Historical Census Sources

Lockwood Library's Government Documents collection has copies of selected historical census publications in paper format. Search the Libraries Catalog as call numbers vary. Lockwood Library's Reference Department has selected publications dealing with New York State counts from 1900 through the present. Search the Libraries Catalog or browse the HA 201 section to locate information.

American FactFinder (U.S. Bureau of the Census)
http://factfinder.census.gov
Though intended for the 2000 Census of Population and Housing and other current surveys, FactFinder still includes the 1990 census. Locate FactFinder tutorials at http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/busdoc/census/census2000.html#af.

CensusCD 1980 (Geolytics, Inc)
Lockwood Reference Desk CD-ROM HA214 .C45 1999
Reproduces 1980 census data and maps for the nation, states, counties, cities, towns, villages, and census tracts. Topics cover demographic and socioeconomic issues. Selected examples include age; race; labor force and income; education; and migration.

Bureau of the Census Catalog of Publications, 1790-1972
US C 3.163/ 3-2: 790-972
Two sections cover 1790-1945 and 1946-1972. Brief annotations describe most titles. Access many documents in two microform collections.

• United States Decennial Census Publications, 1790-1970 (Research Publications)
  Capen Multimedia Center MicFilm HA195 .U5 1975
  UB has 1790-1950. Use the Bibliography and Reel Index : A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of United States Decennial Census Publications, 1790-1970 , to identify reel and title numbers. (Lockwood Reference and Capen Multimedia Center Reference HA195 .R47 1975)
  See the Census Index for electronic indexing to decennial census publications
• United States Census Publications, 1820-1945 (Exclusive of Decennial Census Publications) (Greenwood Press)
  Capen Multimedia Center MicFiche HA195 .U5 1972
  Microfiche accession numbers correspond to those in Bureau of the Census Catalog of Publications.

CensusCD+Maps (Geolytics, Inc)
Arch/Plan AV Collection CD-ROM HA201 1990 .C462 1999
Lockwood Reference Desk CD-ROM HA201 1990 .C42 compu/d
Capen Multimedia Center CD-ROM 457: HA201 1990z
Reproduces 1990 census data and maps for the nation, states, counties, cities, towns, villages, and census tracts. Topics cover demographic and socioeconomic issues. Selected examples include age; race; labor force and income; education; and migration.

Census of Population and Housing [Historical Reports] (US Bureau of the Census)
http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/index.htm
Reproduces PDF files of selected decennial publications covering 1790-2000.

Census Index (The Ohio State University Libraries)
http://library.osu.edu/sites/reference/govdocs/census/Cenindex.htm
Indexes decennial census publications issued between 1790 and 1997. Records include complete bibliographic information and usually have abstracts.

CensusCD Neighborhood Change Database ( NCDB ) (GeoLytics, Inc.)
LOCKWOOD Reference Desk CD-ROM HA181 .C462 2001
Reproduces and maps census tract data from 1970 to 2000. Census tracts are generally comparable to neighborhoods. Although intended to be stable, tract boundaries sometimes change depending upon population shifts. NCDB includes 2 types of tract boundaries, those existing during each census and those "normalized' to the 2000 census. That is, the publisher provides data for 1970, 1980, and 1990 based upon 2000 boundaries, enabling users to compare geographies that are as identical as possible.

Demographic Profile Products (Missouri Census Data Center)
http://mcdc2.missouri.edu/websas/dp3_2ktmenus/us/
Compares selected 1990 and 2000 data for the nation; states; counties; metropolitan areas; places of at least 10,000 people; and zip codes.

Historical Census Browser (University of Virginia Library. Digital Research and Instructional Services)
http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/histcensus/
Provides selected population statistics for states and counties from 1790-1960. See the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) to access historical statistics for census tracts.

Historical Census Publications (University of Michigan. Documents Center)
http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/hiscenpub.html
Links to historical census publications covering 1790-2000. 

Historical Statistics of the South, 1790-1970; A Compilation of State-Level Census Statistics For the Sixteen States of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia (University of Alabama Press)
Lockwood Reference HA218 .D63

Historical Statistics of the States of the United States: Two Centuries of the Census, 1790-1990 (Greenwood Press)
Lockwood Reference HA214 .H57 1993
Covers population, agriculture, and manufacturing.

Historical Statistics of the United States Millennial Edition Online (Cambridge University Press)
http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/Hist_Stats.html
Lockwood Reference HA202 .H57 2006 Vol. 1
Topics cover population characteristics (92 tables); vital statistics (29 tables); domestic and international migration (66 tables); family and household composition (15 tables); Native Americans (35 tables); and cohorts-groups sharing common characteristics (15 tables).

National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) (University of Minnesota. Minnesota Population Center)
http://www.nhgis.org/
Database compilers hope to make census data covering 1790-2000 available without charge on the Web. As of July 2006, statistics from the 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, and 1990 counts are online, plus selected boundary files for use with geographic information system (GIS) applications. NHGIS includes small area data excluded from the Historical Census Browser .

New York State Population, 1790-1980 : A Compilation of Federal Census Data
Lockwood Reference HA 545 S58 1987
Arch/Plan Reference HA 545 S58 1987
Provides population statistics for all counties, places, and villages in New York State.

Population Information in... (Oryz Press)
A 3 volume series that indexes data by subjects and geographies.

• Population Information in Nineteenth Century Census Volumes
  Lockwood Reference Z 7164.D3 S44 1983
• Population Information in Twentieth Century Census Volumes, 1900 to 1940
  Lockwood Reference Z 7164 D3 S45 1985
• Population Information in Twentieth Century Census Volumes, 1950 to 1980
  Lockwood Reference Z 7164 D3 S46 1988 (also available in Lockwood Book Collection)

Retrospective Bibliography of American Demographic History from Colonial Times to 1983
Lockwood Reference HB 3505 G43 1989
Presents useful references for studying ethnicity, immigration, and family patterns. An updated volume covers 1984-1994.

• Bibliography of American Demographic History: the Literature from 1984 to 1994
  Lockwood Reference HB 3505 G432 1995

School Districts

• School District Data Book (US Department of Education. National Center for Educational Statistics) (NCES)
  Capen Multimedia Center US CD-ROM 343: ED 1.334/ 2: SC 37/
  Reproduces 1990 statistics on 2 CD-ROMs.
• 1980 Census School District Comprehensive Population and Housing Characteristics (State University of New York. Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government)
  Capen Multimedia Center MicFiche LB2826.N7 A14 1986

Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts (US Bureau of the Census)
http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/hiscendata.html
Reproduces selected census publications that cover historical topics.

Social Explorer
http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/e-resources/socialexplorer.html
Provides thematic census tract maps covering 1940-2000. A guide to using Social Explorer, Social Explorer - Creating Census Maps & Statistical Tables, is at http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/busdoc/census/social_explorer.pdf

Vital Statistics of the United States (VSUS) (US Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS))
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/vsus/vsus.htm (1890-2000)
Lockwood Documents US HE 20 6210: (1971-1993)
Lockwood Documents US FS 2.112: (1946-1969)
Lockwood Documents US C 3.139: (1937-1940)
Reproduces birth and death statistics at national and selected local levels.