1960 Census of Population and Housing / Counts of Population and Housing Units by Enumeration District
Column 1: State
2-digit Census State Code (not the FIPS code)
Note: 56 is the Census Code for NC in this report. The code for North Carolina changes to FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standard) code 37 for 1970 and subsequent. See this file for more information.
Column 2: County
3-digit Census County Code
Note: In this report, the code for county is sequential (Alamance=001, Alexander=002, Alleghany=003, etc.). This changed to current county codes for 1970 Census (Alamance=001, Alexander=003, Alleghany=005, etc.).
A good reference to the county code list is available here.
Column 3: MCD
3-digit Census Minor Civil Division (Township) Code
Minor civil divisions are the primary political or administrative subdivisions of counties established by State law. Twenty-eight states (including North Carolina) plus the District of Columbia use MCDs. The other states use Census County Divisions (CCDs) to subdivide counties. The most common type of MCD is the township.
Column 4: Place
4-digit Census Place Code
Place refers to a concentration of population, regardless of the existence of legally prescribed limits, powers, or functions.
Column 5: Area Name
Arranged in hierarchical order county -> township -> city/town/remainder of MCD/etc.
Column 6: E. D. Prefix
3-digit Census Enumeration District Prefix
Column 7: E. D. Number
Census Enumeration District number
In the 1960 and older censuses, the smallest data unit for which the Census Bureau collected information was the area assigned to an individual enumerator, and the smallest area for which it reported data corresponded to geographic entities such as wards, communities, and townships. The average ED contains approximately 200 housing units. The ED was the smallest geographic unit for which census data were available until blocks were introduced for larger places in the 1940 census; even then, because blocks were numbered only in limited areas, EDs continued to be used as a collection and reporting unit in decennial censuses through the 1980 census.
Column 8: 1960 Pop
1960 Population (100% count) is the total count of all persons living in the ED.
Column 9: 1960 Hsg
1960 Housing (100% count)
Housing unit: a house, apartment or other group of rooms or a single room is regarded as a housing unit when it is occupied or intended for occupancy as separate living quarters, that is, when the occupants do not live and eat with any other persons in the structure and there is either (1) direct access from the outside or through a common hall, or (2) a kitchen or cooking equipment for the exclusive use of the occupants of the unit. Occupants may be a family or other group of persons, or a person living alone. Both vacant and occupied housing units are included in the housing inventory. Vacant quarters are excluded if they are still under construction, being used for nonpresidential purposes, unfit for human habitation, condemned, etc.
Column 10: Urb/Rural
Flag for Urban/Rural status, with 1 = Rural, 0 = Urban
The urban population comprised all persons living in urbanized areas and in places of 2,500 inhabitants or more outside urbanized areas. The population not classified as urban constituted the rural population.
Column 11: Urbanized Area
An urbanized area contains at least one city of 50,000 inhabitants or more in 1960, as well as its contiguous incorporated and unincorporated areas. An urbanized area may be thought of as divided into the central city, or cities, and the remainder of the area, or the urban fringe. All persons residing in an urbanized area are included in the urban population.
Column 12: Place size
Below are the categories used in this report.
01 = Under 500
02 = 500 to 1,000
03 = 1,000 to 1,500
04 = 1,500 to 2,000
05 = 2,000 to 2,500
06 = 2,500 to 5,000
07 = 5,000 to 10,000
08 = 10,000 to 20,000
09 = 20,000 to 25,000
10 = 25,000 to 50,000
11 = 50,000 to 100,000
12 = 100,000 to 250,000
13 = 250,000 to 500,000
14 = 500,000 to 1,000,000
15 = 1,000,000 or more
Column 13: Ward
A 2-digit numeric code given to political subdivisions of a city or other municipal area used for voting and representation purposes.
Column 14: Annex.
Indicator of areas annexed between 1950 and 1960
(See footnotes in 1960 Number of Inhabitants for North Carolina)
Column 15: Cong. District
A 2-digit code assigned to each Congressional District within a state. Boundaries are those delineated as of April 1, 1960.
Column 16: Tracted Area Code
Census tracts are small areas into which large cities and adjacent areas are divided for statistical purposes.
Column 17: Census Tract Number
Census tracts are small areas into which large cities and metropolitan areas were divided for statistical purposes. Tract boundaries were established cooperatively by a local committee and the Bureau of the Census, and were generally designed to achieve some uniformity of population characteristics, economic status, and living conditions. The average tract had about 4,000 residents. Tract boundaries were established with the intention of being maintained over a long time so that comparisons could be made from census to census.
Useful links:
Overview: Using the Collection
North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management
North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources