Southern Cities and the Census, 1860

[18thVirginia]

When reading about Alexandria for our threads on Mercy Street, I kept wondering how the size of that community compared with others throughout the Confederacy. So I thought a thread with the census from 1860 for the largest cities in the South would be helpful for comparison.

1. Alexandria, VA - 12,652

Alexandria, LA

2. Algiers, LA - 5,816

Algiers, LA

3. Atlanta, GA - 9,554

Atlanta, GA

 

[W. Richardson]

Great post ! I never knew Alexandria was that large.
I thought New Orleans was the largest city in the South ?

Respectfully,
William

 

[18thVirginia]

3. Augusta, GA - 12,493

Augusta, GA

4. Baton Rouge, LA - 5,428

Baton Rouge, LA


5. Charleston, SC - 40,522

Charleston, SC

6. Columbus, GA - 9,621

Columbus, GA

 

[18thVirginia]

7. Fayetteville, NC - 4,790

Fayetteville, NC

 

[AndyHall]

3. Atlanta, GA - 9,554

Atlanta looms large in our impressions of the war, but it's good to remember that is was a relatively new town, having been established as an end-of-the-line railroad stop in 1837 -- and it didn't get the name Atlanta until 1845. It was a booming, bustling place, being a railroad hub, but it was upstart, "new money," so to speak, compared to stately matrons like Charleston and Alexandria.

 

[18thVirginia]

I knew that Atlanta was about that size, but I didn't think of it as being smaller than Savannah until I was reading the Census numbers. Or smaller than Alexandria, so thought I'd look at the rest of the larger cities and towns in the South.

 

[18thVirginia]

8. Fredericksburg, VA - 5,623

Fredericksburg, VA

http://civilwarwomenblog.com/civil-war-fredericksburg/

 

[NedBaldwin]

Great post ! I never knew Alexandria was that large.
I thought New Orleans was the largest city in the South ?


View attachment 91543
Respectfully,
William

I think the order here is alphabetical not by size.

 

[18thVirginia]

9. Lynchburg, VA - 6,853

tobacco warehouse, Lynchburg

Lynchburg, VA

10. Macon - 8,247

Schofield Iron Works, Macon, GA

http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/history-archaeology/civil-war-industry-and-manufacturing

 

[18thVirginia]

11. Memphis, TN - 22,263

Main Street, 1860s

Early photo of the levee
http://www.historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/civil-war-memphis/civil-war-memphis.html

Beale - 1860s, Memphis, TN

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Some populations are amazing, Charleston so much bigger than Atlanta? We hear these names and kind of assign populations by level of perceived importance, it's silly. Not a thing to do with history. It's a great thread idea, 18th, thanks very much!

 

[18thVirginia]

12. Montgomery, AL - 8,843

Davis Inaugural, Montgomery, AL

 

[18thVirginia]

13. Mobile - 29,958

The Cotton Docks, Mobile, AL

Siege of Mobile, AL
http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1865/April/siege-mobile-alabama.htm

 

[18thVirginia]

14. Nashville - 16,988

Nashville, TN

15. Natchez - 6,612

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/natchez-mississippi-day-11/

 

[W. Richardson]

Again great thread 18th Virginia and thank you for posting it !!

Respectfully,
William

 

[18thVirginia]

You're certainly welcome. It helps me put in perspective all the names that we hear about--I need visualizations to help me understand the "what's" and "where's" as well as the "when" and "how's".

 

[W. Richardson]

I think the order here is alphabetical not by size.

Works for me then...........lol

Respectfully,
William

 

[AndyHall]

14. Natchez - 6,612

https://otrwjam.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/natchez-mississippi-day-11/

Natchez-Under-the-Hill still looks like that.

 

[Mild53]

This is an interesting reminder of the size of Northern cities as compared to Southern cities. The total population of the top ten cities in the south was 385,000, in the north the top ten accounted for 2,569,000. New York City and Brooklyn had a population of 1,080,000. And of the southern total, New Orleans accounted for Egads.

I sure like the way you have added pictures of cities to their population counts 18th Virginia. Nice work, I am not as earnest as you!

 

[18thVirginia]

16. New Bern - 5,432

New Bern, NC
http://www.worldlymind.org/burnside.htm

17. New Orleans 168,675

Decatur Street, New Orleans

Waterfront at Jackson Square, New Orleans