Phoenix Population Origins, 1870-1900

This research reconstructs the population origins for Phoenix, Arizona, based on U.S. manuscript census counts by state and foreign country for 1870, 1880, and 1900. Population-origin counts are tabulated and converted to maps to show the hierarchical patterns of source regions for the three time periods. Findings suggest how certain regions in the U.S. and abroad were significant to the foundation populations of nascent Phoenix. Patterns of population origins enhance our understanding of the early social and cultural development of one of the major urban nodes of the American Southwest.