Growth in Population.
Tacoma’s population, according to the federal census, the annual school census, the directory lists, and other accepted bases of calculation, has increased as follows:
| City Limits. | City and Suburbs. | |
|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 73 | |
| 1880 | 1,098 | |
| 1900 | 37,714 | 42,311 |
| 1904 | 60,250 | 67,405 |
Mount Tacoma from Point Defiance.
The figures for 1870, 1880 and 1900 above quoted are from the federal census. The number of names of individuals, exclusive of all names of firms, corporations, buildings and the like, in the city directory for 1900, published by R. L. Polk & Co., was 16,951. The district canvassed for the city directory includes the immediate suburbs, which are to all intents and purposes a part of the community. The ratio between the number of names in the directory of 1900 and the population of the city and immediate suburbs, as shown by the last federal census, was 1 to 2½. The number of names of individuals in the Tacoma city directory in 1900 and subsequent years with the population as indicated by the use of the multiplier 2½ is as follows:
| Year. | Names in City Directory. | Estimated Population. |
|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 16,951 | [*]42,372 |
| 1901 | 20,418 | 51,045 |
| 1902 | 22,186 | 55,455 |
| 1903 | 25,057 | 62,642 |
| 1904 | 26,962 | 67,405 |
[*] Federal enumeration, 42,311.
- 1—Tacoma Hotel and Totem Pole.
- 2—Tacoma Theatre.
- 3—Northern Pacific Headquarters Building.
- 4—Tacoma Chamber of Commerce Building.
This estimate of population in 1904 is confirmed by the annual school census returns. The school census of 1904 for school district number 10, which is coextensive with the city limits, reports 13,389 children of school age residing in the district, as compared with 9,443 in 1900. The census of the districts contiguous to the city and embracing its immediate suburbs show a school population in 1904 of 1,426, as compared with 646 in 1900. The use of the multiplier 4½ applied to the school census returns, indicates a population within the city limits in 1904 of 60,250 and in the city and its immediate suburbs of 66,667. Other cities in the state employ a larger multiplier than 4½ to estimate population from their school census returns. For example, Seattle applies the multiplier 6½, and Spokane 5¾ to their school census returns in order to confirm their liberal estimates of population. Tacoma is content to employ a safe and conservative method of calculation.
Postoffice receipts more than confirm the foregoing estimates as to Tacoma’s growth and present population. The receipts of the Tacoma postoffice for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1904, were $113,599, as compared with $63,928 for the year ending June 30, 1900. The increase in postoffice receipts is at the rate of 14.7 per cent. in one year; 28.2 per cent. in two years; 53.7 per cent. in three years and 77.4 per cent. in four years. The increase in population as above shown by an increase of 10,011 in the number of names in the city directory is at the considerably lower rate of 59.0 per cent. in four years.