Between 1880 and 1890, the U.S. Census reported that Cumberland lost 663 residents, which the city fathers found unbelievable and unacceptable.
“But the Census Bureau would have the country believe that the city of Cumberland, with all its varied industrial establishments, its numerous railroads, its crowded tenements, its increased volume of business, instead of increasing in population in the last decade has actually — yes, actually — decreased six hundred and sixty three. This is simply nonsense and too monstrously absurd for any further argument,” the Cumberland Daily Times reported in early 1891.
At that time, municipalities across the country were awaiting the preliminary results of the U.S. Census because it could mean increased federal funding or just bragging rights if a place increased in the right categories.
Cumberland felt secure in its position as the second-most populated city in Maryland.
However, in January 1891, the Baltimore newspapers reported that the preliminary results from the census were that Cumberland had 10,030 inhabitants or less than it had a decade earlier. This was later confirmed by a telegram from Robert B. Porter, superintendent of the census. This number also knocked Cumberland from being the second-largest city in the state to the third largest.
So, the Cumberland Daily Times set out to investigate the claim on its own by conducting a building survey of the city and reviewing the information that the local census takers had submitted to the U.S. Census Department. Besides population, they had collected information from people of their age, sex, race, nativity, place of birth, parentage, school attendance, literacy, the ability to speak English, occupations, citizenship and military service. The enumerators had also collected information on dwellings and family structures.
The newspaper reporters found that in 1890, 76 buildings had been built in the city, of which 70 had been homes. The total value of the buildings (not including the property value) was $300,000 (almost $12 million in 2026 dollars). In 1889, 29 buildings, all of them homes, had been built at a total value of $50,000 (around $2 million in 2026 dollars).
The survey also noted that the buildings weren’t being built on speculation to be sold later. They were businesses and homes that residents were paying to occupy.
The newspaper noted that the survey did not consider the construction of a stone wall along Wills Creek to protect existing homes in the city and keep them habitable.
With that kind of growth in just the previous two years, it seemed unlikely that the city had shrunk in size.
“The approaching spring will witness even greater building activity and will add many thousands to the large sum of money recently invested in real estate,” the newspaper reported.
Next, the newspaper tallied up the submissions the local census takers had made and found that the count totaled at least 12,700.
The newspaper reported, “It is certain that our population is from twelve thousand to twelve thousand five hundred, and Cumberland is the second city in Maryland by a good lead.”
Finally, the newspaper stated the obvious. All you had to do was drive through the city and compare maps from 1880 to 1890.
The growth was so large that it was obvious at a glance.
The city of Cumberland submitted the information to the U.S. Census Department and also visited Porter in Washington. In mid-March, Porter sent a telegram to the city stating that after reviewing the information, Cumberland’s official population count for the 1890 U.S. Census would be 12,729.
During this process, the Cumberland Daily Times ran a pool for its readers to submit what they thought the official population count would be. After Porter sent his telegram, the newspaper announced that Mrs. H.P. Hendley won the pool with a guess that Cumberland’s population would be 12,965.
All of that effort eventually came to naught because a fire on Jan. 10, 1921, at the Commerce Department building in Washington, D.C., destroyed most of the 1890 U.S. Census records.