The Demographics of York County and YCI
From the late 1780s to the mid-1950s, life in York County was hallmarked by white picket fences, with little diversity within both the school systems and the county itself. The demographics of York county following the Revolutionary War were quite different from how they are today. In the 1780s, although there were no free black households recorded by the tax assessors in the county. Those of German ancestry composed half of the county population. Scotts and Irish were approximately one-third, and an eighth of the population consisted of English and the Quakers. There was also a small Swedish population in York county (Latsko).
Starting in the early 1800s, more census data became widely available. According to the U.S census, from the years 1800-1840, York ranked among the top 100 most urban populous areas in the country. The most urban counties were New Oxford, Hanover and Abbottown. Wealth is a significant factor in the demographics of an area. According to Klinefelter, southwest York county was most wealthy and where the majority of the students at York Collegiate Institute resided. This is consistent with the YCI cost of Upper school, which was above average for the area—The tuition fee per quarter of ten weeks was $10, payable strictly in advance, for all the courses, including the Preparatory Year, totalling over $5,000 by the end of one’s education. Because YCI was a private and costly institution, only those of upper-class households could attend, although a discount was given to those with family relations to the clergy. We conclude, then, that York county was a highly religious and wealthy area for the time period. Its population was primarily caucasian, and higher education was not accessible for the minorities and lower-income people. It was not until 1955 that the first African-Americans were pictured in school photos, and from this point forward students from all backgrounds began integration into YCI and its successor institutions.