New York, State Census, 1915

What is in This Collection?

New York began taking formal state censuses in 1825 both to determine representation in state government and to produce statistics the government might find useful. The state took a census every ten years from 1825 through 1875, another in 1892, and then every ten years again from 1905 to 1925. Unfortunately, many of the early census records have been lost. Two copies were made of both the 1915 and 1925 census. One copy was retained in the County and the other copies were sent to the New York State Archives.

State censuses like the 1915 census are useful because they fall in between federal census years and provide an interim look at a population. The 1915 New York census also took place during an era of heavy immigration; between the 1910 and 1920 federal censuses, the state would add almost 1.3 million inhabitants.

The records are handwritten on preprinted forms. The records are arranged by County, Assembly District, Election District and Block.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Census

• Name of street and house number
• Name of each person living in home on 1 June 1915 (Children born after 1 June 1915 were not recorded)
• Relationship of each person to head of household
• Color or race, gender and age on last birthday
• Place (country) of birth
• Citizen or alien
• Number of years in the United States
• Occupation
• Inmates of institutions
• Address where living at time of admission and date of admission

Collection Content

This collection is a cooperative project with Ancestry.com and the New York State Archives. FamilySearch is publishing an index which links to images at Ancestry.com.