Town-level historical population and agricultural
land-use history data for Rhode IslandCensus data on population, agricultural land-use, and agricultural animal populations at the town level have been compiled. This work is part of larger products mapping changes in population density in New England, and as input data to a historical model of N loading to Narragansett Bay.
Note that equivalent town-level data for Massachusetts are available from the Harvard Forest Data Archive. Data availability is summarzed below:
(data files not yet linked are in progress and will be posted as they are completed)
data source
data source
(zipped ESRI shapefiles)
(comma-delimited)
2000.txt
General Usage Notes:
- Base shapefiles of town boundaries were obtained from RIGIS. Town polygons were merged and boundaries altered as necessary to match the historical boundaries of each town. In periods where town lines did not change, we have combined multiple years of census data (e.g. 1940-2000). A realignment of the state's eastern boundary with Massachusetts in 1862 is reflected in these data; Pawtucket and East Providence are not included in this data set prior to that date.
- Coastal features have in some locations changed dramatically over the past 200+ years, (e.g. shifting barrier beaches and coastal filling, especially in the Providence River), but we made no attempt to reflect such changes in the shapefiles.
- All land-use data are given as area of each land-use in acres, which is the unit in which they are listed in the historical agricultural census. Only agricultural land was reported in the censuses; in some cases such land comprised only a small fraction of a given town's total area.
- Town-level population data are also available in the 1865-1905 state censuses, but are not presented here.
Data Sources:
Town-level population data from the US Census are summarized here.
Boundary changes are are summarized here, and are presented in map form by:
Cady, J.H. 1936. Rhode Island Boundaries 1936-1636. Providence: Rhode Island State Planning Board. We use the RI State Census as the authority on boundary changes where sources differ on details.US Agricultural Census schedules from 1850-1880 are housed at the RI State Archives. Here, we present town-level summary data for 1850, 1860, and 1870.
A town-level summary of agricultural land-use is available in the US Agricultural Census 1930.
RI State Census volumes including town-level agricultural data are available for the years 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, and 1905.
Contact:
These data were prepared by Matt Vadeboncoeur and Lynn Carlson at Brown University, and were published on the web in February 2007.
Updated
05/22/2008
envstudies@brown.edu