The Beloit Journal published an issue reporting the population of the village of Beloit as 1,678.

The evidence

• “According to No. 24 of the Beloit "Journal," dated December 6, 1848, Mr. George Stearns then reported the population of the village alone as being 1,678, of whom 1,131 lived on the east side of the river and 547 on the west side.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/06-history-of-beloit.md, Vol. 1, PDF p. 175 / book p. 158

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources