1890 marked a turning point because a census was conducted that year, providing valuable information about the village of Szigliget. The settlement had 146 residential buildings containing 189 dwellings. There were 216 family households: 186 headed by men and 30 by women. Within these households lived 251 male and 446 female family members. In addition, 11 men and 10 women lived in the village outside family households. Altogether, Szigliget had a population of 448 men and 486 women at that time. Of these inhabitants, two men were serving in the military in 1890.
The question of origin is also interesting, and we shall return to it later. According to the census, 294 men and 330 women had been born in Szigliget itself, while among the newcomers, 124 men and 129 women came from Zala County, with the remainder arriving from elsewhere. One man originated from Lower Austria, most probably Ferenc Steinbach.
In 1890 the oldest man in the village was 80 years old, while the oldest woman was 89. The largest male age group consisted of children between 0 and 5 years old (68 individuals). There were 51 men between the ages of 31 and 40, and 56 between 41 and 50 years old. Among women the proportions were similar: 92 were under the age of five, while the second largest age group consisted of those aged between 31 and 40, numbering 76.
In Szigliget, 380 men and 394 women over the age of six were examined for literacy. Among the men, 250 (66%) could both read and write, while among women this figure was only 141 (36%). Six men and twenty-five women could read only. Half of the men over sixty years of age were literate, whereas among women of the same age group this proportion was merely six percent.
The population was overwhelmingly Roman Catholic: 96.8% (903 people). Four inhabitants (0.4%) were Reformed Protestants, and two (0.2%) were Lutherans. The Jewish community numbered twenty-five people, representing 2.6% of the population.
Thus Szigliget was gradually approaching the turn of the century. One of the village’s model agricultural estates was the Ciframajor, where mechanisation was beginning to play an increasingly important role. This is demonstrated by the presence of two engineer-blacksmiths employed there: Ferenc Pillinger (1902), originally from Nyirád, and Lajos Kobza (1904), from Iszkaszentgyörgy, as well as József Vakler (1912), who worked as a machine attendant.
The extensive agricultural operations relied heavily on coachmen, whose work supported the estate’s transport needs. Besides those previously mentioned, the following are known by name: Miklós Gárdonyi (1891), István Mohos (1900), István Borbás (1902), István Mogyorósi (1905), József Stummer (1907), István Erdélyi (Eördög) (1907), József Nagy (1907), Pál Gadácsi Jr. (1908), Károly Varga (1908), György Czakó (1909), Károly Németh (1911), Ferenc Barka (1912), István Nyírő (1912), and József Szalai (1912).
Naturally, a successful estate also required capable management. After József Csatovics, József Szabó (1893) became both estate guard and farm manager. Later, Hermann Schäffer, an estate steward of Jewish origin born in Subotica, directed the Ciframajor. We learn about him from an 1899 parish entry recording the baptism of his son after conversion to Christianity. By 1903 Antal Reider was managing the estate, followed by József Bálint in 1911 and Lajos István Somogyi in 1913.
The leading branch of production naturally remained livestock farming. Employees connected to this work included the cattle herdsmen László Borbély Ács (1892), Ferenc Gauzberger (1904), György Horváth (1908), and Péter Kocsis (1910); the shepherd István Orovicz (1892); the swineherds Mária Simon (1898), Lajos Marton (1905), István Vas (1907), István Horváth (1908), and Sándor Kecskés (1914); the horse-herdsman István Kerék (1903); and the dairy handler Lőrinc Horváth (1905).
Other employees included Sándor Német (1891) as blacksmith, József Steikszner (1896) as mason, József Nagy (1902), János Sabján (1905), and Lőrinc Horváth (1908) as estate farmers, András Lukács (1907) as forester, Lőrinc Nagy (1910) as field guard, Antal Mihályfi (1913) as wheelwright, and Rozália Falati (1913) as servant.
The next estate examined is the Kongó Major, which had begun to lose its importance and, due to its location, maintained closer ties with Nemesvita than with Szigliget itself. Among its workers we know Ferenc Kiss (1891), employed as a sheep herder; Lőrinc Bicsérdi, who had previously worked as a coachman and by 1896 served as a field guard; and Lajos Molnár, recorded in the same year as a coachman. From 1897 there is also mention of Ferenc Horváth, who worked as a shepherd.
In 1898 the Kongó Major was managed by Pál Makk, an estate steward originating from Nagyvázsony. The final entries in the Szigliget parish registers relating to the estate date from 1913 and the following year: Lajos Keszőcze worked as a mining engineer in the Kongó mine, while István Ványik was employed there as a miner. Very little reliable information about this mine has survived.