill, rail yards	6,300	19,800	58%
Hill Ward	New streetcar homes	3,000	10,500	15%

Minutes of the Lakeport Common Council, March 1891

1Lakeport grew up around a harbor on one of the Great Lakes, where lake ships, rail lines and mills brought jobs. The census office has sent the 1890 counts for each of Lakeport's four wards. The city has money for one new public school with twelve classrooms. The clerk reminded the council that the census counts every person every ten years and records where each was born. Across the nation in 1890, about one in three Americans lived in a town or city of 2,500 or more people, up from about one in four in 1870.

2Alderman Frieda Kowalczyk of the Northside spoke first. "The Northside more than tripled in ten years. When the rolling mill opened in 1884 and the railroads built their yards beside it, families came from Poland, Germany and Sweden, and from farms all over this state. Our only school has sixty children in some classrooms. Some mill children leave school at twelve to work. Mill families walk to work, and they cannot pay streetcar fares to send their children across town."

3Alderman Charles Whitfield of the Hill Ward answered. "Look at which ward grew fastest. Since the electric streetcar line opened in 1888, clerks, teachers and skilled workers have bought new houses on the hill and ride downtown to work. Land up there is still cheap, and a school there would have room for a playground. On the Northside, every lot is taken by houses, and the smoke and noise of the mill hang over everything. Build where the city is heading."

4Kowalczyk rose again. "Of course the hill grew fast. It started with only three thousand people. Count the children, not the percent. In ten years the Northside added more people than the whole Hill Ward holds today."

5Alderman Thomas Reilly of the Market Ward added a third point. "My ward is the only one that lost people. Stores and offices have replaced many houses downtown, and the Market Street School now has empty classrooms. Whatever you decide, remember those rooms."

6After an hour of debate, the mayor put off the vote until the next meeting so that each alderman could study the numbers. Several people in the gallery, some speaking German or Polish, asked that notices of the next meeting be printed in their languages as well as in English.

Use the ward table.

From 1880 to 1890, the Northside Ward gained people. In 1890, all four wards together held people.

Which statement does the ward table best support?

A. The Hill Ward grew fastest by rate, but the Northside added most.
B. The Northside grew fastest by rate and by number of people.
C. The River Ward added more people than any other ward.
D. The Market Ward grew more slowly than the other wards but still grew.

Use the table and the minutes. Why was the share of people born abroad lowest in the Hill Ward?

A. The rolling mill was built in the Hill Ward.
B. The census did not count people who rode the streetcars.
C. Few newcomers could afford houses there and streetcar fares.
D. Families from Poland and Sweden moved there to farm.

Sort each piece of evidence by the alderman who used it.

Land for a school is still cheapSome classrooms hold sixty childrenA streetcar line opened in 1888Families walk to work at the millRoom for a playgroundSome children leave school at twelve

Kowalczyk (Northside)	Whitfield (Hill Ward)

Underline the sentence from paragraph 2 that the ward table supports.

The Northside more than tripled in ten years.Our only school has sixty children in some classrooms.Some mill children leave school at twelve to work.Mill families walk to work, and they cannot pay streetcar fares to send their children across town.

Beyond Lakeport

Use the census table of real cities.

Six Real Cities, U.S. Census (rounded to the nearest thousand)
City	Where	1870	1890
Boston	Atlantic port	251,000	448,000
Baltimore	Atlantic port	267,000	434,000
Buffalo	Great Lakes	118,000	256,000
Cleveland	Great Lakes	93,000	261,000
Detroit	Great Lakes	80,000	206,000
Milwaukee	Great Lakes	71,000	204,000

Use the table of real cities. Round to the nearest whole number.

In 1890, Cleveland's population was about times its 1870 population. Boston's was about times its 1870 population.

Which conclusion does the table of real cities best support?

A. The Great Lakes cities grew faster than the Atlantic ports.
B. Milwaukee was the largest of these cities in 1890.
C. The Atlantic ports lost people between 1870 and 1890.
D. Boston and Baltimore grew more than threefold.

In 1889, a family arrives in Lakeport from Sweden, and the father is hired at the rail yards. Based on the minutes, where would the family most likely live?

A. In the Hill Ward, near the new streetcar line
B. In the Northside Ward, within walking distance
C. In the River Ward, beside the lumber docks
D. In the Market Ward, among the downtown offices

Whitfield says, "Build where the city is heading." Which piece of data best supports the idea that Lakeport was spreading outward?

A. The Northside had the largest share born abroad.
B. The River Ward had the most people in 1880.
C. Boston had about 448,000 people in 1890.
D. The Hill Ward grew from 3,000 to 10,500 people.

10.

You are an alderman. Where should Lakeport build its new school? Make a claim, support it with at least two pieces of census data and evidence from the minutes, explain your reasoning, and answer one argument from the other side.