12 A (4AZETTEER OF TEXAS. [bull. 224. 
POPUI^ATIOlSr. 
The population of Texas in 1900 was 3,048,710, an increase of 
813,187, or 36.1 per cent, during the preceding ten years. The fol- 
lowing table gives the population at each census since 1850, the latter 
date being that of the first census taken after the admission of Texas 
to the Union: 
Population of Texas at each census since 1850. 
1850 - - 21 2, 592 
1860 604, 215 
1870 - 818, 579 
1880 , - 1, 591, 749 
1890 2, 235, 523 
1900 3, 048, 710 
The average density of population in 1900 was 11.6 per square mile. 
The density, however, differs greatly in different parts of the State, 
being greatest in the central portion, while in the western part and 
upon the Staked Plains there is less than one inhabitant to the square 
mile. 
In 1900 there were 16 cities having a population exceeding 8,000 
each. The total number of inhabitants in these cities was 313,870, 
which may be regarded as the urban population. This constituted 
11.3 per cent of the total population of the State. The population of 
the principal cities in 1900 was as follows: 
Population of principal cities. 
San Antonio 53, 321 
Houston 44, 633 
Dallas 42, 638 
Galveston , 37, 789 
Waco 26, 688 
Fort Worth 26, 688 
Austin (the capital) 22, 258 
El Paso 15, 906 
The population was divided as regards sex in the proportions of 51.8 
per cent males to 18.2 per cent females. As regards race the popula- 
tion was composed of 79.7 per cent whites and 20.3 per cent negroes. 
The foreign born constituted 5.9 per cent of the total population, a 
proportion unusually large for a Southern State, and due to the fact 
that it includes a portion of the frontier. 
Persons unable to read constitute 10 per cent of the total population. 
These illiterates were in large part negroes. The proportion of illit- 
erates among this race constituted 27 per cent of the total number of 
negroes, while of the total number of whites only 6 per cent were 
illiterates. 
For many years Texas has maintained a good system of public 
schools, including graded schools, high and normal schools, and a 
