POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF OHIO: 1810 TO 1900. INCREASE IN POPULATION OF THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF OHIO: 1810 TO 1900. Population of the Principal Cities of Ohio, 1810-1900. Akron city. 15,127 54.8 Canton city. 4.478 Cincinnati city 28.994 Cleveland city. 120,415 | Columbus city. 37,410 Dayton city. 24,113 Springfield city. Toledo city. 61.9 Youngstown city. 11,665 35.1 11,089 | 67.2 6,506 65.0 6,529 187.8 1 Decrease. Population of the Principal Cities of Ohio, 1810–1900. All of the above named cities have received marked accessions to their population during the last ten years, those having increased by the largest percentage being Toledo, 61.9 per cent; Akron, 54.8 per cent; Cleveland, 46.1 per cent; and Columbus, 42.4 per cent. Largest numerical gains during the decade are found in Cleveland, Toledo, and Columbus. With a single exception in one decade each of these cities has increased in population steadily, but the rate of growth has been irregular and has shown no uniform trend of change. For Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Springfield, however, that rate since 1870 has steadily declined, a change in harmony with the usual tendency of large urban centers. THE OHIO CAPITOL BUILDINGS. T HE Capitol Buildings of the State of Ohio stand in the principal square in the city of Columbus, in a park containing over ten acres of well cultivated lawns and native forestry, on land which was given to the state by the proprietors of the town site, in 1812. The name "Columbus" was selected for the town and bestowed upon it by the General Assembly at a later date. The illustrations on the frontispiece give some idea of the style of building but fall far short, in dignity and point of finish, of doing justice to either the old Capitol Building or the new Department of Justice. The original "State House," erected by the grantors of the public grounds on condition that Columbus-then unsettled-should be chosen for the Capital of Ohio,- was a series or row of brick buildings on High street, beginning at State street and running north along the present property to a point about halfway to the present west entrance to the "State House yard." These structures were burned Sunday morning, February 1, 1852. The old Capitol Building, as it is now called, was begun in April, 1839, and was partially completed and dedicated in January, 1857. The corner stone was laid July 4, 1839. The building was finished in 1861 and was a useful rendezvous for troops gathering for service in the Union Army during the Civil War. The Department of Justice Building was built under an act of the 73rd General Assembly, adjoining the old Capitol at the terrace on the east. It thus occupies the Third street front of the Capitol grounds and, being of similar architecture to its predecessor, adds to, rather than detracts from the simple beauty of the structure. As an illustration of the advance in structural science a comparison of the two methods of building is interesting. The original structure was begun in 1838, and finished in 1861. Deducting for time consumed in numberless interruptions, the time actually spent in the building of it, was fifteen years; the cost $1,360,000; the labor was that of idle convicts from the Penitentiary; the material, dressed limestone from state quarries west of the city. The new building was authorized in 1898; corner stone was laid February 16, 1899, and on the 1st of September, 1901, the several departments assigned to this building are taking possession of their beautiful quarters. The exterior of the new building is of dressed limestone; the trusses are of steel. The actual time of building was three years, the cost $450,000, and the foot-space of public offices equal to about one-half that of the main building. The old building is 304 feet in its longest dimensions (north and south) and 184 feet wide (east and west), covering about two acres of ground. The height from the |