Port Washington in 1862

To develop a sense of what the community of Port Washington was like at the onset of the Civil War, an examination of the 1860 Census was undertaken. The population of Port Washington was 2,515 at that time. The population is evenly split between 50% adults and 50% children. Males (53%) slightly outnumber females (47%). The adult population consists of 23% native-born, 51% German immigrants, 6% Irish immigrants, 6% Norwegian immigrants and 14% immigrants from other countries including several western European and Canadian provinces.  Three out of every four adult residents are immigrants. The German immigrants come primarily from Luxemburg (22%), Prussia (10%), Saxony and Bavaria. Port Washington has an entirely white population in 1860. There were no African Americans denoted in the census.