Five Points: 1855 Census Database

[Pat Young]

The 1855 New York State Census info for the Five Points has been put into a nice database. You can access it for free here:
http://fivepoints.ashp.cuny.edu/

Thanks to Damian Shiels for letting us know about this. @irishamericancivilwar

 

[Pat Young]

The database has 1,333 people in it. Here are some of the countries and states those enumerated were from:
Belgium 1
Canada 8
Conn. 1

 

[Pat Young]

England 57
France 6
Georgia 1

 

[Pat Young]

The census shows only 3 blacks and 1 "mulatto" living in Five Points. Many accounts from that time note the presence of non-whites there. I wonder if they avoided being counted.

 

[cvanblargan]

Thanks, Pat. It wouldn't surprise me if a significant part of the Five Points population was missed. I have trouble believing the census taker visited every shed, alley and basement in the neighborhood, and by all accounts, you would have had to in 1855 to get an accurate picture of the population. Add to that the African-American population in Five Points seems, anecdotally, to have lived in some of the worst quarters, it would not surprise me if the population was larger than recorded.

I also sense some abiguity in contemporary accounts as to what was considered Five Points. I frequently see areas on the waterfront as being lumped in with Five Points, and again, anecdotally, there seems to be a higher African-American population the closer you get to the East River. The streets included in the census might also explain the results.

As I suspected, quite a few Germans were living west of the Bowery. My ancestor lived a few blocks east on Broome and had a butcher's stall at the Washington Market at the same time Bill the Butcher was there.

 

[Pat Young]

Italy 17
Kentucky 1
Maine 1

 

[Pat Young]

Thanks, Pat. It wouldn't surprise me if a significant part of the Five Points population was missed. I have trouble believing the census taker visited every shed, alley and basement in the neighborhood, and by all accounts, you would have had to in 1855 to get an accurate picture of the population. Add to that the African-American population in Five Points seems, anecdotally, to have lived in some of the worst quarters, it would not surprise me if the population was larger than recorded.

I also sense some abiguity in contemporary accounts as to what was considered Five Points. I frequently see areas on the waterfront as being lumped in with Five Points, and again, anecdotally, there seems to be a higher African-American population the closer you get to the East River. The streets included in the census might also explain the results.

As I suspected, quite a few Germans were living west of the Bowery. My ancestor lived a few blocks east on Broome and had a butcher's stall at the Washington Market at the same time Bill the Butcher was there.

I think you are likely right.

 

[cvanblargan]

I did a quick review of the 1860 Census for the 6th Ward which seems consistent with the 1855 State Census. Excluding the City Prison, there were approximately 25,000 individuals recorded in the 6th, of which roughly 289 were African-American, or slightly more than 1%. I only have the district map from 1840, but assuming it remained roughly the same, the lowest percentage of African-Americans was the 3rd District which contains Five Points. Of the approximately 6600 residents, only 13 were African-American (0.2%). Interestingly, the higher density, poorer population appears to have been in the 2nd District to the west bounded by Centre, Pearl, Broadway and Canal. The recorded population was approximately 9,500 with 199 African-Americans (2.1%).

Again, this assumes the districts remained relatively the same from 1840. I would not be surprised if they changed as the demographics of the 2nd seem much more in line with the contemporary portrayals.

 

[Pat Young]

I did a quick review of the 1860 Census for the 6th Ward which seems consistent with the 1855 State Census. Excluding the City Prison, there were approximately 25,000 individuals recorded in the 6th, of which roughly 289 were African-American, or slightly more than 1%. I only have the district map from 1840, but assuming it remained roughly the same, the lowest percentage of African-Americans was the 3rd District which contains Five Points. Of the approximately 6600 residents, only 13 were African-American (0.2%). Interestingly, the higher density, poorer population appears to have been in the 2nd District to the west bounded by Centre, Pearl, Broadway and Canal. The recorded population was approximately 9,500 with 199 African-Americans (2.1%).

Again, this assumes the districts remained relatively the same from 1840. I would not be surprised if they changed as the demographics of the 2nd seem much more in line with the contemporary portrayals.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Mdiesel]

Question, what was the African American population of New York as a whole in the 1850's? Perhaps five points had a lower concentration of African Americans the other parts of the city?