PARTIAL DEMOGRAPHY OF CRANE COUNTY IN 1930
According to the 1930 census

INTRODUCTION
     Miss Sue Gray, a twenty-seven year-old single woman, bookkeeper at the ice plant in Crane, did the entire census of Crane County in the month of April.  She had excellent penmanship, but in longhand, especially when required to be written small, "a" and "o" are often indistinguishable, and the dot over an "i" is sometimes lost, making an "i" and "e" indistinguishable.   In a few places ink was smeared, which makes some names pure guesswork.  Therefore, mistakes appear in this work, which it is hoped others will notice and correct.
     Crane County was divided into four precincts in 1930, but almost the entire population lived in precinct one. Only ten households (39 people) were in precinct two, two households (3 people) in precinct three, and three households in precinct four (8 people), whereas there were 731 places of residence, 757 heads of households (2,121 people) in precinct one.   Miss Gray divided precinct one into three distinct areas.  From April 3 through April 18 she numbered 417 places of residence located north of the East and West Road (obviously the Rankin and Grandfalls road running through the middle of the city of Crane) and took the census of 424 separate households (1,244 people).   At the end of house 417 she clearly writes: "Here ends the enumeration of Crane that part North of East and West Road."   On April 19 she numbered 183 places of residence [starting again with number one and numbering the houses through 183] located south of the East and West Road, and took the census of 186 separate households (562 people).   At the end of house 183 she clearly writes: "Here ends the Enumeration of Crane that part South of East and West Road."   However, from April 21 through April 28 she continues numbering houses in precinct one, beginning with house number 184 and numbers places of residence through 314, without designating the location or these houses except that they were in precinct one.   One can only assume that places of residence 184 through 314 were outside the city limits. For certain this section takes in the residences of the part of the McElroy Gulf Camp that was in Crane County, located near the Gulf offices.   [Part of the camp was located in District 3 of Upton County.  Therefore, Upton County, District 3 is added at the end, but not included in the statistics.]   In this section of Crane County, 131 places of residence (including tents and bUnkhouses) and 147 heads of households (365 people) are identified.   Therefore, in Crane County in 1930 there were 2,213 people, 769 heads of households {in some households, other grown relatives or roomers lived which are not numbered} lived in 743 places of residence.


VOCATIONS IDENTIFIED OTHER THAN OILFIELD WORKERS.
     Fifty-one different vocations are organized either according to the type of business or distinct function.   The residents, identified with the business or function, are also identified with their numbered place of residence (although designated "House#, it could be a tent, room in a boarding house, etc.- the census form calls for giving one number per building, even when occupied by multiple households, with a separate space for numbering the heads of households, but that procedure was not always adhered to).
     In the first chart, the first number identifies the precinct. In the case of precinct 1, S or N precedes the house number to indicate that the place of residence was located south or north of East and West Road.   Any house number larger than S183 will be in bold letters to indicate the "house" was probably outside the town limits, the vast majority (if not all) located south and southeast of the town.   Household numbers are given only when two households lived in the same place of residence and given separate numbers.
     The census does not identify the location of business establishments, and where residents lived does not offer a clue, in most instances, as to where they worked.   For example, some living south of the East and West Road owned business establishments located north of the road.  Miss Gray was not always consistent in the way she identified vocations or places worked, but the following copies what she wrote.   Ranchmen are listed first because they were probably here before the oil boom created the county and town.   That, of course, does not include everyone who worked on ranches.  "Relations" in the census indicates the relation of persons to the head of the household.   However, in the first chart "relations" are shown only when necessary for clarification, indicating the worker was not the head of a household in which he lived.



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