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list of capitals in the United States#United States

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{{for|a list of capitol buildings|List of state and territorial capitols in the United States}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{U.S. city population tables}}

File:US_states_in_which_the_capital_is_the_largest_city.svg

File:US_States_that_have_changed_capitals.svg

This is a list of capital cities of the United States, including places that serve or have served as federal, state, insular area, territorial, colonial and Native American capitals.

Washington, D.C. has been the federal capital of the United States since 1800. Each U.S. state has its own capital city, as do many of its insular areas. Most states have not changed their capital city since becoming a state, but the capital cities of their respective preceding colonies, territories, kingdoms, and republics typically changed multiple times. There have also been other governments within the current borders of the United States with their own capitals, such as the Republic of Texas, Native American nations, and other unrecognized governments.

National capitals

{{See also|#Colonies of British America}}

File:Exterior_of_the_Independence_Hall,_Aug_2019.jpg and the Congress of the Confederation met at Independence Hall at various times between 1775 and 1782, and the U.S. Congress met at the adjacent Congress Hall in the 1790s.]]

File:Federal_Hall_(48126566178).jpg memorial in New York City: in an earlier building on this site, the United States Congress convened for the first time under the United States Constitution in 1789 and George Washington was sworn in as the first president]]

File:US_Capitol_west_side.JPG in Washington, D.C.]]

The buildings in cities identified in the chart below served either as official capitals of the United States under the United States Constitution, or, prior to its ratification, sites where the Second Continental Congress or Congress of the Confederation met. The United States did not have a permanent capital under the Articles of Confederation.

The U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1787, and gave the Congress the power to exercise "exclusive legislation" over a district that "may, by Cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States."{{Cite web|title=Article 1 Section 8 Clause 17 |url=https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/clause-17/|website=Constitution Annotated {{!}} Congress.gov {{!}} Library of Congress |language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}} The 1st Congress met at Federal Hall in New York.{{Cite web|title=Farewell to New York|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Farewell_NY.htm|website=U.S. Senate|access-date=2020-05-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201010003540/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Farewell_NY.htm |archive-date=Oct 10, 2020}} In 1790, it passed the Residence Act, which established the national capital at a site along the Potomac River that would become Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|title=Residence Act: Primary Documents in American History: Introduction|url=https://guides.loc.gov/residence-act?loclr=bloglaw|last=Drexler|first=Ken|website=Library of Congress Research Guides |language=en|access-date=2020-05-31 |date=April 21, 2020}} For the next ten years, Philadelphia served as the temporary capital. There, Congress met at Congress Hall.{{Cite web|title=Congress Hall - Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)|url=https://www.nps.gov/inde/learn/historyculture/places-congresshall.htm |website=National Park Service|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}} On November 17, 1800, the 6th United States Congress formally convened in Washington, D.C.{{Cite web|title=On This Day: Congress Moves to Washington, D.C. {{!}} In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress|url=https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2015/11/on-this-day-congress-moves-to-washington-d-c/|last=González|first=Jennifer|date=2015-11-17|website=Library of Congress Blogs |access-date=2020-05-31}} Congress has met outside of Washington only twice since: on July 16, 1987, at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, to commemorate the 200th anniversary of ratification of the Constitution;{{Cite web|title=Ceremonial Meeting of Congress in Philadelphia for Bicentennial of Constitution |url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1951-2000/Ceremonial-Meeting-Philadelphia-for-Bicentennial-of-Constitution/|website=US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}} and at Federal Hall National Memorial in New York on September 6, 2002, to mark the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks.{{Cite web|title=A Special Session at Federal Hall in New York City |url=https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/2000-/A-special-session-at-Federal-Hall-in-New-York-City/|website=US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives |language=en |date=September 6, 2002 |access-date=2020-05-31}} Both meetings were ceremonial.

class="wikitable"

!City

!Building

!Start date

!End date

!Duration

!Ref

colspan="6" |Second Continental Congress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Independence Hall

|{{Date table sorting|July 4, 1776}}{{efn|Convened May 10, 1775, prior to independence.}}

|{{Date table sorting|December 12, 1776}}

|{{Time interval|July 4, 1776|December 12, 1776}}

|{{Cite journal|last=Riley|first=Edward M.|date=1953|title=The Independence Hall Group|journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society|volume=43|issue=1|pages=7–42|doi=10.2307/1005661|jstor=1005661|issn=0065-9746}}

Baltimore, Maryland

|Henry Fite House

|{{Date table sorting|December 20, 1776}}

|{{Date table sorting|February 27, 1777}}

|{{Time interval|December 20, 1776|February 27, 1777}}

|{{Cite web|title=Buildings of the Department of State Henry Fite's House, Baltimore Dec. 20, 1776—Feb. 27, 1777 |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section4|website=Office of the Historian|access-date=2020-05-31}}

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Independence Hall

|{{Date table sorting|March 5, 1777}}

|{{Date table sorting|September 18, 1777}}

|{{Time interval|March 5, 1777|September 18, 1777}}

|{{Cite web|title=8 Forgotten Capitals of the United States|url=https://www.history.com/news/8-forgotten-capitals-of-the-united-states|last=Klein|first=Christopher|website=HISTORY|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}}

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

| Court House

|{{Date table sorting|September 27, 1777}}

|{{Date table sorting|September 27, 1777}}

|{{Time interval|September 27, 1777|September 28, 1777}}

|

Yorktown, Pennsylvania

| Court House

|{{Date table sorting|September 30, 1777}}

|{{Date table sorting|June 27, 1778}}

|{{Time interval|September 30, 1777|June 27, 1778}}

|

rowspan=2|Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|College Hall{{efn|Extensive damage to Independence Hall during the British Occupation of Philadelphia, necessitated this temporary meeting place.}}

|{{Date table sorting|July 2, 1778}}

|{{Date table sorting|July 13, 1778}}

|{{Time interval|July 2, 1778|July 13, 1778}}

|{{Cite web|title=Meeting Places for the Continental Congresses and the Confederation Congress, 1774–1789|url=https://history.house.gov/People/Continental-Congress/Meeting-Places/ |website=History, Art & Archives, U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=2022-01-30}}{{cite web |url=https://www.unitedstatescapitals.org/p/college-hall.html?m=1 |title=College Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: July 2, 1778 to July 20, 1778 |website=United States Capitols}}see also {{cite journal |title=Journals of the Continental Congress (JCC) 1774–1789 |editor-first1= Worthington C. |editor-last1=Ford |editor-first2=Gaillard |editor-last2=Hunt |editor-first3=John C. |editor-last3=Fitzpatrick |editor-first4=Roscoe R. |editor-last4=Hill |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Government Printing Office |via=Library of Congress |journal=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Databases, 1774–1875 |url=http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html |volume=1 |pages=13, 104, 114}}

Independence Hall

|{{Date table sorting|July 14, 1778}}

|{{Date table sorting|March 1, 1781}}

|{{Time interval|July 14, 1778|March 1, 1781}}

|

colspan="6" |Congress of the Confederation
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Independence Hall

|{{Date table sorting|March 2, 1781}}

|{{Date table sorting|June 21, 1783}}

|{{Time interval|March 2, 1781|June 21, 1783}}

|{{Cite web|title=The Nine Capitals of the United States|url=https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/Nine_Capitals_of_the_United_States.htm|website=U.S. Senate|access-date=2020-05-31}}

Princeton, New Jersey{{efn|Congress was forced to move from Philadelphia due to a riot of angry soldiers. See: Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783}}

|Nassau Hall

|{{Date table sorting|June 30, 1783}}

|{{Date table sorting|November 4, 1783}}

|{{Time interval|June 30, 1783|November 4, 1783}}

|

Annapolis, Maryland

|Maryland State House

|{{Date table sorting|November 26, 1783}}

|{{Date table sorting|August 19, 1784}}

|{{Time interval|November 26, 1783|August 19, 1784}}

|

Trenton, New Jersey

|French Arms Tavern

|{{Date table sorting|November 1, 1784}}

|{{Date table sorting|December 24, 1784}}

|{{Time interval|November 1, 1784|December 24, 1784}}

|

rowspan=2|New York, New York

|Federal Hall

|{{Date table sorting|January 11, 1785}}

|{{Date table sorting|October 6, 1788}}

|{{Time interval|November 1, 1784|October 6, 1788}}

|

Fraunces Tavern, Walter Livingston House

|{{Date table sorting|October 6, 1788}}

|{{Date table sorting|March 3, 1789}}

|{{Time interval|October 6, 1788|March 3, 1789}}

|

colspan="6" |United States Congress
New York, New York

|Federal Hall

|{{Date table sorting|March 4, 1789}}

|{{Date table sorting|December 5, 1790}}

|{{Time interval|March 4, 1789|December 5, 1790}}

|

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Congress Hall

|{{Date table sorting|December 6, 1790}}

|{{Date table sorting|May 14, 1800}}

|{{Time interval|December 6, 1790|May 14, 1800}}{{efn|Government offices were evacuated to Trenton, New Jersey, from August to November 1799 following an outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia.}}

|

rowspan=4|Washington, D.C.

|United States Capitol

|{{Date table sorting|November 17, 1800}}{{efn|The District of Columbia was formed February 27, 1801, with the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801. The city of Washington was founded in 1791 and construction of the new capital began while it was still part of Maryland. President John Adams moved to the White House on November 1, 1800 and the 6th United States Congress held its first session in Washington on November 17, 1800.{{citation |author=Carter II, Edward C. |title=Benjamin Henry Latrobe and the Growth and Development of Washington, 1798-1818 |journal=Records of the Columbia Historical Society |date=1971–1972 |pages=139}}}}

|{{Date table sorting|August 24, 1814}}{{efn|President James Madison fled to the home of Caleb Bentley in Brookeville, Maryland following the burning of Washington on August 24–25, 1814. As such, the town claims to have been the "U.S. Capital for a Day" despite the fact that Congress never met there.{{cite web|url=http://townofbrookevillemd.org/history.html |title=A Brief History |year=2006 |publisher=Town of Brookeville, Maryland |access-date=October 7, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207142226/http://townofbrookevillemd.org/history.html |archive-date=December 7, 2008}}}}

|{{Time interval|November 17, 1800|August 24, 1814}}

|

Blodgett's Hotel

|{{Date table sorting|September 19, 1814}}

|{{Date table sorting|December 7, 1815}}

|{{Time interval|September 19, 1814|December 7, 1815}}

|{{Cite web|title=The Senate Convenes in Emergency Quarters|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Senate_Convenes_in_Emergency_Quarters.htm|website=U.S. Senate|access-date=2020-05-31}}

Old Brick Capitol

|{{Date table sorting|December 4, 1815}}

|{{Date table sorting|March 3, 1819}}

|{{Time interval|December 4, 1815|March 3, 1819}}

|{{Cite web|title=On This Day: December 4, 1815|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/anecdote/days/049week_1204.htm|website=U.S. Senate|access-date=2020-05-31}}

United States Capitol

|{{Date table sorting|March 4, 1819}}

|Present

|{{Time interval|March 4, 1819

}

|{{Cite web|title=Meeting Places and Quarters|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Meeting_Places_Quarters.htm|website=U.S. Senate|access-date=2020-05-31}}

|}

State capitals

Each state has a capital that serves as the seat of its government. Ten of the thirteen original states and 15 other states have changed their capital city at least once; the last state to move its capital city was Oklahoma in 1910.

In the following table, the "Since" column shows the year that the city began serving as the state's capital (or the capital of the entities that preceded it). The MSA/μSA and CSA columns display the population of the metro area the city is a part of, and should not be construed to mean the population of the city's sphere of influence or that the city is an anchor for the metro area. Fields colored light yellow denote that the population is a micropolitan statistical area.

class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |State

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Capital

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |Since

! rowspan="2" scope="col" data-sort-type="number" |Area

! colspan="3" scope="col" |Population (2020 US Census)

! rowspan="2" scope="col" |City rank in state

City

!MSA/μSA

!CSA

Alabama

!scope=row|Montgomery

|align=center|1846

|align=right|{{convert|159.8|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|200,603

|align=right|386,047

|align=right|476,207

|align=center|3

Alaska

!scope=row|Juneau

|align=center|1906

|align=right|{{convert|2716.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|32,255

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|32,255

|align=right|

|align=center|3

Arizona

!scope=row|Phoenix

|align=center|1889

|align=right|{{convert|517.6|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|1,608,139

|align=right|4,845,832

|align=right|4,899,104

|align=center|1

Arkansas

!scope=row|Little Rock

|align=center|1821

|align=right|{{convert|116.2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|202,591

|align=right|748,031

|align=right|912,604

|align=center|1

California

!scope=row|Sacramento

|align=center|1854

|align=right|{{convert|97.9|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|524,943

|align=right|2,397,382

|align=right|2,680,831

|align=center|6

Colorado

!scope=row|Denver

|align=center|1867

|align=right|{{convert|153.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|715,522

|align=right|2,963,821

|align=right|3,623,560

|align=center|1

Connecticut

!scope=row|Hartford

|align=center|1875

|align=right|{{convert|17.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|121,054

|align=right|1,213,531

|align=right|1,482,086

|align=center|4

Delaware

!scope=row|Dover

|align=center|1777

|align=right|{{convert|22.4|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|39,403

|align=right|181,851

|align=right|7,379,700

|align=center|2

Florida

!scope=row|Tallahassee

|align=center|1824

|align=right|{{convert|95.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|196,169

|align=right|384,298

|align=right|

|align=center|8

Georgia

!scope=row|Atlanta

|align=center|1868

|align=right|{{convert|133.5|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|498,715

|align=right|6,089,815

|align=right|6,930,423

|align=center|1

Hawaii

!scope=row|Honolulu

|align=center|1845

|align=right|{{convert|68.4|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|350,964

|align=right|1,016,508

|align=right|

|align=center|1

Idaho

!scope=row|Boise

|align=center|1865

|align=right|{{convert|63.8|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|235,684

|align=right|764,718

|align=right|850,341

|align=center|1

Illinois

!scope=row|Springfield

|align=center|1837

|align=right|{{convert|54.0|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|114,394

|align=right|208,640

|align=right|308,523

|align=center|7

Indiana

!scope=row|Indianapolis

|align=center|1825

|align=right|{{convert|361.5|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|887,642

|align=right|2,111,040

|align=right|2,492,514

|align=center|1

Iowa

!scope=row|Des Moines

|align=center|1857

|align=right|{{convert|75.8|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|214,133

|align=right|709,466

|align=right|890,322

|align=center|1

Kansas

!scope=row|Topeka

|align=center|1856

|align=right|{{convert|56.0|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|126,587

|align=right|233,152

|align=right|

|align=center|5

Kentucky

!scope=row|Frankfort

|align=center|1792

|align=right|{{convert|14.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|28,602

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|75,393

|align=right|746,045

|align=center|15

Louisiana

!scope=row|Baton Rouge

|align=center|1880

|align=right|{{convert|76.8|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|227,470

|align=right|870,569

|align=right|

|align=center|2

Maine

!scope=row|Augusta

|align=center|1832

|align=right|{{convert|55.4|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|18,899

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|123,642

|align=right|

|align=center|10

Maryland

!scope=row|Annapolis

|align=center|1694

|align=right|{{convert|6.73|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|40,812

|align=right|2,844,510

|align=right|9,973,383

|align=center|7

Massachusetts

!scope=row|Boston

|align=center|1630

|align=right|{{convert|89.6|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|675,647

|align=right|4,941,632

|align=right|8,466,186

|align=center|1

Michigan

!scope=row|Lansing

|align=center|1847

|align=right|{{convert|35.0|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|112,644

|align=right|541,297

|align=right|

|align=center|5

Minnesota

!scope=row|Saint Paul

|align=center|1849

|align=right|{{convert|52.8|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|311,527

|align=right|3,690,261

|align=right|4,078,788

|align=center|2

Mississippi

!scope=row|Jackson

|align=center|1821

|align=right|{{convert|104.9|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|153,701

|align=right|591,978

|align=right|671,607

|align=center|1

Missouri

!scope=row|Jefferson City

|align=center|1826

|align=right|{{convert|27.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|43,228

|align=right|150,309

|align=right|

|align=center|15

Montana

!scope=row|Helena

|align=center|1875

|align=right|{{convert|14.0|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|32,091

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|83,058

|align=right|

|align=center|6

Nebraska

!scope=row|Lincoln

|align=center|1867

|align=right|{{convert|74.6|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|291,082

|align=right|340,217

|align=right|361,921

|align=center|2

Nevada

!scope=row|Carson City

|align=center|1861

|align=right|{{convert|143.4|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|58,639

|align=right|58,639

|align=right|657,958

|align=center|6

New Hampshire

!scope=row|Concord

|align=center|1808

|align=right|{{convert|64.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|43,976

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|153,808

|align=right|8,466,186

|align=center|3

New Jersey

!scope=row|Trenton

|align=center|1784

|align=right|{{convert|7.66|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|90,871

|align=right|387,340

|align=right|23,582,649

|align=center|10

New Mexico

!scope=row|Santa Fe

|align=center|1610

|align=right|{{convert|37.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|87,505

|align=right|154,823

|align=right|1,162,523

|align=center|4

New York

!scope=row|Albany

|align=center|1797

|align=right|{{convert|21.4|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|99,224

|align=right|899,262

|align=right|1,190,727

|align=center|6

North Carolina

!scope=row|Raleigh

|align=center|1792

|align=right|{{convert|114.6|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|467,665

|align=right|1,413,982

|align=right|2,106,463

|align=center|2

North Dakota

!scope=row|Bismarck

|align=center|1883

|align=right|{{convert|26.9|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|73,622

|align=right|133,626

|align=right|

|align=center|2

Ohio

!scope=row|Columbus

|align=center|1816

|align=right|{{convert|210.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|905,748

|align=right|2,138,926

|align=right|2,544,048

|align=center|1

Oklahoma

!scope=row|Oklahoma City

|align=center|1910

|align=right|{{convert|620.3|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|681,054

|align=right|1,425,695

|align=right|1,498,149

|align=center|1

Oregon

!scope=row|Salem

|align=center|1855

|align=right|{{convert|45.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|175,535

|align=right|433,353

|align=right|3,280,736

|align=center|3

Pennsylvania

!scope=row|Harrisburg

|align=center|1812

|align=right|{{convert|8.11|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|50,099

|align=right|591,712

|align=right|1,295,259

|align=center|9

Rhode Island

!scope=row|Providence

|align=center|1900

|align=right|{{convert|18.5|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|190,934

|align=right|1,676,579

|align=right|8,466,186

|align=center|1

South Carolina

!scope=row|Columbia

|align=center|1786

|align=right|{{convert|125.2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|136,632

|align=right|829,470

|align=right|951,412

|align=center|2

South Dakota

!scope=row|Pierre

|align=center|1889

|align=right|{{convert|13.0|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|14,091

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|20,745

|align=right|

|align=center|9

Tennessee

!scope=row|Nashville

|align=center|1826

|align=right|{{convert|525.9|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|689,447

|align=right|1,989,519

|align=right|2,118,233

|align=center|1

Texas

!scope=row|Austin

|align=center|1839

|align=right|{{convert|305.1|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|961,855

|align=right|2,283,371

|align=right|

|align=center|4

Utah

!scope=row|Salt Lake City

|align=center|1858

|align=right|{{convert|109.1|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|199,723

|align=right|1,257,936

|align=right|2,701,129

|align=center|1

Vermont

!scope=row|Montpelier

|align=center|1805

|align=right|{{convert|10.2|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|8,074

|align=right style="background-color:#FFFFDD;"|59,807

|align=right| 285,369

|align=center|6

Virginia

!scope=row|Richmond

|align=center|1780

|align=right|{{convert|60.1|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|226,610

|align=right|1,314,434

|align=right|

|align=center|4

Washington

!scope=row|Olympia

|align=center|1853

|align=right|{{convert|16.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|55,605

|align=right|294,793

|align=right|4,953,421

|align=center|23

West Virginia

!scope=row|Charleston

|align=center|1885

|align=right|{{convert|31.6|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|48,864

|align=right|258,859

|align=right|779,969

|align=center|1

Wisconsin

!scope=row|Madison

|align=center|1838

|align=right|{{convert|68.7|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|269,840

|align=right|680,796

|align=right|910,246

|align=center|2

Wyoming

!scope=row|Cheyenne

|align=center|1869

|align=right|{{convert|21.1|mi2|0|abbr=on}}

|align=right|65,132

|align=right|100,512

|align=right|

|align=center|1

colspan="8" |{{Cite web|title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020|url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}{{Cite web|title=Metropolitan and Micropolitan Population Totals: 2020|url=https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/interactive/2020-population-and-housing-state-data.html|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}{{Cite web|title=Combined Statistical Area Population Totals and city rankings: 2020|url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/|access-date=2020-11-09|website=The United States Census Bureau|language=EN-US}}

Insular area capitals

An insular area is a United States territory that is neither a part of one of the fifty states nor a part of the District of Columbia, the nation's federal district. Those insular areas with territorial capitals are listed below.

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Capitals of United States Insular Areas

scope="col" | Insular area

! scope="col" | Capital

! scope="col" | Since

! scope="col" | Pop. (2010)

! scope="col" | Notes

style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

| American Samoa

! scope="row" | Pago Pago

| 1899

3,656Pago Pago refers to both a village and a group of villages, one of which is Fagatogo, the official seat of government stated in the territory's constitution.
Guam

! scope="row" | Hagåtña

| 1898

1,051Dededo is the area's largest village.
Northern Mariana Islands

! scope="row" | Saipan

| 1947

48,220Since the entire island, of {{cvt|46|sqmi}}, is organized as a single municipality, most publications designate the whole of Saipan as the Commonwealth's capital. Most government functions are based in the Capitol Hill village, except for the judicial branch which is located in Susupe.
Puerto Rico

! scope="row" | San Juan

| 1898

395,326The oldest continuously inhabited U.S. state or territorial capital, San Juan was originally called Puerto Rico while the island was called San Juan Bautista.
U.S. Virgin Islands

! scope="row" | Charlotte Amalie

| 1917

18,481Like the rest of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Charlotte Amalie (located on the island of Saint Thomas) has no local government and is directly administered by the territorial government. However, it has boundaries defined by the Virgin Islands Code and is recognized as a town by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Former national capitals

Four of the 50 U.S. states, Hawaii, Texas, California, and Vermont, were once de jure sovereign states with diplomatic recognition from the international community. California did not have a capital during its time as a sovereign nation.

=Hawaii=

During its history as a sovereign nation (Kingdom of Hawaii, 1795–1893; Republic of Hawaii, 1894–1898), five sites served as the capital of Hawaii:

File:Iolani_Palace_2017.jpg twice served as the national capital of Hawaii and is now the state capital.]]

Annexed by the United States in 1898, Honolulu remained the capital, first of the Territory of Hawaii (1900–1959), and then of the state (since 1959).

=Texas=

During its history as a sovereign nation (Republic of Texas, 1836–1845), seven sites served as the capital of Texas:

Annexed by the United States in 1845, Austin remains the capital of the state of Texas.

=Vermont=

Three sites have served as the capital of the Vermont Republic:

When the state was admitted to the Union in 1791, Burlington was chosen to be the capital and it remained as such until 1805, when it was changed to Montpelier, where it remains today.

Native American capitals

File:Navajo_Nation_Council_Chamber,_January_2019.jpg in Window Rock, Arizona is the center of government for the Navajo Nation]]

Some Native American tribes, in particular the Five Civilized Tribes, organized their states with constitutions and capitals in Western style. Others, like the Iroquois, had long-standing, pre-Columbian traditions of a 'capitol' longhouse where wampum and council fires were maintained with special status. Since they did business with the U.S. Federal Government, these capitals can be seen as officially recognized in some sense.

= Cherokee Nation =

New Echota, now near Calhoun, Georgia, was founded in 1825, realizing the dream and plans of Cherokee Chief Major Ridge. Major Ridge chose the site because of its centrality in the historic Cherokee Nation which spanned parts of Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Alabama, and because it was near the confluence of the Conasauga and Coosawattee rivers. The town's layout was partly inspired by Ridge's many visits to Washington D.C. and to Baltimore, but also invoked traditional themes of the Southeastern ceremonial complex. Complete with the Council House, Supreme Court, Cherokee syllabary printing press, and the houses of several of the Nation's constitutional officers, New Echota served as the capital until 1832 when the state of Georgia outlawed Native American assembly in an attempt to undermine the Nation. Thousands of Cherokee would gather in New Echota for the annual National Councils, camping along the nearby rivers and holding long stomp dances in the park-like woods that were typical of many Southeastern Native American settlements.

File:Council_House,_New_Echota,_GA_July_2017.jpg Council House (since reconstructed)]]

The Cherokee National council grounds were moved to Red Clay, Tennessee, on the Georgia state line, in order to evade the Georgia state militia. The log cabins, limestone springs, and park-like woods of Red Clay served as the capital until the Cherokee Nation was removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) on the Trail of Tears.{{Cite book|title=Trail of Tears: The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation|last=Ehle|first=John|publisher=Anchor Books Doubleday|year=1988|isbn=0385239548|location=New York|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/trailoftearsrise00ehle}}

Tahlequah, in present-day Oklahoma, served as the capital of the original Cherokee Nation after Removal. After the Civil War, a turbulent period for the Nation which was involved in its own civil war resulting from pervasive anger and disagreements over removal from Georgia, the Cherokee Nation built a new National Capitol in Tahlequah out of brick. The building served as the capitol until 1907, when the Dawes Act finally dissolved the Cherokee Nation and Tahlequah became the county seat of Cherokee County, Oklahoma. The Cherokee National government was re-established in 1938 and Tahlequah remains the capital of the modern Cherokee Nation; it is also the capital of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

Approximately four to eight hundred Cherokees escaped removal because they lived on a separated tract, purchased later with the help of Confederate Colonel William Holland Thomas, along the Oconaluftee River deep in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Some Cherokees fleeing the Federal Army, sent for the "round up", fled to the remote settlements separated from the rest of the Cherokee Territory in Georgia and North Carolina, in order to remain in their homeland.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ncpedia.org/qualla-boundary|title=Qualla Boundary {{!}} NCpedia|website=www.ncpedia.org|language=en|access-date=September 18, 2017}} In the 20th century, their descendants organized as the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians; its capital is at Cherokee, North Carolina, in the tribally-controlled Qualla Boundary.

= Muscogee Creek Nation =

After Removal from their Alabama-Georgia homeland, the Creek national government met near Hot Springs which was then part of their new territory as prescribed in the Treaty of Cusseta. Because some Creeks fought with the Confederacy in the American Civil War, the Union forced the Creeks to cede over {{convert|3000000|acre|ha|adj=on}} - half of their land in what is now Arkansas.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mcn-nsn.gov/culturehistory/|title=Muscogee Creek Nation -Culture/history|website=Muscogee Creek Nation}}

Served as the National capital after the American Civil War. It was probably named after Ocmulgee, on the Ocmulgee river in Macon, a principle Coosa and later Creek town built with mounds and functioning as part of the Southeastern ceremonial complex. However, there were other traditional Creek "mother-towns" before removal. The Ocmulgee mounds were ceded illegally in 1821 with the Treaty of Indian Springs.

= Iroquois Confederacy =

  • Onondaga (Onondaga privilege {{Circa|1450}}–present)

The Iroquois Confederacy or Haudenosaunee, which means "People of the Longhouse", was an alliance between the Five and later Six-Nations of Iroquoian language and culture of upstate New York.{{Citation|last=nysmuseum|title=Haudenosaunee or Iroquois?|date=September 30, 2014|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSXL33JiKLY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ZSXL33JiKLY| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|access-date=January 24, 2017}}{{cbignore}} These include the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and, after 1722, the Tuscarora Nations. Since the Confederacy's formation around 1450, the Onondaga Nation has held privilege of hosting the Iroquois Grand Council and the status of Keepers of the Fire and the Wampum —which they still do at the official Longhouse on the Onondaga Reservation.{{Cite web|url=http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/onondaga.html|title=Haudenosaunee Confederacy|website=www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com|access-date=January 24, 2017}} Now spread over reservations in New York and Ontario, the Six Nations of the Haudenosaunee preserve this arrangement to this day in what they claim to be the "world's oldest representative democracy."{{Cite web|url=http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/grandcouncil.html|title=Haudenosaunee Confederacy|website=www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com|access-date=January 24, 2017}}

== Seneca Nation of Indians ==

The Seneca Nation republic was founded in 1848 and has two capitals that rotate responsibilities every two years. Jimerson Town was founded in the 1960s following the formation of the Allegheny Reservoir. The Senecas also have an administrative longhouse in Steamburg but do not consider that location to be a capital.

=Navajo Nation=

Window Rock (Navajo: Tségháhoodzání), Arizona, is a small city that serves as the seat of government and capital of the Navajo Nation (1936–present), the largest territory of a sovereign Native American nation in North America. It lies within the boundaries of the St. Michaels Chapter, adjacent to the Arizona and New Mexico state line. Window Rock hosts the Navajo Nation governmental campus which contains the Navajo Nation Council, Navajo Nation Supreme Court, the offices of the Navajo Nation President and Vice President, and many Navajo government buildings.

Unrecognized national capitals

There have been a handful of self-declared or undeclared nations within the current borders of the United States which were never officially recognized as legally independent sovereign entities; however, these nations did have de facto control over their respective regions during their existence.

=Colonies of British America=

File:Old_Albany_City_Hall.png, the original city hall of Albany, New York and meeting place of the Albany Congress in 1754.]]

Prior to the independence of the United States from Great Britain, declared July 4, 1776 in the Declaration of Independence and ultimately secured in the American Revolutionary War, several congresses were convened on behalf of some of the colonies of British America. However, these bodies did not address the question of independence from England, and therefore did not designate a national capital. The Second Continental Congress encompassed the period during which the United States declared independence, but had not yet established a permanent national capital.

class="wikitable"

!City

!Building

!Start date

!End date

!Duration

!Ref

colspan="6" |Albany Congress
Albany, New York

|Stadt Huys

|{{Date table sorting|June 19, 1754}}

|{{Date table sorting|July 11, 1754}}

|{{Time interval|June 19, 1754|July 11, 1754}}

|{{Cite web|title=Albany Congress {{!}} United States history [1754]|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Albany-Congress|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}}

colspan="6" |Stamp Act Congress
New York, New York

|City Hall

|{{Date table sorting|October 7, 1765}}

|{{Date table sorting|October 25, 1765}}

|{{Time interval|June 18, 1754|July 11, 1754}}

|{{Cite web|title=History & Culture - Federal Hall National Memorial |url=https://www.nps.gov/feha/learn/hc.htm|website=National Park Service|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}}

colspan="6" |First Continental Congress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Carpenters' Hall

|{{Date table sorting|September 5, 1774}}

|{{Date table sorting|October 26, 1774}}

|{{Time interval|September 5, 1774|October 26, 1774}}

|{{Cite web|title=Buildings of the Department of State - Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia Sept. 5, 1774—Oct. 26, 1774 |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section2|website=Office of the Historian|access-date=2020-05-31}}

colspan="6" |Second Continental Congress
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

|Independence Hall

|{{Date table sorting|May 10, 1775}}

|{{Date table sorting|July 4, 1776}} (continuing after independence until December 12, 1776)

|{{Time interval|May 10, 1775|July 4, 1776}}

|

=Vermont Republic=

Before joining the United States as the fourteenth state, Vermont was an independent republic known as the Vermont Republic (1777–1791). Three cities served as the capital of the Republic:

The current capital of the State of Vermont is Montpelier.

=State of Franklin=

The State of Franklin was an autonomous, secessionist United States territory created not long after the end of the American Revolution from territory that later was ceded by North Carolina to the federal government. Franklin's territory later became part of the state of Tennessee. Franklin was never officially admitted into the Union of the United States and existed for only four years.

=State of Muskogee=

The State of Muskogee was a Native American state in Spanish Florida created by the Englishman William Augustus Bowles, who was its "Director General", author of its Constitution, and designer of its flag.{{cite book|last1=Landers|first1=Jane|title=Atlantic Creoles in the Age of Revolutions|date=2010|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=London|pages=102–103}} It consisted of several tribes of Creeks and Seminoles. It existed from 1799 to 1803. It had one capital:

  • Miccosukee,[http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/symbols/flag.cfm?page=2&id=19 The State of Muskogee] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210182651/http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/facts/symbols/flag.cfm?page=2&id=19 |date=February 10, 2006 }}, State Flags of Florida, Cultural, Historical and Information Programs, [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/ Office of Cultural and Historical Programs website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224000728/http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/ |date=February 24, 2011 }}, Florida Department of State, Government of Florida, retrieved October 31, 2007. 1799–1803

=Republic of West Florida=

The Republic of West Florida was a short-lived nation that broke away from the territory of Spanish West Florida in 1810. It comprised the Florida Parishes of the modern state of Louisiana and the Mobile District of the modern states of Mississippi and Alabama. (The Republic of West Florida did not include any part of the modern state of Florida.) Ownership of the area had been in dispute between Spain and the United States, which claimed that it had been included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Within two months of the settlers' rebellion and the declaration of an independent nation, President James Madison sent American forces to peaceably occupy the new republic. It was formally annexed by the United States in 1812 over the objections of Spain and the land was divided between the Territory of Orleans and Territory of Mississippi. During its brief existence, the capital of the Republic of West Florida was:

=Republic of Indian Stream=

The Republic of Indian Stream was an unrecognized independent nation within the present state of New Hampshire.

=California Republic=

Before being annexed by the United States in 1848 (following the Mexican–American War), a small portion of north-central California declared itself the California Republic, in an act of independence from Mexico, in 1846 (see Bear Flag Revolt). The republic only existed a month before it disbanded itself to join the advancing American army; its claimed territory later became part of the United States as a result of the Mexican Cession.

File:Original_Todd_bear_flag.jpg, photographed in 1890]]

File:Flag of California.svg

The very short-lived California Republic was never recognized by the United States, Mexico or any other nation. The flag, featuring a silhouette of a California grizzly bear, a star, and the words "California Republic", became known as the Bear Flag and was later the basis for the official state flag of California.

There was one de facto capital of the California Republic:

{{clear}}

=Confederate States=

File:Virginia_State_Capitol_Building_2.jpg served as the second capital of the Confederate States of America. The city has been Virginia's capital since 1780.]]

The Confederate States of America (C.S.A.) had three capitals during its existence. The first capital was established February 4, 1861, in Montgomery, Alabama, and remained there until it was moved to Richmond, Virginia, on May 29, 1861, after Virginia seceded on May 23.

The individual state capitals remained the same in the Confederacy as they had been in the Union (U.S.A.), although as the advancing Union Army used those cities for military districts, some of the Confederate governments were relocated or moved out of state, traveling along with secessionist armies.

  • Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861 – May 29, 1861
  • Richmond, Virginia, May 29, 1861 – April 3, 1865
  • Danville, Virginia, April 2, 1865- May 10, 1865{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Aerika A. |title=Danville during the Civil War |url=https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/danville-during-the-civil-war/ |access-date=2025-01-11 |website=Encyclopedia Virginia |language=en-US}}

{{clear}}

==Free State of Jones==

In 1863 and 1864, Jones County, Mississippi revolted against Confederate rule and became practically independent under the name Free State of Jones. The Free State fought a number of skirmishes with Confederate troops. By the spring of 1864 the Jones County rebels had taken effective control of the county from the Confederate government, raised an American flag over the courthouse in Ellisville, and sent a letter to Union General William T. Sherman declaring Jones County's independence from the Confederacy.{{cite web |url=http://mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/309/newton-knight-and-the-legend-of-the-free-state-of-jones |title=Newton Knight and the Legend of the Free State of Jones |last=Kelly |first=James R. Jr. |series=Mississippi History Now |date=April 2009 |website=mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov |publisher=Mississippi Historical Society |access-date=February 3, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223072459/http://mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/309/newton-knight-and-the-legend-of-the-free-state-of-jones |archive-date=December 23, 2016 |url-status=live}}

Scholars have disputed whether the county truly seceded, with some concluding it did not fully secede. Lack of documentation makes the situation difficult to assess. The rebellion in Jones County has been variously characterized as consisting of local skirmishes to being a full-fledged war of independence.

Historical state, colonial, and territorial capitals

Most of the original Thirteen Colonies had their capitals occupied or attacked by the British during the American Revolutionary War. State governments operated where and as they could. The City of New York was occupied by British troops from 1776 to 1783. A similar situation occurred during the War of 1812, during the American Civil War in many Confederate states, and during the Pueblo Revolt of 1680–1692 in New Mexico.

File:Castillo_de_San_Marco_National_Monument_-_49907540721.jpg served as Florida's capital from 1565 until the 1820s.{{Cite web|title=Florida Timeline: Florida Senate Kids|url=http://archive.flsenate.gov/SenateKids/timeline.cfm|access-date=2021-05-24|website=archive.flsenate.gov}}]]

Twenty-two state capitals have been a capital longer than their state has been a state, since they served as the capital of a predecessor territory, colony, or republic. Boston, Massachusetts, has been a capital city since 1630; it is the oldest continuously running capital in the United States. Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the oldest capital city, having become capital in 1610 and interrupted only by the aforementioned Pueblo Revolt. An even older Spanish city, St. Augustine, Florida, served as a colonial capital from 1565 until about 1820, more than 250 years.

The table below includes the following information:

  1. The state, the year in which statehood was granted, and the state's capital are shown in bold type. NOTE: For the first thirteen states, formerly the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain on the Atlantic seaboard, the year of statehood is shown as 1776 (United States Declaration of Independence) rather than the subsequent year each state ratified the 1787 United States Constitution. (See List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union.)
  2. The year listed for each capital is the starting date; the ending date is the starting date for the successor unless otherwise indicated.
  3. In many cases, capital cities of historical jurisdictions were outside of a state's present borders. (Those cities are generally indicated with the two-letter abbreviation for the U.S. state in which the former administrative capital is now located.)

{{clear}}

class=wikitable

|+Historical capitals in the United States of America

!State!!Capital!!Date!!Notes

style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=19|Alabama[http://www.archives.state.al.us/capital/capitals.html Capitals of Alabama] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008090930/http://www.archives.state.al.us/capital/capitals.html |date=October 8, 2012 }}. Alabama Department of Archives and History. Updated October 29, 2001. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1819

|San Agustín (FL)

1565Capital of the Spanish colony of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
rowspan=3|Savannah (GA)1733Capital of the British proprietary Colony of Georgia.
1755Capital of the British Province of Georgia.
1776rowspan=9|Capitals of the State of Georgia.
Augusta (GA)1778
Heard's Fort (GA)1780
Augusta (GA)1781
Savannah (GA)1782
Ebenezer (GA)1782
Savannah (GA)1784
Augusta (GA)1786
Louisville (GA)1796
Natchez (MS)1798rowspan=2|Capitals of the Mississippi Territory.
Washington (MS)1802
St. Stephens1817Capital of the Alabama Territory.
Huntsville1819rowspan=3|Capitals of the State of Alabama.
Cahawba1820
Tuscaloosa1826
Montgomery1846Capital of the State of Alabama.
(Capital of the Confederate States of America in 1861.)
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=6|Alaska[http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akchron.html Frequently Asked Questions About Alaska] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050613082221/http://sled.alaska.edu/akfaq/akchron.html |date=June 13, 2005 }}. Statewide Library Electronic Doorway. Updated September 21, 2004. Accessed June 9, 2005; based on Alaska Blue Book 1993–94, 11th ed., Juneau, Department of Education, Division of State Libraries, Archives & Museums. [http://www.explorenorth.com/library/communities/alaska/bl-Sitka.htm ExploreNorth: The History of Sitka] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050218022426/http://explorenorth.com/library/communities/alaska/bl-Sitka.htm |date=February 18, 2005 }}. Department of Community and Economic Development, Alaska Community Database Online. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1959

|rowspan=3|Novo-Arkhangelsk
Sitka

1808Capital of the Russian colony of Alaska.
1867Capital of the Department of Alaska.
1900rowspan=2|Capitals of the District of Alaska.
rowspan=3|Juneau1906
1912Capital of the Territory of Alaska.
1959Capital of the State of Alaska.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|Arizona[http://azcapitol.lib.az.us/before_capitol.htm Capitals before the Capitol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050307203440/http://azcapitol.lib.az.us/before_capitol.htm |date=March 7, 2005 }}. Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1912

|rowspan=2|Santa Fe (NM)

1848Capital of the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico 1848–1850.
1850Capital of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico 1850–1912.
Mesilla (NM)1862Capital of the Confederate Territory of Arizona (southern New Mexico and Arizona 1862).
San Antonio (TX)1862Capital of the government-in-exile of the Confederate Territory of Arizona 1862–1865.
Fort Whipple1864rowspan=5|Capitals of the U.S. Territory of Arizona.
Prescott1864
Tucson1867
Prescott1877
rowspan=2|Phoenix1889
1912Capital of the State of Arizona.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=8|Arkansas[http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/educational_facts.html Educational Materials: Facts] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050626082624/http://www.sos.arkansas.gov/educational_facts.html |date=June 26, 2005 }}. Arkansas Secretary of State. Accessed June 9, 2005. [http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/oldwashingtonhistoric Washington State Park 19th century village in SW Arkansas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517054017/http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/oldwashingtonhistoric |date=May 17, 2008 }}. Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism, Confederate Capital Old Division of State Parks. 2003. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1836

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of La Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Louisiana Territory.
1812Capital of the Missouri Territory.
Arkansas Post1819rowspan=2|Capitals of the Arkansaw Territory.{{efn|name=Arkansas|The name Arkansas has been pronounced and spelled in a variety of fashions. The region was organized as the Territory of Arkansaw on July 4, 1819, but the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Arkansas on June 15, 1836. The name was historically pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɑr|k|ə|n|s|ɔː}}, {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|k|æ|n|z|ə|s}}, and several other variants. In 1881, the Arkansas General Assembly passed the following concurrent resolution (Arkansas Statutes, Title 1, Chapter 4, Section 105):

Whereas, confusion of practice has arisen in the pronunciation of the name of our state and it is deemed important that the true pronunciation should be determined for use in oral official proceedings.

And, whereas, the matter has been thoroughly investigated by the State Historical Society and the Eclectic Society of Little Rock, which have agreed upon the correct pronunciation as derived from history, and the early usage of the American immigrants.

Be it therefore resolved by both houses of the General Assembly, that the only true pronunciation of the name of the state, in the opinion of this body, is that received by the French from the Native Americans and committed to writing in the French word representing the sound. It should be pronounced in three (3) syllables, with the final "s" silent, the "a" in each syllable with the Italian sound, and the accent on the first and last syllables. The pronunciation with the accent on the second syllable with the sound of "a" in "man" and the sounding of the terminal "s" is an innovation to be discouraged.

Citizens of the State of Kansas often pronounce the Arkansas River {{IPAc-en|ɑr|ˈ|k|æ|n|z|ə|s}} in a manner similar to the common pronunciation of the name of their state.}}

rowspan=2|Little Rock1821
1836Capital of the State of Arkansas.{{efn|name=Arkansas}}
(Washington was the Confederate state capital 1863–1865.)
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|California{{cite book

|editor-last=Ebbert

|editor-first=Brian S.

|author=E. Dotson Wilson

|title=California's Legislature

|publisher=State of California

|year=2006

|location=Sacramento, California

|pages=157–165

|access-date=October 3, 2006

|url=http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pdf/caleg11.pdf }}
Statehood in 1850

|Loreto (BCS)

1770rowspan=2|Capitals of the Spanish Virreinato de la Nueva España colonies of las Californias.
rowspan=5|Presidio Reál de San Carlos de Monterey


Monterey

1777
1804Capital of the Spanish Virreinato de la Nueva España province of Alta California.
1821Capital of the Mexican province of Alta California.
1846Capital of the U.S. military government of California.
1849Capital of the Provisional Government of California.
Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe1850rowspan=4|Capitals of the State of California.
Vallejo1852
Benicia1853
Sacramento{{efn|Due to flooding in Sacramento, San Francisco served as a temporary capital from January 24, 1862 to May 15, 1862. See {{cite web|title=California's State Capitols 1850–present|url=http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/uploadedFiles/Capitol_Museum/Teachers/statecaps.pdf|access-date=March 14, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819063811/http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/uploadedFiles/Capitol_Museum/Teachers/statecaps.pdf|archive-date=August 19, 2010|url-status=dead}}}}1854
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|rowspan=7|Colorado[http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archives/cap/locate.htm Early Capitol and Legislative Assembly Locations] Colorado State Archives, Colorado State Capitol Virtual Tour. Updated June 20, 2003. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1876

|Denver City{{efn|From December 3, 1859, to December 3, 1861, Denver City was formally the City of Denver, Auraria, and Highland.}}

1859rowspan=2|Capitals of the extralegal Territory of Jefferson.
Golden City1860
Denver City1861rowspan=4|Capitals of the Territory of Colorado.
Colorado City1862
Golden City1862
rowspan=2|Denver{{efn|On November 15, 1902, the City of Denver became the City and County of Denver.}}1867
1876Capital of the State of Colorado.
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|rowspan=9|Connecticut
Statehood in 1776

|Fort Amsterdam (NY)

1625Capital of the Dutch colony of Nieuw-Nederland.
Hartford1639Capital of the English Colony of Connecticut 1639–1686.
New-Haven1640Capital of the English Colony of New-Haven until its merger into the Connecticut Colony in 1662.
Boston (MA)1686Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America.
Hartford1689Capital of the English Colony of Connecticut.
rowspan=3|joint capitals1701Hartford and New-Haven served as the "co-capitals" of the English Colony of Connecticut, with the Assembly holding its May session in Hartford and its October session in New-Haven.
1707Hartford and New-Haven joint capitals of the British Colony of Connecticut.
1776Hartford and New Haven joint capitals of the State of Connecticut.
Hartford1875Capital of the State of Connecticut.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|Delaware
Statehood in 1776

|Fort Christina

1638Capital of the Swedish colony of Nya Sverige.
rowspan=4|Fort Amsterdam
Nieuw-Amsterdam
New-York
Nieuw-Oranje
New-York (NY)		1655Capital of the Dutch province of Nieuw-Nederland.
1664Capital of the English Colony of New-York.
1673Capital of the Dutch military government of Nieuw-Nederland.
1674Capital of the English Colony of New-York.
Philadelphia (PA)1682Capital of the English Colony of Pennsylvania.
rowspan=3|New Castle1704Capital of the English Lower Counties on the Delaware.
1707Capital of the British Lower Counties on the Delaware.
1776rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Delaware.
Dover1777
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|rowspan=8|Florida[http://www.shgresources.com/fl/history/ Florida State History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927015000/http://www.shgresources.com/fl/history/ |date=September 27, 2007 }}. Florida Division of Historical Resources.
Statehood in 1845

|Fort de la Caroline

1564Capital of the French colony of La Caroline 1564–1565.
rowspan=3|San Agustín
St. Augustine		1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida 1565–1763.{{efn|name=Florida|The Spanish name La Florida originally referred to all of the American continent north of Mexico. As other European nations colonized North America, the extent of La Florida shrank to encompass only the Spanish territorial claims in the southeastern portion of the present United States.}}
1763Capital of the British province of East Florida 1763–1783.
1783Capital of the Spanish province of Florida Oriental 1783–1821.
rowspan=2|Santa María de Ochuse
Pensacola		1763Capital of the British province of British West Florida 1763–1783.
1783Capital of the Spanish province of Florida Occidental 1783–1821.
rowspan=2|Tallahassee1824Capital of the Florida Territory.
1845Capital of the State of Florida.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=17|GeorgiaJackson, Edwin L. [http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/capital.htm Story of Georgia's Capitols and Capital Cities] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071009145856/http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/capital.htm |date=October 9, 2007 }}. Carl Vinson Institute of Government. University of Georgia. 1988
Statehood in 1776

|Fort de la Caroline

1564Capital of the French colony of La Caroline 1564–1565.
San Agustín (FL)1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
rowspan=3|Savannah1733Capital of the British proprietary Colony of Georgia.
1755Capital of the British Province of Georgia.
1776rowspan=13|Capitals of the State of Georgia.
Augusta1778
Heard's Fort1780
Augusta1781
Savannah1782
Ebenezer1782
Savannah1784
Augusta1786
Louisville1796
Milledgeville1807
Macon1864
Milledgeville1865
Atlanta1868
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=5|Hawaii
Statehood in 1959

|Lahaina

1820rowspan=2|Capitals of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
rowspan=4|Honolulu1845
1894Capital of the Republic of Hawaii.
1898Capital of the Territory of Hawaii.
1959Capital of the State of Hawai{{okina}}i.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=7|Idaho[http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/history/1863-89.htm Chronological History of Idaho] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050807074026/http://gov.idaho.gov/fyi/history/1863-89.htm |date=August 7, 2005 }}. Idaho Office of the Governor. Created 2000. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1890

|rowspan=2|Oregon City (OR)

1843Capital of the Provisional Government of Oregon in the Oregon Country.
1848rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Oregon (all of Idaho 1848–1853, southern Idaho 1853–1859).
Salem (OR)1851
Olympia (WA)1853Capital of the Territory of Washington (northern Idaho 1853–1859, all of Idaho 1859–1863).
Lewiston1863rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Idaho.
rowspan=2|Boise1865
1890Capital of the State of Idaho.
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|rowspan=6|Illinois[http://www.ilstatehouse.com/PastCapitols.htm Past Capitols] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050306205248/http://www.ilstatehouse.com/PastCapitols.htm |date=March 6, 2005 }}; based on Illinois Bluebook, 1975–1976. Created March 5, 2005. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1818

|Marietta (OH)

1788Capital of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
Vincennes (IN)1800Capital of the Territory of Indiana.
rowspan=2|Kaskaskia1809Capital of the Territory of Illinois.
1818rowspan=3|Capitals of the State of Illinois.
Vandalia1820
Springfield1839
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|rowspan=5|Indiana
Statehood in 1816

|Marietta (OH)

1788Capital of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
Vincennes1800rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Indiana.
rowspan=2|Corydon1813
1816rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Indiana.
Indianapolis1825
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=12|IowaSabin, Henry. [http://iagenweb.org/history/moi/moi24.htm Making of Iowa, chapter 24: Locating a Capital]. Originally published 1900 by A. Flanagan Co. of Chicago and New York; published online by Iowa History Project, posted August 25, 2004. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1846

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of La Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Louisiana Territory.
1812Capital of the Missouri Territory (1812–1821).
Detroit (MI)1834Capital of the Territory of Michigan.
Belmont (WI)1836rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Wisconsin.
rowspan=2|Burlington1837
1838rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Iowa.
rowspan=2|Iowa City1841
1846rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Iowa.
Des Moines1857
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|rowspan=11|KansasHarding, Eldon. [http://www.kshs.org/features/feat401j.htm Stories from the Kansas State Capital: Choosing a Capital City--Why Topeka?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050312124956/http://www.kshs.org/features/feat401j.htm |date=March 12, 2005 }}. Kansas State Historical Society. April 2001. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1861

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of La Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Louisiana Territory.
1812Capital of the Missouri Territory (1812–1821).
Pawnee1855Capital of the Kansas Territory (July 2 – 6).
Shawnee Mission1855Capital of the Kansas Territory.
Lecomptonrowspan=2|1856Capital de jure (pro-slavery) of the Territory of Kansas.
TopekaCapital de facto (anti-slavery) of the Territory of Kansas.
Minneola1858Declared capital by territorial legislature, although this action was later declared void.{{cite book|last1=Fitzgerald|first1=Daniel|title=Ghost Towns of Kansas|url=https://archive.org/details/ghosttownsofkans00fitz|url-access=registration|date=1988|publisher=University Press of Kansas|isbn=0700603689|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ghosttownsofkans00fitz/page/61 61–65]}}
Topeka1861Capital of the State of Kansas.
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|rowspan=5|Kentucky[http://www.kdla.ky.gov/resources/kycapitol.htm Kentucky's State Capitols] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813184609/http://www.kdla.ky.gov/resources/KYCapitol.htm |date=August 13, 2006 }}. Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. Accessed July 24, 2006.
Statehood in 1792

|rowspan=3|Williamsburg (VA)

1699Capital of the English Colony of Virginia.
1707Capital of the British Colony of Virginia.
1776rowspan=2|Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Richmond (VA)1780
Frankfort1792Capital of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
(The government initially met at Lexington but Frankfort was quickly named the capital. Bowling Green was the rival Confederate state capital 1861–62).
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=13|Louisiana{{efn|Note: The Louisiana Capitals information may be incorrect or incomplete. See {{cite web |url=http://www.state.la.us/about_history2.htm |title=Louisiana History |access-date=June 28, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060615095136/http://www.state.la.us/about_history2.htm |archive-date=June 15, 2006 }} and elsewhere.}}
Statehood in 1812

|San Agustín (FL)

1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
La Mobile (AL)1702rowspan=3|Capitals of the French colony of La Louisiane.
Bilocci (MS)1720
rowspan=5|La Nouvelle-Orléans
Nueva Orleans
New Orleans		1722
1763Capital of the Spanish district of Baja Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of La Basse-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the Territory of Orleans.
1812rowspan=6|Capitals of the State of Louisiana.
(After the Union captured New Orleans in 1862, the Confederate seat of government relocated to Opelousas in 1862 and then to Shreveport in 1863.)
Donaldsonville1830
New Orleans1831
Baton Rouge1849
New Orleans1864
Baton Rouge1882
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|rowspan=14|Maine[http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/about/generalinfo/Students/questions_students_ask-1.htm Students Questions Frequently Ask] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050313224804/http://www.state.me.us/legis/senate/about/generalinfo/Students/questions_students_ask-1.htm |date=March 13, 2005 }}. Maine State Senate. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1820

|Île Sainte-Croix

1604rowspan=2|Capitals of the French colony of l'Acadie.
Port-Royal (NS)1605
rowspan=8|Boston (MA)1630Capital of the English Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
1686Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America.
1689Capital of the dissident Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
1691Capital of the English Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1707Capital of the British Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1774Capital of the dissident Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1776Capital of the State of Massachusetts Bay.
1780Capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
rowspan=2|Portland1820Capital of the State of Maine.
rowspan=2|1827Capital de facto of the State of Maine.
rowspan=2|AugustaCapital de jure of the State of Maine.
1832Capital of the State of Maine.
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|rowspan=4|Maryland[http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/01glance/chron/html/chron16.html Historical Chronology]. Maryland State Archives. Accessed July 24, 2006.
Statehood in 1776

|St. Mary's City

1634Capital of the English proprietary Colony of Maryland.
rowspan=3|Anne Arundel's Towne
Annapolis

1694Capital of the English Province of Maryland.
1707Capital of the British Province of Maryland.
1776Capital of the State of Maryland.
(Capital of the United States of America 1783–1784.)
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|Massachusetts
Statehood in 1776

|Plimouth

1620Capital of the English Colony of New-Plimouth 1620–1686.
rowspan=2|Boston1630Capital of the English Colony of Massachusetts Bay 1630–1686.
1686Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America 1686–1689.
Plimouth1688Capital of the dissident Colony of New-Plimouth 1688–1692.
rowspan=6|Boston1689Capital of the dissident Colony of Massachusetts Bay 1689–1692.
1692Capital of the English Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1707Capital of the British Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1774Capital of the dissident Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1776Capital of the State of Massachusetts Bay.
1780Capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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|rowspan=7|Michigan[http://www.michigan.gov/hal/0,1607,7-160-15481_20826_20829-56001--,00.html Michigan in Brief] State of Michigan. Updated March 7, 2005. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1837

|Marietta (OH)

1788rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio (all of Michigan 1788–1800, eastern Michigan 1800–1803).
Chillicothe (OH)rowspan=2|1800
Vincennes (IN)rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Indiana (western Michigan 1800–1803; all of Michigan 1803–1805, a portion of the Upper Peninsula 1805–1816).
Corydon (IN)1813
rowspan=2|Detroit1805Capital of the Territory of Michigan (Lower Peninsula 1805–1818, all of Michigan 1818–1837).
(Detroit was occupied by British Armed Forces 1812–1813).
1837rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Michigan.
Lansing1847
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|rowspan=16|Minnesota[http://www.stpaul.gov/leisure/history/stpaul150.html Saint Paul's 150th birthday] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050411134310/http://www.stpaul.gov/leisure/history/stpaul150.html |date=April 11, 2005 }}. City of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1858

|rowspan=5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana 1765–1800.
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane (west of Mississippi River 1800–1804).
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (west of Mississippi River under the authority of the Indiana Territory 1804–1805).
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana (west of Mississippi River 1805–1812).
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri (west of Mississippi River 1812–1821).
Marietta (OH)1788Capital of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio (east of Mississippi River 1788–1800).
Vincennes (IN)1800Capital of the Territory of Indiana (east of Mississippi River 1800–1809).
Kaskaskia (IL)1809Capital of the Territory of Illinois (east of Mississippi River 1809–1818).
Detroit (MI)1818Capital of the Territory of Michigan (east of Mississippi River 1818–1834, all of Minnesota 1834–1836).
Belmont (WI)1836rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Wisconsin.
rowspan=2|Burlington (IA)1837
rowspan=2|1838Capital of the Territory of Iowa (west of Mississippi River 1838–1841).
Madison (WI)Capital of the Territory of Wisconsin (east of Mississippi River 1838–1848).
Iowa City (IA)1841Capital of the Territory of Iowa (west of Mississippi River 1841–1846).
rowspan=2|Saint Paul1849Capital of the Territory of Minnesota.
1858Capital of the State of Minnesota.
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|rowspan=16|MississippiBunn, Mike and Clay Williams, [http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature44/capitals_capitols.html Capitals and Capitols: The Places and Spaces of Mississippi's Seat of Government] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050511074101/http://mshistory.k12.ms.us/features/feature44/capitals_capitols.html |date=May 11, 2005 }}. Mississippi History Now. Mississippi Historical Society Online. Posted September 2003. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1817

|San Agustín (FL)

1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
rowspan=3|Savannah (GA)1733Capital of the British proprietary Colony of Georgia.
1755Capital of the British Province of Georgia.
1776rowspan=9|Capitals of the State of Georgia.
Augusta (GA)1778
Heard's Fort (GA)1780
Augusta (GA)1781
Savannah (GA)1782
Ebenezer (GA)1782
Savannah (GA)1784
Augusta (GA)1786
Louisville (GA)1796
Natchez1798rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Mississippi.
Washington1802
Natchez1817rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Mississippi.
Jackson1821
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|rowspan=7|Missouri
Statehood in 1821

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of La Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Louisiana Territory.
1812Capital of the Missouri Territory.
Saint Charles1821rowspan =2|Capitals of the State of Missouri.
(A Confederate state government in exile operated from Neosho 1861–1863, and from Marshall, Texas, 1863–1865).
Jefferson City1826
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=17|MontanaLambert, Kirby. [http://www.gradewinner.com/p/articles/mi_qa3951/is_200207/ai_n9146543 Montana's crown jewel of architecture: The Montana state capitol] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927054932/http://www.gradewinner.com/p/articles/mi_qa3951/is_200207/ai_n9146543 |date=September 27, 2011 }} Montana: The Magazine of Western History, Montana Historical Society. Summer 2002. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1889

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana (east of Continental Divide 1763–1800.)
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane (east of Continental Divide 1800–1804).
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (east of Continental Divide under the authority of the Indiana Territory 1804–1805).
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana (east of Continental Divide 1805–1812).
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri (east of Continental Divide 1812–1821).
Fort Vancouver (WA)1825Capital de facto of the Oregon Country (west of Continental Divide 1818–1843).
rowspan=2|Oregon City (OR)1843Capital of the Provisional Government of Oregon (west of Continental Divide 1843–1848).
1848rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Oregon (west of Continental Divide 1848–1853).
Salem (OR)1851
Olympia (WA)1853Capital of the Territory of Washington (west of Continental Divide 1853–1863).
Omaha (NE)1854Capital of the Territory of Nebraska (east of Continental Divide 1854–1861).
Yankton (SD)1861Capital of the Territory of Dakota (east of Continental Divide 1861–1863).
Lewiston (ID)1863Capital of the Territory of Idaho.
Bannack1864rowspan=3|Capitals of the Territory of Montana.
Virginia City1865
rowspan=2|Helena1875
1889Capital of the State of Montana.
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|rowspan=8|Nebraska
Statehood in 1867

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana.
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri (1812–1821).
Omaha1854rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Nebraska.
rowspan=2|Lancaster
Lincoln		1867
1867Capital of the State of Nebraska.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=5|NevadaRocha, Guy [http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/myth/myth28.htm Nevada State Archives Historical Myth a Month: Myth #28, Las Vegas: Nevada's Next State Capital] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030822030013/http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/myth/myth28.htm |date=August 22, 2003 }}. Updated July 14, 2003. Accessed June 9, 2005; originally published as Sierra Sage, Carson City/Carson Valley, Nevada. May 1998 edition.
Statehood in 1864

|Fillmore (UT)

1850rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Utah.
Salt Lake City (UT)1858
Genoa1861Capital of the Territory of Nevada.
rowspan=2|Carson City1861Capital of the Territory of Nevada.
1864Capital of the State of Nevada.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=11|New Hampshire[http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/misc/kids.html New Hampshire Senate Page For Kids]. New Hampshire General Court. Accessed June 9, 2005. [http://www.nh.gov/markers/brief.html New Hampshire History in Brief]. New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources. Created 1989. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1776

|Boston (MA)

1630Capital of the English Colony of Massachusetts Bay.
Portsmouth1680Capital of the English Province of New Hampshire.
Boston (MA)1686Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America.
rowspan=5|Portsmouth1689Capital of the dissident Province of New Hampshire.
1691Capital of the English Province of New Hampshire.
1698Capital of the English Province of New Hampshire under jurisdiction of the Royal Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1707Capital of the British Province of New Hampshire under jurisdiction of the Royal Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay.
1741Capital of the British Province of New Hampshire.
rowspan=2|Exeter1775Capital of the Revolutionary War government of New Hampshire.
1776rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of New Hampshire.
Concord1808
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|rowspan=13|New Jersey
Statehood in 1776

|rowspan=3|Fort Amsterdam (NY)

New-York (NY)

1625Capital of the Dutch colony of Nieuw-Nederland.
1652Capital of the Dutch province of Nieuw-Nederland.
1664Capital of the English Province of New York.
Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth)1665Capital of the English Province of New Jersey.
Perth Amboyrowspan=2|1673Capital of the English Province of East Jersey 1673–1688.
BurlingtonCapital of the English Province of West Jersey 1673–1688.
Boston (MA)1688Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America 1688–1689.
Perth Amboyrowspan=2|1689Capital of the English Province of East Jersey 1689–1702.
BurlingtonCapital of the English Province of West Jersey 1689–1702.
rowspan=3|joint capitals1702East Jersey and West Jersey were re-united as the English Province of New Jersey in 1702. Perth Amboy and Burlington served jointly as the capital until 1784.
1707Joint capitals of the British Province of New Jersey.
1776Joint capitals of the State of New Jersey.
Trenton1784Capital of the State of New Jersey.
(Capital of the United States of America in 1784).
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|New Mexico
Statehood in 1912

|San Juan de los Caballeros

1598rowspan=2|Capitals of the Spanish Virreinato de la Nueva España province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís1610
El Paso del Norte (now Ciudad Juárez CHH)1680Capital of the Spanish Virreinato de la Nueva España province-in-exile of Santa Fe de Nuevo México (Pueblo Revolt 1680–1692).
rowspan=6|La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís

Santa Fe		1692Capital of the Spanish Virreinato de la Nueva España province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
1821Capital of the Mexican province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
1824Capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fe de Nuevo México.
1846Capital of the U.S. military government of New Mexico 1846.
1846Capital of the U.S. provisional government of New Mexico 1846–1850.
1850Capital of the U.S. Territory of New Mexico 1850–1912.
Santa Fe1912Capital of the State of New Mexico.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=15|New York
Statehood in 1776

|rowspan=5|Fort Amsterdam
Nieuw-Amsterdam
New-York
Nieuw-Oranje
New-York

1625Capital of the Dutch colony of Nieuw-Nederland (Novum Belgium).
1652Capital of the Dutch province of Nieuw-Nederland.
1664Capital of the English Province of New York.
1673Capital of the Dutch military government of Nieuw-Nederland.
1674Capital of the English Province of New York.
Boston (MA)1688Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America.
rowspan=4|New-York1689Capital of the dissident government of New-York.
1691Capital of the English Province of New York.
1707Capital of the British Province of New York.
1776rowspan=4|Capitals of the State of New York.
Kingston1777
Hurley1777
Poughkeepsie1777
New York1788Capital of the State of New York.
(Capital of the United States of America 1785–1788 and 1789–1790).
Albany1797Capital of the State of New York.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=7|North Carolina
Statehood in 1776

|San Agustín (FL)

1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
rowspan=2|Charlestown (SC){{efn|name=Charlestown|The modern spelling of 'Charleston' did not take hold until the 1780s.{{Cite podcast|last=Butler |first=Nic |date=August 9, 2019 |title=The Evolution of Charleston's Name |url=https://www.ccpl.org/charleston-time-machine/evolution-charlestons-name |access-date=July 11, 2022 |website=Charleston Time Machine |publisher=Charleston County Public Library}}}}1670Capital of the English Province of Carolina.
1707Capital of the British Province of Carolina.
rowspan=2|New Bern1712Capital of the British Province of North Carolina.
1776rowspan=3|Capitals of the State of North Carolina.
Fayetteville1789
Raleigh1794
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=15|North Dakota
Statehood in 1889

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana.
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri (1812–1821).
Detroit (MI)1834Capital of the Territory of Michigan (east of Missouri River and White Earth River 1834–1836).
Belmont (WI)1836rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Wisconsin (east of Missouri River and White Earth River 1836–1838).
rowspan=2|Burlington (IA)1837
1838rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Iowa (east of Missouri River and White Earth River 1838–1846).
Iowa City (IA)1841
Saint Paul (MN)1849Capital of the Territory of Minnesota (east of Missouri River and White Earth River 1849–1858).
Omaha (NE)1854Capital of the Territory of Nebraska (west of Missouri River or White Earth River 1854–1861).
Yankton (SD)1861rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Dakota.
rowspan=2|Bismarck1883
1889Capital of the State of North Dakota.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=6|Ohio
Statehood in 1803

|Marietta

1788rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
rowspan=2|Chillicothe1800
1803rowspan=4|Capitals of the State of Ohio.
Zanesville1810
Chillicothe1812
Columbus1816
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=17|Oklahoma
Statehood in 1907

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory).
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana.
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri.
Arkansas Post (AR)1819rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Arkansaw{{efn|name=Arkansas}} (south of the parallel 36°30' north 1819–1824, southeastern Oklahoma 1824–1828).
Little Rock (AR)1821
Fort Gibson1824De facto capital of the Indian Territory.
Tahlequah1838Capital of the Cherokee Nation.
Tuskahoma1838Capital of the Choctaw Nation.
Tishomingo1855Capital of the Chickasaw Nation.
Wewoka1866Capital of the Seminole Nation.
Okmulgee1867Capital of the Creek Nation.
Pawhuska1872Capital of the Osage Nation.
rowspan=2|Guthrie1889Capital of the Territory of Oklahoma.
1907rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma City1910
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=7|Oregon[https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/Pages/records/legislative_records_guide.aspx Oregon Legislative Assembly History]. Oregon State Archives. Accessed February 17, 2012.
Statehood in 1859

|Champoeg

1843Temporary capital of the disputed Oregon Country.
rowspan=2|Oregon City1843Capital of the Provisional Government of Oregon in the Oregon Country.{{cite book

|last=Clarke

|first=S.A.

|title=Pioneer Days of Oregon History

|url=https://archive.org/details/pioneerdaysofore01clar

|publisher=J.K. Gill Company

|year=1905

}}

1848rowspan=4|Capitals of the Territory of Oregon.
Salem1851
Corvallis1855
rowspan=2|Salem1855
1859Capital of the State of Oregon.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=6|Pennsylvania[http://www.statelibrary.state.pa.us/libraries/cwp/view.asp?a=11&Q=44089 The History of Pennsylvania's Capital]. Pennsylvania Department of Education. Accessed July 24, 2006.
Statehood in 1776

|Fort Christina

1638Capital of the Swedish colony of Nya Sverige.
rowspan=3|Philadelphia1682Capital of the English proprietary Colony of Pennsylvania.
1707Capital of the British proprietary Colony of Pennsylvania.
1776Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(Capital of the United States of America 1776, 1777, 1778–1783, and 1790–1800).
Lancaster1799Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
(Capital of the United States of America 1777).
Harrisburg1812Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=11|Rhode Island
Statehood in 1776

|Providence

1636Capital of the English Colony of Providence 1636–1644.
rowspan=2|Portsmouth1639Capital of the English Colony of Aquidneck Island 1639–1644.
1644Capital of the English Colony of Rhode Island.
Providence1644Capital of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
Boston (MA)1686Capital of the English Dominion of New-England in America.
rowspan=2|Providence1689Capital of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
1707Capital of the British Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
five capitals1776From 1776 to 1853, the legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations rotated among the county seats of the state's five counties: Providence, Newport, East Greenwich, South Kingstown, and Bristol.
joint capitals1854From 1854 to 1899, the legislature of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations alternated sessions between Providence and Newport.
rowspan=2|Providence1900Capital of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.
2020Capital of the State of Rhode Island.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=7|South Carolina
Statehood in 1776

|Charlesfort (SC)

1562Capital of the French colony of Floride françoise.
San Agustín (FL)1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
rowspan=4|Charlestown{{efn|name=Charlestown}}1670Capital of the English Province of Carolina.
1707Capital of the British Province of Carolina.
1712Capital of the British Province of South Carolina.
1776rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of South Carolina.
Columbia1786
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=15|South Dakota
Statehood in 1889

|rowspan = 5|Saint-Louis
San Luis
St. Louis (MO)

1765Capital of the Spanish (though predominantly Francophone) district of Alta Louisiana.
1800Capital of the French district of la Haute-Louisiane.
1804Capital of the District of Louisiana (under the authority of the Indiana Territory.)
1805Capital of the Territory of Louisiana.
1812Capital of the Territory of Missouri (1812–1821).
Detroit (MI)1834Capital of the Territory of Michigan (east of Missouri River 1834–1836).
Belmont (WI)1836rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Wisconsin (east of Missouri River 1836–1838).
rowspan=2|Burlington (IA)1837
1838rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Iowa (east of Missouri River 1838–1846).
Iowa City (IA)1841
Saint Paul (MN)1849Capital of the Territory of Minnesota (east of Missouri River 1849–1858).
Omaha (NE)1854Capital of the Territory of Nebraska (west of Missouri River 1854–1861).
Yankton1861rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Dakota.
Bismarck (ND)1883
Pierre1889Capital of the State of South Dakota.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=11|Tennessee[http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/entry.php?rec=196 Capital Cities]. Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture. 2002. Accessed March 12, 2006.
Statehood in 1796

|rowspan=2|New Bern (NC)

1712Capital of the British Province of North Carolina.
1776Capital of the State of North Carolina.
Rocky Mount1790rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory South of the River Ohio.
rowspan=2|White's Fort
Knoxville		1791
1796Capital of the State of Tennessee.
Kingston1807Capital of the State of Tennessee for one day in 1807 to fulfill treaty obligations with the Cherokee Nation.
Knoxville1807rowspan=5|Capitals of the State of Tennessee.
Nashville1812
Knoxville1817
Murfreesboro1818
Nashville1826
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=13|Texas
Statehood in 1845

|Los Adaes (LA)

1729rowspan=2|Capitals of the Spanish province of Tejas.
San Antonio de Béxar (now San Antonio)1772
Saltillo (COA)1824rowspan=2|Capitals of the Mexican province of Coahuila y Tejas.
Monclova (COA)1833
San Felipe de Austin1835rowspan=1|Capital of the Provisional Government of Texas.
Washington (now Washington-on-the-Brazos)1836rowspan=7|Capitals of the Republic of Texas.
Galveston1836
Harrisburg1836
Velasco1836
Columbia1836
Houston1837
rowspan=2|Austin1839
1845Capital of the State of Texas.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=4|Utah
Statehood in 1896

|Salt Lake City

1849Capital of the extralegal State of Deseret.
Fillmore1850rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Utah.
rowspan=2|Salt Lake City1858
1896Capital of the State of Utah.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=5|Vermont[http://www.vermonthistory.org/links/monthist.htm Early History of Montpelier, Vermont] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050212023906/http://www.vermonthistory.org/links/monthist.htm |date=February 12, 2005}}. Vermont Historical Society. Accessed June 9, 2005; adapted from Esther Munroe Swift, Vermont Place-Names: Footprints of History, 1977, 1996, and Montpelier Heritage Group, Three Walking Tours of Montpelier, Vt., 1991.
Statehood in 1791

|Westminster

1777rowspan=2|Capitals of the Republic of New Connecticut.
rowspan=3|Windsor1777
1777Capital of the Vermont Republic.
1791rowspan=2|Capitals of the State of Vermont.
Montpelier1805
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=6|Virginia[http://legis.state.va.us/cap_tours/about_our/cap_timeline.html About Our Capital] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625024032/http://legis.state.va.us/cap_tours/about_our/cap_timeline.html |date=June 25, 2006 }}. Virginia General Assembly. Accessed July 20, 2006.
Statehood in 1776

|San Agustín (FL)

1565Capital of the Spanish province of La Florida.{{efn|name=Florida}}
Jamestown1607rowspan="2" |Capitals of the English Colony of Virginia.
rowspan=3|Middle Plantation
Williamsburg		1698
1707Capital of the British Colony of Virginia.
1776Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Richmond1780Capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
(Capital of the Confederate States of America 1861–1865.)
(A rival pro-Union state government operated from Wheeling 1861–1863 and from Alexandria 1863–1865).
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=6|Washington[http://www.ci.olympia.wa.us/information/history.asp The History of Olympia]. City of Olympia. Accessed June 9, 2005.
Statehood in 1889

|Champoeg (OR)

1843Temporary capital of the disputed Oregon Country.
rowspan=2|Oregon City (OR)1843Capital of the Provisional Government of Oregon in the Oregon Country.
1848rowspan=2|Capitals of the Territory of Oregon.
Salem (OR)1851
rowspan=2|Olympia1853Capital of the Territory of Washington.
1889Capital of the State of Washington.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=10|West Virginia
Statehood in 1863

|Jamestown (VA)

1619rowspan=2|Capitals of the English Colony of Virginia.
rowspan=3|Middle Plantation (VA)
Williamsburg (VA)		1698
1707Capital of the British Colony of Virginia.
1776rowspan=2|Capitals of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Richmond (VA)1780
rowspan=2|Wheeling1861Capital of the rival pro-Union government of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
1863rowspan=4|Capitals of the State of West Virginia.
Charleston1870
Wheeling1875
Charleston1885
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=8|WisconsinCravens, Stanley H.[http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/feature/capitols2.pdf "Capitals and Capitols in Early Wisconsin"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623000950/http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/pubs/feature/capitols2.pdf |date=June 23, 2006 }}. [http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/ Wisconsin Blue Book] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060209084953/http://www.legis.state.wi.us/lrb/bb/ |date=February 9, 2006 }}, 1983–1984 edition.
Statehood in 1848

|Marietta (OH)

1788Capital of the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
Vincennes (IN)1800Capital of the Territory of Indiana.
Kaskaskia (IL)1809Capital of the Territory of Illinois.
Detroit (MI)1818Capital of the Territory of Michigan.
Belmont1836rowspan=3|Capitals of the Territory of Wisconsin.
Burlington (IA)1837
rowspan=2|Madison1838
1848Capital of the State of Wisconsin.
style="border-top: solid 2px #000"

|rowspan=4|WyomingSaban, Mary Thompson, [http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~sabthomp/wyoming/wysage.htm Wyoming Sage: Brief History of Wyoming]. Updated January 17, 2004. Accessed June 10, 2005.
Statehood in 1890

|Lewiston (ID)

1863Capital of the Territory of Idaho.
Yankton (SD)1864Capital of the Territory of Dakota.
rowspan=2|Cheyenne1869Capital of the Territory of Wyoming.
1890Capital of the State of Wyoming.

See also

Explanatory notes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

Further reading

  • Christian Montes. American Capitals: A Historical Geography (University of Chicago Press; 2014) 394 pages; scholarly study of geographic and other factors that have shaped the designation of capitals in all 50 states

External links

{{sister project links|state capital}}

  • [http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/flafacts/capitol.html Florida Facts - The Capitol] {{Webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20011117013347/http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/flafacts/capitol.html |date=November 17, 2001 }}
  • [http://www.rootsweb.com/~gamacon/capitalization.htm The Capitalization of Georgia]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20030826143331/http://www.sec.state.la.us/museums/osc/exhibits/statehouse/stathse-bro.pdf The State Houses of Louisiana]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20030822030013/http://dmla.clan.lib.nv.us/docs/nsla/archives/myth/myth28.htm Las Vegas: Nevada's Next State Capital?]
  • [http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/senate/misc/kids.html New Hampshire Senate for Kids - Capitals]
  • [http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mzc01 Handbook of Texas Online – Capitals]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20040215004351/http://www.ls.net/~newriver/va/colcap.htm Colonial Capitals of the Dominion of Virginia]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20050404193328/http://historytogo.utah.gov/utcapitol.html Utah History To Go - Utah's Capitols]

{{US state capitals}}

{{USStateLists}}

{{Location of US capital}}

{{US State Capitols}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capitals In The United States}}

Category:Lists of cities in the United States

Category:States of the United States-related lists

United States

United States

Category:State capitals in the United States