Pittsburgh was chartered as a village in 1759. The following year, the commandant of Fort Pitt counted 149 people living within the village, besides the soldiers that manned the fort. For the next 190 years Pittsburgh saw a steady growth in the population count. In 1907, when Allegheny City was annexed, the count was at 521,000, making Pittsburgh the sixth largest city in the nation.

Although the city ranking within the nation never moved past 6th place, and has declined ever since, the number of residents within city limits continued to grow, peaking at 676,806 in 1950. Since that high point, the population has seen a steady decrease to it's current 2000 level of 334,563.

The rapid growth of the city during the 1800s was accelerated by a series of annexations of adjacent boroughs and townships. The city that once included only the area of the golden triangle now covers 55.6 square miles.

Below is a list of annexations from 1868 through 1927 that helped Pittsburgh grow from a small village at the forks of the Ohio to the metropolis of today, followed by a list of census totals showing the growth and decline of the Pittsburgh population.

Annexation

June 30, 1868 - Annexed the townships of Pitt, Peebles, Liberty, Collins and Oakland.

April 2, 1872 - Annexed the boroughs of South Pittsburgh, Monongahela, Allentown, St. Clair, Lawrenceville, Temperanceville, Birmingham, Sligo, Mount Washington, West Pittsburgh and Ormsby.

July, 1881 - Annexed the village of Garfield.

December 1, 1894 - Annexed the village of Brushton.

March 1, 1897 - Annexed the borough of Beltzhoover.

December 7, 1907 - Annexed the city of Allegheny.

January 4, 1908 - Annexed the boroughs of Beechview and West Liberty (Brookline).

February 7, 1924 - Annexed parts of Lower St. Clair Township.

June 3, 1927 - Annexed the borough of Carrick.

Population
(city ranking in parenthesis)

Census figures were obtained from the US Census Bureau. To view population statistics for most cities in the United States, click here.