Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
1854 - Phildadelphia

Philadelphia, a port of entry, the second city in the United States, and the metropolis of Pennsylvania, is situated between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, about 6 miles above their junction, and (following the river and bay) 06 miles from the ocean. It is in 39° 67' N. lat., and 75° 11' W. Ion., being about 130 miles N. E. of Washington City, and 87 S. W. of New York.

Population. — If we except Paris, Philadelphia nearly equals the largest capitals on the continent of Europe in population, and, at its present rate of increase, will soon surpass them. In 1684 it had 2500 inhabitants; 21,767 (inclusive of the army and strangers) at a census taken by order of Lord Cornwallis in 1777 or '8; 42,520 in 1790; 70,287 in 1800; 96,287 in 1810; 119,325 in 1820, (up to which period it was the largest city in the United States;) 167,325 in, 1830; 258,037 in 1840, and 408,762 in 1850, showing an increase of 58 1/ 2 per cent, in the ten years preceding the census of 1860, and 953 1/ 2 per cent, in the 60 years since the first national census. In the same ratio of increase, its population in July, 1863, would be about 480,000; but as the 3 years since the census has been a period of great prosperity, and of an unexampled in crease in the number of dwellings erected, the population was undoubtedly, in 1853, considerably over 500.000. These populations include the county. The peculiar divisions of Philadelphia are such that its suburbs have a greater population than the city proper, (i. e. the portion between Vine and Cedar streets, and extending from the Delaware river to the Schuylkill,) which had in 1850, 121,377 inhabitants, while the districts of Northern Liberties, Spring Garden, Kensington, Southwark, and Moyamensing, had respectively, in the order named, 58,894, 47,223, 46,774, 38,799, and 26,879 inhabitants. Besides these, there are several other suburbs only separated by a street, or a small open space, or in one instance by the narrow Schuylkill river. In speaking of Philadelphia, unless the distinction is made, we refer to the city and suburbs united. Opposite to Philadelphia, in New Jersey, are Camden and Gloucester, which bear about the same relation to it that Jersey City and Hoboken do to New York, and add, in 1853, from 15,000 to 20,000 to its population...

A New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States: Giving a Full and Comprehensive Review of the Present Condition, Industry, and Resources of the American Confederacy ... Thomas Baldwin (of Philadelphia.) Joseph Thomas January 1, 1854 Philadelphia : Lippincott, Grambo & Company 1854.

Visit Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.