The largest cities in the U.S. (2009)

[Michael in Philly]

I'm well aware of it.  And we're not the first city in the US to register a net loss of populaton over a century - I think there were cities that lost people between 1900 and 2000 (Saint Louis, perhaps?)
Lower population does not always equate to decline:  there are neighborhoods here where houses that in the late 19th century were tenements with many families in them are now multi-million-dollar houses with a single family (or couple, or individual) living in them.  The portion of Philadelphia known as Center City (the area that fell within the pre-1854 city limits) had a population of 120,000 in 1850 and far less now.  But it's a better place to live (adjusting of course for the different living standards of different time periods).

I assume someone has posted this upthread, but just in case:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_cities_in_the_United_States_by_population_by_decade

[TheStranger]

Here's a FAQ on Texas's Municipal Annexation Act of 1963:
http://www.tml.org/legal_pdf/2008AnnexCheatSheet.pdf