1900

A Look At The Census

Researching Wards and Enumeration Districts in the 1900 CENSUS poses some challenges.

In 1900, street addresses were not based on the Chicago Grid System. There was no way to determine how far any 1900 address was from the base lines of State St. and Madison St. Do not assume any address you obtain from a source after 1909 will have the same address in censuses before 1909. When researching addresses for a census before 1909, the pre 1909 address must be converted to the new numbering system.
For example: An address obtained from a 1900 death certificate was 602 W. 39^th St. This address was at the corner of 39^th Street and Wentworth Ave. In 1930, this same address was changed under the 1909 new numbering system to 200 W. 39^th St.
In 1900, each street was assigned an address independent of the streets parallel to it. Do not assume that an address on one street would be in a parallel location on the street that is right next to it.
For example: 400 S. Wentworth Ave. would not necessarily be parallel to the 400 S. Princeton Ave. address, which is the street right next to it.
Before 1909, even and odd numbered addresses were not assigned to a specific side of a street. In 1900, Odd and Even numbered addresses were assigned on BOTH sides of the street.
For example: Before 1909, The address of 603 W. 39^th St. could be right next door to 604 W. 39^th St. and they could both be on the same side of the street. After 1909, even numbered addresses were assigned to the north and west sides of streets and odd numbered addresses were assigned to the south and east sides of the streets.
Be sure to remember this when your target address is located on a Enumeration District boundary line. A pre - 1909 address could be in either ED that shares a boundary line.
In 1909, in addition to street NUMBER changes, street NAME changes were also assigned.
After identifying your target ED in the 1900 Census, remember that post 1909 street addresses may be completely different than the street addresses you find in the Census Enumeration District you have selected. The 1900 Census will list the addresses and street names in existence in 1900.
The 1900 Census Maps on this site include POST 1909 Directional Coordinates for your convenience.
Directional Coordinates did not exist for the 1900 census, but were included on the maps to help you locate addresses on current day Chicago Street maps.