1753 -
(33 men signed the petition to be set off from Groton as a separate town)
1765 - 430 (72 families in 41 houses)
1765 -
(Stow Leg Annexed, adding land and houses on our southern border)
1776 - 704
1790 - 677
1798 -
(Nonaicoicus annexed, adding land and houses on our southeastern border)
1800 - 713
1810 - 814
1820 - 922
1830 - 991
1840 - 957
1850 - 1158 (6 colored, 1152 white)
1860 - 1468 (1 colored, 1467 white)
1865 - 1217
1867 -
388 polls (those men who paid poll tax in order to vote)
1870 - 1451 (1 colored, 1450 white) (also listed
as 289 foreign, 1162 native)
1871-
(Ayer was incorporated, taking away land and houses on our southeastern
side)
1875 - 1352
1880 - 1366
354 polls
1890 -
1899 -
410 polls
1900 -
1910 -
524 polls
1915 - 2251
621 polls
1916 -
579 polls
1917 -
550 polls
1918 -
557 polls
1919 -
514 polls
1920 - 2260
511 polls
1921 -
521 polls (another listing said 597 with many exempt)
1922 -
641 polls
1923 -
623 polls
1924 -
642 polls
1925 - 2394
646 polls
1926 -
635 polls
1927 -
637 polls
1928 -
650 polls
1929 -
609 polls
1930 - 2427
615 polls
1935 - 2548
665 polls
1940 - 2501
801 polls The State listing was 2,608
1945 - 2,459
799 polls
1950 - 2,900(4,279) 744 polls The State listing
was 4,271
( ) indicates population including those living on Shirley
property within Fort Devens
1955 - 3,240(4,739) 767 polls
1960 - 3,581(5,202) 664 polls The State
listing was 5, 202
1970 -
The State listing was 4,909
1980 -
The State listing was 6,124
1990 -
The State listing was 6,118
With a land area of 15 square miles, in 1990, Shirley was listed as
having an average of 386.6 people per square mile.
1998 - 6,163 Plus 1,300 prison inmates
Much of the 19th Century information is taken from Seth Chandler's History
of Shirley.
Much of the 20th Century information is taken from Tax and Valuation
reports
For additional population information, go to the Massachusetts Institute
for Social research at www.mass.edu/miser
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