Texas Almanac, 1958-1959 Page: 91
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I I I I
Population of Texas
Urban and Rural,
1870-1957 -4.000,000
3,000,000
2.000,000 .
I FemRua0 1900 1910'". 1920
Texas' big gains in population since the census of 1930 have come from a rapid increase
in urban population which has more than offset a steady decline in rural population. By 1957
upwards of half of the total population of the state was living in cities of 10,000 or more.
About a third of the total population was living in cities of 100,000 or more. Chart above was
constructed from census figures, 1870-1950, inclusive, and from Census Bureau estimates and
scholastic population trends, 1950 to 1957.
Texas Population-Growth, CharacteristicsThe Texan is frequently pictured as being
of a definite type and character. This is true
in fair degree of a large group of Anglo-
American Texans, especially the descendants
of those who came from the Old South. They
live under widely varying physical and social
conditions today and the influence of the
New West has infiltrated that of the Old
South. But heritage and environment have
produced a Texan group that is of not too
wide a range of character to be classed as
fairly homogeneous. Their forebears were
farmers and they remain largely rural-agri-
cultural minded today whether they live on
farm or ranch, in the midst of the oil fields
or in one of the great metropolitan centers.
But the whole population of Texas, as it
is spread over the surface of the state,
presents a complex pattern. In the first place,
the Anglo-American immigrants of the last
half century have come in increasing propor-
tion from the. urban centers of the North.
Then there are nearly a million Negro Tex-
ans whose population Is centered in the east-
ern third of the state and extends with thin-
ning ranks throughout Central and West
Texas. More than a million Spanish-speaking
Latin Americans live in the southwestern and
far western parts of the state with a fringe
that has moved northward and eastward
during the last few decades. The conveniently
labeled Anglo-Americans who compose most
of the remainder of the population include
the descendants of Germans, Czechs, Poles,
French, Alsatians and other Europeans who
established colonies in many parts of Texastrom three quarters of a century to more
than a century ago.
Varied Population Conditions
All of these live under conditions varying
from the simplest rural environment to the
most intensely urban. Some counties of Texas
have a population of less than one person
per square mile. Other counties have a pop-
ulation density of several hundred per square
mile.
The widely. varying physiographic and
climatological conditions that extend, across
the state add to the complexity of the en-
vironment under which this varied population
lives. The development of the oil and manu-
facturing industries of the last half century
has added to the varied pattern.
On July 1, 1957, the population of Texas
was 9,127,000, as unofficially estimated on
basis of Census Bureau figures for the period,
1950-1956. This was an increase of 1,415,806,
or 18.4 per cent, over the census figure of
1950 which was 7,711,194. (The last official
estimate of the Census Bureau, as of date of
publication of this volume, was as of July 1,
956, when it was 8,925,000, an increase of
1.213,806. or 15.7 per cent, over the census
of 1950.)
Estimates of Future Population
On basis of the Census Bureau's annual
estimates for the period, .1950-1956, a popula-
tion of 9,601,000 Is indicated for the census
of 1960. This would amount to an increase
of 1,889,804, or 24.5 per cent, for the census
interval, 1950-1960. During the census inter-9.000,000
8,000,000
7.000.000
5,000,000
6f--4-4
I raoo.1870
1957
_ ~ ~
Farm Rural
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Texas Almanac, 1958-1959, book, 1957; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117139/m1/93/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.