FGDC

Historic County Boundaries and Total Population, United States, 1900

Identification Information
Data Quality Information
Spatial Data Organization Information
Spatial Reference Information
Entity and Attribute Information
Distribution Information
Metadata Reference Information

Identification Information

Citation

Originator

University of Minnesota. Minnesota Population Center

Publication Date

2006

Title

Historic County Boundaries and Total Population, United States, 1900

Geospatial Data Presentation Form

vector digital data

Publication Information

Publication Place: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Publisher: Minnesota Population Center

Online Linkage

https://hgl.harvard.edu/catalog/harvard-nhgis-pop1980

Abstract

This boundary file contains historic county boundaries for which the U.S. Census Bureau tabulated data and was produced by the Minnesota Population Center as part of the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) project. The NHGIS county boundaries shapefile was joined with NHGIS total population tabular data from the same year by the Harvard University Center for Geographic Analysis. The county boundary shapefiles and its respective population data were joined for each decade, 1790-2000.The NHGIS is an National Science Foundation-sponsored project (Grant No. BCS0094908) to create a digital spatial-temporal database of all available historical US aggregate census materials. The available shapefiles on the NHGIS site represent version 1.0 of historical US county boundary files for the 1790 to 2000 censuses. These electronic county boundary files were created by referencing a wide variety of sources and considerable care was taken during their production. U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line Census 2000 files provided the 1990 and 2000 county boundaries and the roads, hydrography, and public land survey lines required to construct historic county boundaries. Locations of historic county boundaries were derived from William Thorndale and William Dollarhide's Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses (1987), various volumes of John H. Long's Atlas of Historical County Boundaries, the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries website (http://www.newberry.org/ahcbp/), and other state-specific sources. TIGER/Line spatial features that corresponded to boundaries in these sources were used to construct the proper historic boundaries. When a TIGER/Line feature was not available, we digitized the historic boundary from one of the map sources. Aggregate data from Michael Haines' Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data: The United States, 1790-1970 (2001) and Richard Forstall's Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790 to 1990 (1996) were used to determine whether a county was enumerated during a given census. If a county was not enumerated, notes from those sources were used to attach the county in question to the county with which it was enumerated. If a county was not enumerated and the notes provide no details, the county was considered 'unattached' and it was merged with other unattached land within the state or territory.

Purpose

These data are based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. BCS0094908 - in infrastructure grant provided for the social sciences. Its purpose is twofold. First, the NHGIS created and freely distributes a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000. The database contains information for a wide variety of statistical (blocks, block groups, census tracts, metropolitan statistical areas) and administrative units (places, minor civil divisions, counties, states). Second, the NHGIS produced and freely distributes boundary files for small areas (census tracts and counties) in the United States. Boundary files for tracts are available for the 1910-2000 censuses, and boundary files for counties are available for the 1790-2000 censuses. The boundaries contained in this file do not necessarily represent legal county boundaries. Instead, they represent the county boundaries over which the U.S. Census Bureau tabulated and published data.

Supplemental Information

Counties are the primary legal subdivisions of most states and territories. Louisiana uses the term parish when referring to counties. Alaska has no counties; instead, the equivalents to counties are census areas, boroughs, city and boroughs, and municipalities. The U.S. Census Bureau and the state of Alaska jointly delineate the state's county equivalents. The District of Columbia has to legal subdivisions; thus, the Census Bureau treats the entire entity as a county. Four states (Maryland, Missouri, Nevada, and Virginia) have independent cities. These cities are independent of any county and thus serve as county equivalents in their respective states. The NHGIS assigned a four-digit code to every county and county equivalent within a state or territory. The codes are assigned in alphabetical order, except for independent cities, which are assigned codes higher than counties. FIPS codes were used to uniquely identify a county within a state or territory, except for historical counties that were never assigned FIPS codes. For those historical counties, the NHGIS assigned a new code based on the alphabetical order of all counties a state or territory ever contained.

Temporal Extent

Currentness Reference: publication date
Time Instant: 1900

Bounding Box

West: -180.000000
East: 180.000000
North: 85.245258
South: 4.502628

Theme Keyword

Boundaries

Counties

Census

Population

Theme Keyword Thesaurus: LCSH

ISO Topic Category

boundaries

society

Theme Keyword

historical

census of population and housing

counties

county equivalents

census boundaries

census geography

census data

population

housing

county

borough

independent city

census area

parish

Theme Keyword Thesaurus: None

Place Keyword

United States

Place Keyword Thesaurus: GNS

Temporal Keyword

Access Restrictions

All persons are granted a limited license to use and distribute this documentation and the available data, subject to the use constraints listed below.

Use Restrictions

This dataset was produced with an intended application at the state/territory, regional or national level. Appropriate uses include thematic mapping of census data and spatial analysis of census data. These unaltered data may be redistributed by a third party. If these data are altered or incorporated into another dataset, they are not to be redistributed without also: altering the name of the dataset, including a Content Standars for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998) compliant metadata file that describes the dataset and reflects the alteration steps that makes the new dataset different from this one, and citing this dataset in the metadata as a source for the altered dataset using the source citation specified below. If these digital data are used in the production of a report or in the compilation of a standalone printed map, then this dataset is to be cited in the report or on the map using the source citation specified below. The following source citation should be used when citing this dataset: John S. Adams, William C. Block, Mark Lindberg, Robert McMaster, Steven Ruggles, and Wendy Thomas, National Historical Geographic Information System: Pre-release Version 0.1, Minneapolis: Minnesota Population Center, University of Minnesota, 2004. No fee may be charged for use or distribution. Publications and research reports based on the database must cite it appropriately. Users are requested to send a copy of any publications, research reports, or educational material making use of the data or documentation. Printed matter should be sent to: NHGIS Minnesota Population Center University of Minnesota 50 Willey Hall 225 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455

Status

In work

Maintenance and Update Frequency

As work is completed

Point of Contact

Contact Person: Petra Noble
Delivery Point: 50 Willey Hall
Delivery Point: 225 19th Avenue South
City: Minneapolis
State: Minnesota
Postal Code: 55455
Country: USA
Contact Telephone: 612-625-7375
Contact Electronic Mail Address: nhgis@pop.umn.edu

Credit

National Science Foundation Grant No. BCS0094908

Native Data Set Environment

Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3500

Data Quality Information

Attribute Accuracy Report

All county codes were checked against codes in the available aggregate data to ensure accuracy and consistency. The boundary file may contain more or fewer counties than the aggregate data file. Sources for the boundary files sometimes depicted counties that contained no population; thus, they have no record in the aggregate data file. Sometimes, the aggregate data files contain records for county equivalents that are not mappable (e.g., military forts). Also, the boundary file sometimes contains an "unattached" county. This section of the state was not counted by the U.S. Census Bureau, but it has been included in order to depict the correct state/territory outline.

Logical Consistency Report

All spatial data have been reviewed to assure topological consistency and completeness. All polygons close and do not overlap. No voids exist within polygons. ArcGIS topology features classes were used to identify and fix topological errors (e.g., overlaps, voids, missing polygons) in the county boundary datasets. The ArcGIS topology rules used to ensure logical consistency were 'Must not overlap' and 'Must be covered by'.

Completeness Report

Version 1.0 of the county boundary files contains counties and county equivalents. Most counties, although not all, have a matching record in the aggregate data files. Counties without a matching record were denoted on source materials as having "no population". We still made those counties because we had a geographic representation of it. Additionally, some records in the aggregate data files could not be mapped because they represent point features (e.g., military forts) - NHGIS boundary files are only composed of polygon features. Version 1.0 boundary files have not been generalized, and counties containing parts of the following bodies of water do not have historically accurate coastlines: the Great Lakes, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. No counties overlap, no voids exist within counties, and any polygon belongs to one and only one county. Every county has a FIPS-like code (GISJOIN) that uniquely identifies it. The aggregate data contains a matching code (GISJOIN) so that the files can be easily joined together.

Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report

The horizontal positional accuracy of the source data (U.S. Census Bureau TIGER/Line 2000 files) can be found at http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tlmetadata/tl2kmeta.txt. To create historic county boundaries, we used existing TIGER lines whereever possible. When no TIGER line existed, we digitized new linework from scanned and rectified Thorndale and Dollarhide (1987) maps for John H. Long (various) maps. These historic county boundaries do not represent legal boundaries and should only be used for thematic mapping and statistical analysis.

Lineage

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Contribution

Depicts county boundaries used in 1790-1920 census

Source

Type of Source Media: paper

Contribution

Lists population for each county enumerated

Source

Source Scale Denominator: 100000
Type of Source Media: online

Contribution

Base linework for the historic counties

Source

Source Scale Denominator: 100000
Type of Source Media: online

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: online

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: online

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: online

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: online

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Source Scale Denominator: various
Type of Source Media: paper

Source

Originator

Haines, Michael

Publication Date

2001

Title

Historical Demographic, Economic and Social Data: The United States, 1790-1970

Publication Information

Publication Place: Ann Arbor, MI
Publisher: Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research

Spatial Data Organization Information

Direct Spatial Reference Method

Vector

Point and Vector Object Information

SDTS Terms Description

SDTS Point and Vector Object Type: G-polygon
Point and Vector Object Count: 2848

Spatial Reference Information

Horizontal Coordinate System Definition

Planar

Map Projection

Map Projection Name

Albers Conical Equal Area

Albers Conical Equal Area

Standard Parallel: 20.000000
Standard Parallel: 60.000000
Longitude of Central Meridian: -96.000000
Latitude of Projection Origin: 40.000000
False Easting: 0.000000
False Northing: 0.000000

Planar Coordinate Information

Planar Coordinate Encoding Method

coordinate pair

Coordinate Representation

Abscissa Resolution: 0.000100
Ordinate Resolution: 0.000100

Planar Distance Units

meters

Geodetic Model

Horizontal Datum Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257222

Entity and Attribute Information

Entity Type

Entity Type Label: NHGIS_POP1900
Entity Type Definition: Historic County Boundaries and Total Population, United States, 1900
Entity Type Definition Source: CGA

Attributes

OBJECTID_1

Internal feature number. (Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.)

Definition Source: ESRI

OBJECTID

Internal feature number. (Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.)

Definition Source: ESRI

DECADE

Census decade

Definition Source: NHGIS

NHGISNAM

NHGIS county name (Text.)

Definition Source: NHGIS

NHGISST

NHGIS state code

Definition Source: NHGIS

NHGISCTY

NHGIS county code

Definition Source: NHGIS

ICPSRST

ICPSR state code

Definition Source: Historical, Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2000 (Haines 2001)

ICPSRCTY

ICPSR county code

Definition Source: Historical, Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2000 (Haines 2004)

ICPSRNAM

ICPSR county name (Text.)

Definition Source: Historical, Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2000 (Haines 2004)

STATENAM

State or territory name (Text.)

Definition Source: NHGIS

ICPSRSTI

ICPSR state code

Definition Source: Historical, Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2000 (Haines 2001)

ICPSRCTYI

ICPSR county code

Definition Source: Historical, Demographic, Economic, and Social Data: The United States, 1790-2000 (Haines 2004)

ICPSRFIP

ICPSR FIPS code

Definition Source: None

GISJOIN

Attribute used to join GIS data to aggregate data tables

Definition Source: NHGIS

GISJOIN2

Alternate attribute used to join GIS data to aggregate data tables

Definition Source: NHGIS

AREA_SQM

shape area in square meters - use this field to calculate population density in the future as the other shape area fields may be distorted due to data projections

Definition Source: Harvard CGA

STATE

State code

Definition Source: NHGIS

COUNTY

County code

Definition Source: NHGIS

PID

Internal feature number. (Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.)

Definition Source: ESRI

X_CENTROID

Y_CENTROID

SHAPE_LENG

Perimeter of a county, in meters

Definition Source: ESRI

COMPOSITE_

New ID field created from "Date + GISJOIN" concatenation

Definition Source: Harvard CGA

POP_TOTAL

Total population

Definition Source: NHGIS

SHAPE

Feature geometry. (Coordinates defining the features.)

Definition Source: ESRI

SHAPE.AREA

Area of feature in square coverage units

Definition Source: ESRI

SHAPE.LEN

Length of arc in coverage units

Definition Source: ESRI

Entity and Attribute Overview

This dataset is a shapefile containing polygon features. The features depict historic county boundaries for the United States.

Distribution Information

Format Name: Shapefile
Distributor: Harvard Geospatial Library
Online Access: http://hgl.harvard.edu/
Name

Metadata Reference Information

Metadata Date

20120430

Metadata Contact

Contact Information

Contact Organization Primary

Contact Organization: Harvard Geospatial Library

Contact Position

Geospatial Resources Cataloger

Contact Address

Address: Harvard University Library
Address: Office For Information Systems
Address: 90 Mount Auburn Street
City: Cambridge
State or Province: MA
Postal Code: 02138
Country: USA

Contact Voice Telephone

617-495-2417

Contact Facsimile Telephone

617-496-0440

Contact Electronic Mail Address

hgl_ref@hulmail.harvard.edu

Hours of Service

Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm EST-USA

Metadata Standard Name

FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata Standard Version

FGDC-STD-001-1998

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