96 Fun Facts About US State Capitals

What is the capital of California?

Sacramento has been the capital of California since 1854. Despite Los Angeles being the largest city in the state, Sacramento was chosen for its central location in the agriculturally rich Central Valley.

What is the capital of New York?

Albany has been New York's capital since 1797; New York City, though far larger and more famous, has not held the role since the early days of the republic.

What is the capital of Texas?

Austin has been the capital of Texas since 1839, when it was chosen by Mirabeau B. Lamar during the Republic of Texas era. It was named after Stephen F. Austin, known as the Father of Texas.

What is the capital of Florida?

Tallahassee became Florida's capital in 1824 as a compromise, sitting roughly midway between the two earlier capitals, St. Augustine and Pensacola.

What is the capital of Illinois?

The legislature voted in 1837 to move Illinois's capital from Vandalia to Springfield, a campaign led by a young lawmaker named Abraham Lincoln, who lived there until he left for the White House.

Which city was Georgia's capital during the Civil War, before Atlanta in 1868?

Milledgeville served as the capital of Georgia from 1804 to 1868. It was the state capital throughout the Civil War until the capital was moved to Atlanta during Reconstruction.

What is the capital of Ohio?

Columbus has been the capital of Ohio since 1816. The city was founded in 1812 specifically to serve as the state capital and was named after explorer Christopher Columbus.

What is the capital of Pennsylvania?

Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna, has been Pennsylvania's capital since 1812. Philadelphia had served as both state capital and the nation's capital before the federal government moved to Washington, D.C.

Juneau is the capital of which US state?

Juneau took over from Sitka as Alaska's capital in 1906; its consolidated city-borough sprawls over 2,700 square miles, most of it ice field and mountains.

Which US state capital was the first Confederate capital, before the government moved north in May 1861?

Jefferson Davis was sworn in as Confederate president on the steps of Alabama's State Capitol in February 1861; the government stayed in Montgomery only three months before relocating.

Which US state capital was named for a nearby mountain range?

Olympia, Washington took its name in 1850 at Isaac Ebey's suggestion, for the town's view of the Olympic Mountains to the northwest, a range itself named for Greece's Mount Olympus.

Since 1902, Denver has had which unusual form of local government?

The City and County of Denver was carved out of Arapahoe County on December 1, 1902; Honolulu, Nashville and Indianapolis are other state capitals run as merged city-counties.

What is the capital of Michigan?

Lansing became Michigan's capital in 1847 when the legislature moved it inland from Detroit, partly to keep the government farther from the British-controlled Canadian border.

Which US state capital has the fewest residents?

Montpelier, Vermont recorded 8,074 residents in the 2020 census, by far the smallest population of any US state capital.

What is the capital of Louisiana?

Baton Rouge has been the capital of Louisiana since 1880. Its name means 'Red Stick' in French, referring to a red cypress pole that marked the boundary between two Native American tribal territories.

What is the capital of Minnesota?

Saint Paul and neighbouring Minneapolis form the Twin Cities; the settlement took its name in 1841 from a small log chapel that Father Lucien Galtier built on the bluff above the river landing.

What is the capital of Arizona?

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona and its largest city. With a population of over 1.6 million, Phoenix is the most populous state capital in the United States.

What is the capital of Massachusetts?

Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and its largest city. It has been the capital since the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1630, making it one of the oldest continuously serving capitals in the US.

What is the capital of Nevada?

Named after frontiersman Kit Carson, Carson City became the territorial capital in 1861 and stayed capital when Nevada became a state in 1864; Las Vegas has never held the job.

What is the capital of Missouri?

Jefferson City has been Missouri's capital since 1826; it was named for Thomas Jefferson, whose Louisiana Purchase brought the territory into the United States.

Which US state capital was named after the seventh president of the United States?

The city honoured Andrew Jackson for his 1815 victory at New Orleans, years before he reached the White House; Madison, Lincoln and Jefferson City honour presidents four, sixteen and three.

Which state capital sits on the banks of the Cumberland River?

Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, sits on the Cumberland River. The river played a crucial role in Nashville's development as a major trading and transportation hub in the 19th century.

Montpelier is the capital of which US state?

Montpelier is the capital of Vermont; named after Montpellier, France, it has been the state capital since 1805 and sits on the Winooski River.

What is the capital of Kentucky?

Frankfort has been the capital of Kentucky since 1792. It is one of the smallest state capitals by population and was named after Stephen Frank, a pioneer killed at a nearby ford on the Kentucky River.

What is the capital of South Carolina?

Columbia has been the capital of South Carolina since 1786. The city was specifically planned and built to serve as the state capital, replacing Charleston. It was named after Christopher Columbus.

What is the capital of New Jersey?

Trenton has been the capital of New Jersey since 1790. It played a pivotal role in the American Revolution when George Washington famously crossed the Delaware River to attack Hessian forces there on Christmas night, 1776.

What is the capital of Connecticut?

Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. Before that, Connecticut had two co-capitals: Hartford and New Haven, with the legislature alternating between the two cities.

What is the capital of Maryland?

Annapolis has been the capital of Maryland since 1694. It also briefly served as the capital of the United States in 1783-1784. The United States Naval Academy has been located in Annapolis since 1845.

What is the capital of Wisconsin?

Madison was picked as Wisconsin's territorial capital in 1836, while only a paper plat, and kept the role at statehood in 1848; the city was named for James Madison, who had died that June.

Which US state capital's name contains its state's name as a separate word?

Oklahoma City is the only US state capital whose name contains its state's name as a separate word; the city sprang up in a single day in the Land Run of 22 April 1889.

Which US state capital was the site of a gold rush that began in 1848?

Sacramento was at the center of the California Gold Rush. Gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in nearby Coloma in January 1848, and Sacramento became the supply hub for miners flooding into the region.

What is the capital of Maine?

Augusta has been the capital of Maine since 1832. It sits on the Kennebec River and is significantly smaller than Portland, Maine's largest city. Augusta was named after Pamela Augusta Dearborn, the daughter of Henry Dearborn.

What is the capital of North Carolina?

Raleigh has been the capital of North Carolina since 1792. The city was specifically created to serve as the state capital, named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who sponsored the first English settlements in North Carolina.

Which US state capital stands on the Missouri River?

Pierre stands on the east bank of the Missouri River opposite Fort Pierre; the Oahe Dam, completed in 1962, lies just upstream of the city.

Which state capital sits on the Kansas River?

Topeka has been Kansas's capital since statehood in 1861 and is where the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended school segregation began.

What is the capital of New Hampshire?

Concord has been New Hampshire's capital since 1808; its State House, completed in 1819, is the nation's oldest in which the legislature meets in the original chambers.

Which US state capital has the highest elevation?

Santa Fe, New Mexico is the highest state capital in the United States at approximately 7,199 feet (2,194 meters) above sea level. Denver, known as the Mile High City, sits at 5,280 feet, more than 1,900 feet lower than Santa Fe.

What is the capital of Virginia?

Richmond has been Virginia's capital since 1780; Virginia Beach, the state's most populous city, has never held the role.

Which river flows through Phoenix, Arizona?

The Salt River flows through Phoenix; the city was founded in 1867 on irrigation canals first dug by the Hohokam people to draw the river's water.

Which state capital cannot be reached by road from any other part of its state?

Juneau, Alaska sits on the mainland, but the Coast Mountains and the Juneau Icefield block any road link to the rest of the state; people and goods arrive by air or by ferry.

Which US state capital was the Confederate capital from May 1861 to 1865?

The Confederate Congress voted on May 20, 1861 to move to Richmond because it was larger and better developed; the city fell in April 1865, days before Lee surrendered.

How many US state capitals have the word 'City' in their name?

Four US state capitals contain 'City' in their name: Oklahoma City (Oklahoma), Salt Lake City (Utah), Jefferson City (Missouri), and Carson City (Nevada).

Which river separates Boston from Cambridge?

The Charles River separates Boston from Cambridge; the Harvard and MIT campuses face Boston across it, and the Head of the Charles regatta has been rowed on it since 1965.

Pierre is the capital of which US state?

Pierre has been South Dakota's capital since statehood in 1889, chosen over Huron and other rivals for its central location.

Which US state capital was originally called 'Pig's Eye'?

Saint Paul, Minnesota was originally known as 'Pig's Eye' after Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant, a French-Canadian fur trader who was one of the first European settlers in the area. The name was changed to Saint Paul in 1841 when a chapel was built.

Which US state capital was named after a German chancellor?

Bismarck, North Dakota was named in 1873 after German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The name was chosen by Northern Pacific Railway officials hoping to attract German immigrant settlers and German investment in the railroad.

What is the capital of Delaware?

Capital since 1777, a decade before Delaware earned 'The First State' by ratifying the Constitution first in 1787. It also hosts Dover Air Force Base.

Which US state capital is located at the junction of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers?

Columbus, Ohio is located at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers. The Scioto River runs through downtown Columbus and was a key factor in the city's founding and growth.

What is the capital of Arkansas?

Little Rock takes its name from a small rock outcropping on the Arkansas River that French explorer Bénard de la Harpe dubbed 'la petite roche' in 1722.

What is the capital of Hawaii?

Honolulu sits on the southeast coast of Oahu and is the seat of a consolidated city-county that covers the whole island.

What is the capital of Idaho?

Boise's name is of uncertain origin; one account credits a French-speaking guide exclaiming 'Les bois!' (the woods) at the sight of the tree-lined river.

What is the capital of Indiana?

Indianapolis, 'Indy' for short, is home to the world's largest children's museum and more war memorials than any US city except Washington, D.C.

What is the capital of Iowa?

The city is named after the river, whose French name Rivière des Moines likely means 'River of the Monks'; it was incorporated in 1851 as Fort Des Moines.

What is the capital of Montana?

Helena grew rich on its 1864 gold rush; by 1888 the city counted roughly 50 millionaires among its residents.

What is the capital of Nebraska?

Lincoln's Bertram Goodhue-designed state capitol, finished in 1932, is a 400-foot tower rather than a traditional dome.

What is the capital of Oregon?

Salem, Oregon's capital, counts the state government as its largest public employer; the river running through town forms the line between Marion and Polk counties.

What is the capital of Rhode Island?

Providence, with about 190,000 residents, is the third most populous city in New England, behind only Boston and Worcester.

What is the capital of Utah?

Salt Lake City, often shortened to 'Salt Lake' or SLC, is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah.

What is the capital of West Virginia?

Charleston sits where the Elk River meets the Kanawha; with under 50,000 residents it is one of the smallest 'largest cities' of any state.

What is the capital of Wyoming?

Cheyenne is Wyoming's most populous city even though its metro area, all of Laramie County, holds only about 100,000 people.

Nebraska's capital was founded in 1856 under which name?

Lancaster, a village on the salt marshes, was renamed Lincoln for the assassinated president when it was chosen as state capital in 1867; the original name survives in Lancaster County.

Montana's capital began in 1864 as a gold camp known by what name?

Last Chance Gulch was struck by a party known as the Four Georgians in July 1864; the gulch became Helena's main street, which bears its name.

The Indy 500 is run in which enclave town inside Indiana's capital?

Speedway was laid out in 1912 as a residential suburb, three years after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was built, and took its name from the track.

In July 2024 Utah's capital was awarded its second Winter Olympics, for which year?

Salt Lake City was awarded the 2034 Winter Olympics by the IOC session meeting in Paris on 24 July 2024; it first hosted the Winter Games in 2002.

Idaho's capital has a downtown 'block' celebrating immigrants from which European region?

The Basque Block, with its museum and restaurants, reflects one of the largest Basque communities outside Europe.

Who founded Rhode Island's capital in 1636?

Roger Williams, a minister banished from Massachusetts Bay, founded Providence in 1636 and championed religious liberty and the separation of church and state.

Which city was the first capital of the state of Ohio?

Chillicothe, on the Scioto River, was Ohio's capital from statehood in 1803 until 1810 and again from 1812 to 1816, after briefly losing the seat to Zanesville.

Which city was West Virginia's first capital when the state joined the Union in 1863?

Wheeling hosted the conventions that split the state from Virginia and served as West Virginia's capital twice, 1863-1870 and 1875-1885, before Charleston took the seat for good.

Which palace in Hawaii's capital was the official residence of the kingdom's last two monarchs?

ʻIolani Palace, completed in 1882 for King Kalākaua, was the official residence of Hawaii's last two monarchs; after the overthrow it served as the territorial and state capitol until 1969.

William Penn named Delaware's capital after a town in which English county?

Dover was named by William Penn for the Channel port of Dover in Kent; the surrounding county took the name Kent too, and Delaware's other counties, New Castle and Sussex, are also English borrowings.

Which author built a Hartford home in 1874 and lived there until 1891?

Mark Twain's Hartford house, an American High Gothic design by Edward Tuckerman Potter, is where he wrote Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.

Florida's capital takes its name from a Muskogean phrase meaning what?

Tallahassee means 'old fields' or 'old town' in Muskogean; Creek migrants from Georgia and Alabama likely used it for the abandoned Apalachee farmland they settled in the late 1700s.

Whose 1955 arrest in Alabama's capital launched a year-long bus boycott?

Rosa Parks was arrested on 1 December 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat; the boycott ran 381 days and ended after the Supreme Court's Browder v. Gayle ruling outlawed segregated buses.

Which state capital hosted the 1996 Summer Olympics?

Atlanta's 1996 Games were known as the Centennial Olympics, marking 100 years since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896.

Which river flows through Austin, Texas?

The Colorado River of Texas flows through Austin, where dams form Lady Bird Lake downtown and Lake Austin upstream; it is unrelated to the Grand Canyon's Colorado.

Which river flows through Albany, New York?

Albany stands on the west bank of the Hudson River about 150 miles north of New York City; the Erie Canal joined the Hudson near Albany in 1825.

Which river flows through Denver?

The South Platte River flows through Denver; the city was founded in 1858 where Cherry Creek joins the South Platte, a junction marked by Confluence Park.

Which river flows through Salt Lake City?

The Jordan River flows north through Salt Lake City from Utah Lake to the Great Salt Lake, a course Mormon settlers likened to the biblical Jordan between Galilee and the Dead Sea.

Before its 1873 renaming, North Dakota's capital was called what?

Edwinton honoured Edwin Ferry Johnson, chief engineer of the Northern Pacific Railway, which renamed the town Bismarck in 1873 to court German investment.

How do locals pronounce the name of South Dakota's capital?

Locals say 'Peer', rhyming with 'beer', despite the French spelling of Pierre; the city was named for fur trader Pierre Chouteau Jr.

Which river flows through Indianapolis?

The White River winds through Indianapolis; the capital was platted there in 1821 in the hope the river would carry steamboat trade, but it proved too shallow.

Oregon's capital lies at the center of which fertile farming region?

Salem sits in the middle of the Willamette Valley; the valley's namesake river runs north through the city on its way to the Columbia.

Which river flows through Concord, New Hampshire?

The Merrimack River flows through Concord on its way south to Manchester and Lowell, whose 19th-century textile mills ran on its water power.

New York's capital is named for a Scottish title held by which future king?

James II, then Duke of York and Albany, gave the city its name when the English took the Dutch settlement in 1664; Albany became New York's state capital in 1797.

Massachusetts's capital is named after a market town in which English county?

Boston takes its name from Boston in Lincolnshire, home of several leading Puritan settlers; they founded the Massachusetts town on the Shawmut Peninsula in 1630.

Which river flows through Lansing, Michigan?

The Grand River, Michigan's longest, flows through Lansing and on to Grand Rapids and Lake Michigan; the Red Cedar River joins it in the city.

Which river forms at Columbia, South Carolina, where the Broad and Saluda meet?

The Congaree River forms at Columbia where the Broad and Saluda rivers meet; the city was laid out on the Congaree's bank in 1786 as the new state capital.

A 1979 nuclear accident near Pennsylvania's capital happened at which plant?

Three Mile Island's Unit 2 reactor suffered a partial meltdown on 28 March 1979, the worst accident in US commercial nuclear power history; the plant sits on the Susquehanna ten miles from Harrisburg.

Virginia's capital was built at the fall line of what waterway?

Richmond stands at the fall line of the James River, the head of navigation; colonists from Jamestown tried settling the falls as early as 1609, and William Byrd II laid out the city in 1737.

Maine's legislature kept meeting in which city until the State House opened in 1832?

Portland served as Maine's capital from statehood in 1820 until 1832; Augusta had been chosen in 1827, but lawmakers waited for Charles Bulfinch's new State House to be completed.

Which Challenger astronaut taught at a high school in New Hampshire's capital?

Christa McAuliffe taught social studies at Concord High School and was picked from more than 11,000 applicants to NASA's Teacher in Space Project; she died in the 1986 Challenger disaster.

Which Union general's troops captured South Carolina's capital in February 1865?

William T. Sherman's army entered Columbia on 17 February 1865 during its march through the Carolinas; much of the city burned that night, and both sides blamed the other for the fire.

Wisconsin's capital sits on an isthmus between Mendota and which other body of water?

Lake Monona lies southeast of the isthmus that carries downtown Madison, with Lake Mendota to the northwest; the city was founded in 1836 and named for James Madison.

Which river flows through Saint Paul, Minnesota?

The Mississippi River flows through Saint Paul, whose downtown grew around a steamboat landing below the river bluffs in the 1840s.

Tennessee's capital has a full-scale replica of which ancient building?

Nashville's Parthenon was built in Centennial Park in 1897 for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, rebuilt in concrete in the 1920s, and houses an art museum and a 42-foot statue of Athena.

Which city was Oklahoma's first state capital before voters moved it in 1910?

Guthrie was Oklahoma's territorial and first state capital until a 1910 vote moved the seat to Oklahoma City; it had gained 10,000 residents almost overnight in the Land Run of 1889.