The Census Bureau and American Congregations
In the nineteenth century, the U.S. government collected data about churches as part of its decennial population census, but when Congress created the Census Bureau as a permanent agency in 1902, it authorized it to undertake a separate decennial survey of “religious bodies.” Every ten years from 1906 to 1946, the U.S. Census Bureau surveyed congregations, synagogues, and other religious groups in the United States.
While the Census Bureau published summary reports from that data, the forms (or schedules) filled out by each congregation have not been widely used. Only the schedules from the 1926 Census survive, housed in a collection at the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, DC.
These schedules are a rich source of information about American religious institutions in the early twentieth century. They contain a wealth of information about each congregation, including its membership by age and sex, its expenditures on buildings and missions, its minister’s name and whether he or she had gone to seminary, and its denominational affiliation, which the Census Bureau cataloged into 213 different groups. The schedules also include the location of the congregations, usually by county and city or town, and in many cases the street address as well.
Totals
44,192 schedules digitized (19.0% of total)
215 denominations
3,112 counties
Schedules per denomination (top 25)
Denomination | Schedule count |
---|---|
Southern Baptist Convention | 15,162 |
Protestant Episcopal Church | 6,922 |
Northern Baptist Convention | 6,076 |
Negro Baptists A | 4,415 |
Seventh-day Adventist Denomination | 1,980 |
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America | 1,203 |
Evangelical Synod of North America | 914 |
Evangelical Church | 822 |
Church of God in Christ | 730 |
Assemblies of God, General Council | 668 |
Wesleyan Methodist Connection (or Church) of America | 619 |
Advent Christian Church | 443 |
Churches of God in North America (General Eldership) | 431 |
Christian and Missionary Alliance | 330 |
Plymouth Brethren II | 303 |
Disciples of Christ | 203 |
Russian Orthodox Church | 199 |
The Brethren Church (Progressive Dunkers) | 174 |
Plymouth Brethren I | 165 |
Greek Orthodox Church (Hellenic) | 153 |
Church of the Living God, Christian Workers for Fellowship | 149 |
Christadelphians | 133 |
Religious Society of Friends (Hicksite) | 128 |
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World | 126 |
Church of God in Christ Jesus (Adventist) | 87 |
Schedules per county (top 25)
County | Schedule count |
---|---|
Cook, Illinois | 332 |
Los Angeles, California | 307 |
Wayne, Michigan | 213 |
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 201 |
New York, New York | 190 |
Erie, New York | 188 |
Middlesex, Massachusetts | 174 |
Essex, New Jersey | 174 |
Kings, New York | 169 |
District Of Columbia | 168 |
Jefferson, Alabama | 168 |
Allegheny, Pennsylvania | 166 |
Jefferson, Arkansas | 146 |
Providence, Rhode Island | 129 |
Baltimore City, Maryland | 126 |
Westchester, New York | 123 |
Suffolk, Massachusetts | 117 |
Cuyahoga, Ohio | 117 |
Worcester, Massachusetts | 116 |
Monroe, New York | 114 |
Leflore, Mississippi | 111 |
Spartanburg, South Carolina | 107 |
Greenville, South Carolina | 104 |
New Haven, Connecticut | 102 |
Fairfield, Connecticut | 99 |