What West Virginia's Immigrant Population Looked Like in 1900

Everett Collection // Shutterstock

What West Virginia's immigrant population looked like in 1900

Since the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown in 1607, flows of immigrants have arrived on American shores seeking a new life. From Irish immigrants fleeing famine to Chinese immigrants settling in California during the Gold Rush, more than 86 million people legally immigrated to the United States between 1783 and 2019.

There have been four major waves of immigration to the U.S., beginning with settlers from northern and western Europe seeking land on the frontier from 1820 to 1880. The immigrants counted in the 1900 Census hailed primarily from southern and eastern Europe, drawn by the call of industrialization in America. At the advent of the era of world wars, there was a dearth of immigration, but after 1965, individuals from Asia and Latin America began to move to the U.S. in droves.

Though the national immigrant population today and in 1900 is comparable by percentage, hovering around 14% of the overall U.S. population, the raw population tells a different story. Today, the U.S. is home to 44.7 million immigrants, whereas that number was just shy of 10.5 million at the time of the 1900 Census. Stacker compiled a list of the largest sources of immigrants in West Virginia in 1900 by transcribing a previously untranscribed dataset from the U.S. Census Bureau. Countries are ranked by total residents who were born in that country.

Immigration to the U.S. was handled at the state level prior to 1890, with each state government designating its own processes and checkpoints. New York originally used Castle Garden (now Castle Clinton) as its immigration processing hub, but within a few decades realized that a massive influx of immigrants necessitated a larger venue. Ellis Island opened on Jan. 1, 1892, to the first of more than 12 million individuals who entered the U.S. through its doors.

Keep reading to find out more about the historical immigrant community in your home state or explore the data on your own on our site, GitHub, or data.world.

#1. Germany

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 6,537
- Percent of foreign born residents: 29.12%
- Percent of total state population: 0.68%
National
- Number of residents: 2,669,164
- Percent of foreign born residents: 25.52%
- #1 most common country of origin

#2. Ireland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 3,842
- Percent of foreign born residents: 17.11%
- Percent of total state population: 0.40%
National
- Number of residents: 1,619,409
- Percent of foreign born residents: 15.48%
- #2 most common country of origin

#3. Italy

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 2,921
- Percent of foreign born residents: 13.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.30%
National
- Number of residents: 484,703
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.63%
- #6 most common country of origin

#4. England

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 2,622
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.68%
- Percent of total state population: 0.27%
National
- Number of residents: 843,491
- Percent of foreign born residents: 8.06%
- #4 most common country of origin

#5. Austria

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 1,025
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.57%
- Percent of total state population: 0.11%
National
- Number of residents: 276,702
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.65%
- #10 most common country of origin

#6. Scotland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 855
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.81%
- Percent of total state population: 0.09%
National
- Number of residents: 234,699
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.24%
- #11 most common country of origin

#7. Hungary

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 810
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.61%
- Percent of total state population: 0.08%
National
- Number of residents: 145,815
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.39%
- #14 most common country of origin

#8. Russia

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 721
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.08%
National
- Number of residents: 424,372
- Percent of foreign born residents: 4.06%
- #7 most common country of origin

#9. Canada

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 711
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.17%
- Percent of total state population: 0.07%
National
- Number of residents: 1,183,225
- Percent of foreign born residents: 11.31%
- #3 most common country of origin

#10. Switzerland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 696
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.07%
National
- Number of residents: 115,959
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.11%
- #15 most common country of origin

You may also like: Counties with the lowest home prices in West Virginia

#11. Poland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 638
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.84%
- Percent of total state population: 0.07%
National
- Number of residents: 383,595
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.67%
- #8 most common country of origin

#12. Wales

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 482
- Percent of foreign born residents: 2.15%
- Percent of total state population: 0.05%
National
- Number of residents: 93,744
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.90%
- #20 most common country of origin

#13. France

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 298
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.33%
- Percent of total state population: 0.03%
National
- Number of residents: 104,534
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #18 most common country of origin

#14. Sweden

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 182
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.81%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 574,625
- Percent of foreign born residents: 5.49%
- #5 most common country of origin

#15. Asia (except China, Japan, and India)

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 148
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.66%
- Percent of total state population: 0.02%
National
- Number of residents: 11,928
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #27 most common country of origin

You may also like: Most diverse counties in West Virginia

#16. Greece

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 108
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.48%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 8,655
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #31 most common country of origin

#17. Belgium

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 79
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.35%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 29,848
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.29%
- #24 most common country of origin

#18. Denmark

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 60
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.27%
- Percent of total state population: 0.01%
National
- Number of residents: 154,616
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.48%
- #13 most common country of origin

#19. China

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 47
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.21%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 106,659
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.02%
- #16 most common country of origin

#20. Central America

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 27
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.12%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 3,911
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.04%
- #36 most common country of origin

You may also like: Best counties to retire to in West Virginia

#21. Bohemia

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 27
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.12%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 156,999
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.50%
- #12 most common country of origin

#22. Europe (not otherwise specified)

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 23
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,272
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #41 most common country of origin

#23. Holland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 22
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 105,098
- Percent of foreign born residents: 1.00%
- #17 most common country of origin

#24. Australia

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 21
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 7,041
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #34 most common country of origin

#25. Turkey

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 20
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.09%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 9,949
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #30 most common country of origin

#26. Born at Sea

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 19
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 8,310
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- #32 most common country of origin

#27. Norway

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 19
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.08%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 338,426
- Percent of foreign born residents: 3.24%
- #9 most common country of origin

#28. West Indies (except Cuba and Puerto Rico)

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 11
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 14,468
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #26 most common country of origin

#29. Mexico

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 7
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 103,445
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.99%
- #19 most common country of origin

#30. South America

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 6
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 4,814
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.05%
- #35 most common country of origin

#31. Finland

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 6
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.03%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 63,440
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.61%
- #22 most common country of origin

#32. Spain

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 5
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 7,284
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.07%
- #33 most common country of origin

#33. India

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 3
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,069
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #42 most common country of origin

#34. Other Countries

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 2
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,587
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #39 most common country of origin

#35. Atlantic Islands

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 2
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 10,955
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.10%
- #29 most common country of origin

#36. Africa

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 2
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.01%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 2,577
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.02%
- #40 most common country of origin

#37. Roumania

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 1
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.00%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 15,043
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.14%
- #25 most common country of origin

#38. Cuba

West Virginia
- Number of residents: 1
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.00%
- Percent of total state population: 0.00%
National
- Number of residents: 11,159
- Percent of foreign born residents: 0.11%
- #28 most common country of origin