Over the following years, while Boston's colored population generally increased its percentage, its percentage of the city's total population decreased. By 1820 the colored population was 1,726 out of a total population of 43,940, making up about 3.93 percent of Boston's population. The 1820 census also, interestingly, has both a colored category and a category for "All other persons except Indians not taxed." The relative lack of "all others" (50 in all) leads to the presumption that, in the 1800 census, the majority of those in the "all others" were the same as those who would have fallen inside of a "colored" category.²

The 1850 Boston Census provides detailed information on the city's population, down to the street level. For the purpose of defining the living areas of Boston's African American Population as of 1850, the information pertaining to each ward is shown below, with breakdowns of the African American population for each ward. The following map shows the distribution of the city's wards at the time of the census. The numbers and borders in black are the ones relevant for 1850 (the map seems to have been drawn over at a later period in red to show a different distribution of wards).⁷

Massachussetts Census ID, “1850 U.S. Census,” Digital Images, Hathi Trust

Southac St. was the only street in Boston that had a majority colored population. These four streets contained 1,041 colored individuals, accountings for 83.547 % of the colored population in Ward 6 and 49.93% of the colored population of Boston as a whole. Almost half of the entire black population of Boston was concentrated in these four streets.

Mapping out these streets shows a clear concentration of the African-American community within Beacon Hill. However, there are also several other streets outside of the Beacon Hill area with over 30 colored persons.

The professions depicted within this document, along with the number of individuals claiming the profession, are presented below. Along with the various jobs listed above,  one person mentioned the following jobs: Handcartman, Basketmaker, Soap Boiler, Blacking Maker, Window Cleaner, "Fruit," Cook, Chimney Sweep, Preacher, Cigar Maker, and Sawyer 1.

Prevalence of Barbers 

The high amount of barbers in the African American community is not a phenomenon limited to Boston. In his book "Knights of the Razor: Black Barbers in Slavery and Freedom," Douglas W. Bristol argues that "Barbering, in short, was one of the few skilled trades open to African Americans in the North."⁷ Discrimination in most forms of skilled labor prevented the rise of African American workers. This is also part of the reason why "laborer" is the most common job description, as for many African Americans, skilled work was unavailable. Yet, barbering was unique, partly because it was a type of service job; it was arguably a way in which blacks continued to serve whites outside of the confines of slavery. Yet many African Americans were able to turn this into an avenue of success. Bristol shows that in 1855 in New York, there were more black barbers than the total number of Black butchers, tailors, shoemakers, and carpenters combined. He also shows that Black barbers vastly outnumbered white barbers in many northern cities. For example, in 1850, 79 percent of barbers in Philadelphia and 81 percent in Baltimore were African Americans.

However, this job did not come without issues. Bristol claims that many black barbers excluded other African Americans from their shops. Their success relied, to a large degree, on serving white patrons. Barbering was often not seen as a job for whites until European immigrants started arriving, many of whom would take up barbering and push out African Americans from these jobs.⁸ While many served only black customers, some became hubs for African American community and abolitionist efforts. Peter Howard's barbershop was a place which attracted both white and black abolitionists and may have played a role in the Underground Railroad.⁹

Prevalence of Mariners

According to The Freedom Trail Foundation, by the 1830s 20% of all American maritime workers were African Americans.¹⁰ Similar to barbering, the prevalence of African American mariners may simply be because it was one of the few professions not explicitly barred to them by racism. Perhaps partly due to the relative danger of the profession, mariners seem to have been in large demand both in the private sector and in the navy, and this need seems to have partly overcome the barriers of racism. Whatever the cause, marine jobs at large seemed to have less discrimination than most others. A notable example is that, unlike the army, the American Navy recruited African Americans from the beginning of the Revolutionary War.¹¹ Perhaps one of the most famous early African American sailors is Crispus Attucks, who led the attack against British Soldiers that led to the Boston Massacre. Though in trademark American hypocrisy, some of these African Americans helping the fledgling nation fight for freedom were slaves.¹²