Daily AncestorEnumeration district
An enumeration district, or E.D., was the area one census taker covered, numbered at the top of every page from 1880 on.
The 1880 census was the first organized by enumeration districts. Most were a whole township, beat, precinct or other civil division, or a piece of one, and the 1880 instructions expected about 28,000 of them. By 1900 the country had 52,726.
The E.D. number is the key to browsing an unindexed census page by page. From 1900 each sheet also carries the supervisor's district number next to it.
As seen in a recordHeading of a 1940 population schedule
S.D. No. 4 | E.D. No. 61-17 | Sheet 8A
Sources
How to cite this page
Daily Ancestor. "Enumeration district." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/census-terms/enumeration-district. Last checked 2026-10-03.