The Mount Rose exit of Interstate 83 has been jammed with an ever-growing number of motorists since the interstate opened in the late 1950s. It has been designed, redesigned again and again to keep up with the growing number of motorists, including many who commute to Maryland. (See additional aerial photo below, from the other side of town.) Also of interest: Population tops 400,000. York County, by the numbers, Part I and YorkCounts quality-of-life indicator: Post-high-school prospects rising and Despite historic occurrence among Pennsylvania Dutch, rate is falling and York countians tipping the scales – 2/3 of us are fat or obese.
With U.S. Census numbers starting to flow, it’s time to note some historical facts revealed by the every-10-year count.
For example, when the 6,000-plus Confederates invaded York on June 28, 1863, they probably matched the population of the 8,600-person borough. Many Yorkers had fled to safer places.
Here are some more pieces of the past, followed by a chart showing population trends over the centuries: …
Across town from the Mount Rose exit of Interstate 83, the Hawk Lake golf course in West Manchester Township has given way to a proposed Memorial Hospital site. Land designated for recreation has become more valuable for residential and commercial development, as population grows in York County. A growing York-area population apparently has also convinced Memorial Hospital officials that the region will support a new hospital campus in addition to the always expanding WellSpan footprint.
- The first census in 1750 shows York’s population at about 100 and the county at 6,000.
- At the start of the Civil War in 1860, the county’s census of 68,200 compared to the combined population of York, Springettsbury, Spring Garden and Manchester townships in 2000.
- In 1860, York borough’s population of 8,600 was slightly lower than the combined census of Red Lion and Dallastown boroughs in 2,000.
- Between 1880 and 1930, the Industrial Revolution quadrupled growth of York’s population and doubled York County’s.
- York City’s population peaked in 1950 at 59,704.
- Projections call for York County’s population to easily top 400,000 for the first time. The city, projected to remain above 40,000, will drop below 10 percent of the county’s population for the first time since 1830.
Also of interest:
For additional trends about York County, check out YorkCount indicators.
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Census chart appeared in “East of Gettyburg,” numbers courtesy of Georg Sheets’ “Made in York.” For a decade-by-decade listing, see that book. Photos courtesy York Daily Record/Sunday News.
*Edited, 3/9/11.
Welcome to York Town Square, 8 years of daily posts about journalism and history, topics that can easily become plodding and self important. My goal is to keep this blog fun and accessible. And I try to say something in each post. I welcome your comments and respond to every one you write. Please contact me at 
A commuter train line should run between Baltimore and Harrisburg. With all of the people that have moved up to York County in the last 10 years, traffic his become as bad as between Baltimore and D.C. A train line would alleviate a lot of this, and would also be of help because of the high fuel prices. It’s still hard to believe that Americans won’t change their mindset about mass transit…
Vasya,
Thanks and well said. I’m going to put your comment on my blog post for 4/11/12.
Jim
Wasn’t the train idea floated before? And nothing came of it. If they did do a light rail between Harrisburg and Baltimore, I feel it should follow the I-83 corridor where it could tie into the light rail in Hunt Valley. If it’s priced right, you’d be able to hope the rail in York and go to Camden Yards and Inner Harbor.
Ed, thanks. The light rail idea has come up before but a guess is that gas would have to go to $10 a gallon before the time would come for that idea./Jim