Where do you live? How did the population in your township change from 1940 to 1990?

Look at the two Regional Population Maps. Click on the maps to see them full-size. Print them if you like.

Here is an example of how to use these maps. 
Compare the two maps following these steps.

1. On the map of 1940, locate the townships in the NW corner of the gray shaded watershed region with the population numbers of 716.

2. Look immediately to the North and find the township with population of 2308.

3. Next, look at the same three townships on the map of 1990. Notice the change?

The population of each township changes. The western 716 changes to 588 and the eastern 716 changes to 537. These rural townships lost population. Look at the township that had 2308 in 1940. On the 1990 map it has a population of 2702. It grew in population by 394 people.

4. How much did the other townships you looked at lose in population?

The other two townships lost a sum total of 307 people. As a result, it can be implied that the population "shifted" - or moved - into the neighboring growing township from the two townships that lost population.

5. What does the growing township have that the other two do not? A  population center: Mansfield, Missouri!

Note: True, the population loss and gain in these three townships does not balance out perfectly. But it illustrates the general population shift for the region during this time. There was neither a significant loss or gain in population for the region. Only the population shift, or the rural-to-urban migration of the mid-to-latter 20th century.