The Port District Neighborhoods of Antwerp and Boston, 1880-1900

This dataset offers a comparative snapshot of the social composition in two transatlantic port districts by documenting over 5,000 individuals who lived in the main thoroughfares of Antwerp (Schippersstraat, Vingerlingstraat, and Oudemansstraat, located in the Schipperskwartier) and Boston (North Street, situated in the North End) in 1880 and 1900. Based on Belgian population registers and U.S. census records, it includes data on name, sex, year of birth and age, birthplace, marital status, relationship to the household head, occupation, race, and birthplaces of parents. As the two sources sometimes contain different variables or use differing classifications, the available data may vary between the Belgian and American cases.

The dataset was created in the context of the postdoctoral research project at the University of Antwerp (Belgium), Rethinking “Sailortown:” Comparing the Socioeconomic Dynamics of Harbour Districts in Antwerp and Boston, 1850-1930, funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders, grant number 12X1822N. It was used in the peer-reviewed article 'Unpacking the Town within Sailortown: The Port District Neighborhoods of Antwerp and Boston, c. 1880-1900', Journal of Urban History (forthcoming).

Further details on the dataset's structure, methodology and use can be found in the accompanying data paper: Kristof Loockx, 'Residents of Late Nineteenth-Century Port Districts: A Comparative Dataset from Antwerp and Boston, 1880-1900', Journal of Open Humanities Data 11, no. 39 (2025): 1-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/johd.335