Government Information -- Decennial Census

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1790 - 1900: Decennial Census 1-12

The decennial census has been taken since 1790. From 1790-1900, the Census Office was part of the Department of the Interior, and the Censuses were classed under "I." Starting with the 13th Decennial Census (1910), the Census Office (under the name Bureau of the Census) was moved to the Dept. of Commerce and classified under "C."

We also have the Censuses from 1790-1900 on microfilm in the main microfilm collection at: HA214 .A12. This set includes the main volumes that we own and also other reports and publications that we may or may not own. For information on what is on the reels, use the index at: Z7554 .U5 R47 1975.

PSU Library has the following Census holdings:

1790 (First Census)
1800 (Second Census)
1810 (Third Census)
1820 (Fourth Census)
1830 (Fifth Census)
1840 (Sixth Census)
1850 (Seventh Census)
1860 (Eighth Census)
1870 (Ninth Census)
1880 (Tenth Census)
1890 (Eleventh Census)
1900 (Twelfth Census)

1910 - 1950: Decennial Census 13-17

The 13th Decennial Census was the first census classified under the Department of Commerce. Earlier censuses were classified under the Department of the Interior. The 17th census (1950) was the last decennial census to have topics classed together. Starting with 1960, each topic has its own classification.

1910 (Thirteenth Census)
1920 (Fourteenth Census)
1930 (Fifteenth Census)
1940 (Sixteenth Census)
1950 (Seventeenth Census)

1960 - present: Census of Population and Housing 18-22

A census of population has been taken every 10 years since 1790. Starting in 1960, the Censuses of Population and Housing were classified separately from the rest of the topics.

1960 (Eighteenth Census)
1970 (Ninteenth Census)
1980 (Twentieth Census)
1990 (Twenty-First Census)
2000 (Twenty-Second Census)

About Government Documents Cataloging

Government Document information is not classified under Library of Congress classification like the rest of the library. Government Documents are assigned call numbers based on the agency or department printing the information. We have a complete list.