TABLE IV.--CONCLUDED.-Population with areas, and average number of inhabitants to each square mile, arranged geographically. Comparative table. CENTER OF POPULATION AND ITS MEDIAN POINT. The center as regards number of inhabitants, and the center of popu lation is the point north of which there are as many inhabitants as south, and east of which there are as many as west. For June 1, 1904, this point is found to be about two miles north and one-third of a mile east of the southwest corner of Bingham township, Clinton county. In 1894 this center was about one mile north and one and one-half miles east of the southwest corner of Bingham township, Clinton county, and in 1884 it was still farther south and east, in the township of Olive, which joins Bingham on the south. The rapid development of the resources of the upper peninsula and the consequent increase in population may easily account for the gradual shifting of this center to the north and west. The "center of population" is the center of gravity of the population of the State, each individual being assumed to have the same weight. This center is found to be 61.05 miles north of the base line and 18.87 miles west of the principal meridian, or about 1 mile north and 0.87 of a mile west of the southeast corner of Sumner township, Gratiot county. In 1894 this center was about 1.76 miles south and 0.35 of a mile east of the northwest corner of Newark township, Gratiot county, and in 1884 about 1.30 miles north, and 2.30 miles east of the southwest corner of Fulton township. In 1894 the center of population was about 8.93 miles north and 1.94 miles west of the center in 1884, and in 1904, about 2.81 miles north and 1.22 miles west of the center in 1894. The method adopted for determining the center of population is the same as used in the two previous State censuses, and is as follows: "The geographical center of each county was as accurately determined as possible, and the entire population of the county assumed to be at this center. The population of each county was then multiplied, first by the distance in miles of the county center from the base line, and then by its distance from the principal meridian. The aggregate of the products thus obtained north of the base line, and of those south of it, and also the aggregate of the products obtained east, and of those west of the principal meridian, were then separately ascertained. The dif ference between the aggregate of the products north and of those south of the base line, divided by the total population, gave the distance of the center of population from the base line, it being north of this line because the aggregate of the products north was greater than of those south. In like manner the difference between the aggregate of the products east and of those west of the principal meridian, divided by the total population of the State, gave the distance of the center of population from the principal meridian, it being west of this meridian, because the aggregate of the products west was greater than of those east." A summary of the results obtained in making the computations for determining the center of population in 1904 is as follows: Aggregate of products north of base line.... Aggregate of products south of base line.. Excess of products north of base line.... 169,362,928 14,917,090 154,445,838 Excess divided by population of State gives 61.05 miles, the distance north of the base line. Excess divided by population of the State gives 18.87 miles, the distance west of the principal meridian. POPULATION OF COUNTIES. The State, as shown by the census of 1904, is divided into 83 subdivisions or counties as compared with 85 similar divisions in 1894. Isle Royal, which for judicial purposes was at that time attached to Houghton county and not separately enumerated, became a part of Keweenaw county in 1897. The townships of Manitou county, upon the disorganization of that county in 1895, were annexed to Charlevoix and Leelanau counties respectively. TABLE V. CONCLUDED.-Increase and decrease of total population, counties. (a) Includes Manitou county annexed to Charlevoix and Leelanau counties since 1894. In Table V is shown the increase and decrease in population, by counties, comparison being made between the census of different years since 1890. It is noticeable that the major portion of the decrease in population from 1900 to 1904 is found in the purely agricultural counties in the southern part of the State. On the other hand the increase is found either in counties having one or more cities or in the newer counties in the upper part of the State where the land is being taken up by settlers. The table shows very plainly the tendency of the population to drift towards the cities but the extent of the change can be more accurately determined by referring to the table comparing rural and urban population. POPULATION OF INCORPORATED CITIES AND VILLAGES. In accordance with the provision of the Census Act by which a separate enumeration of all incorporated places was required, an effort was made to insure a complete return of the population of each incorporated city and village. The list herewith presented in Table VI, comprising 415* places, includes every incorporated city and village in the State. *The village of Attica, whose articles of incorporation are still a matter of State record, but whose local charter has long since been revoked; also the villages of Daggett and New Boston included in this number, were not separately returned. |