Small NETSTATE map graphic NETSTATE title banner Small NETSTATE map graphic

Capital Cities of the 50 States

The "cities" that serve as the current seat of government are listed here in order by the year they were established as a seat of government. Note that Santa Fe, New Mexico is the first on this list.

How can that be? New Mexico did not join the union until 1912!

Indeed, Santa Fe has served as a seat of government for four centuries; Spanish, Mexican, and the United States. Evidently, 300 years of Spanish and Mexican precedent made sense to New Mexicans when they joined the United States.

Current capital cities listed by year they were established. (List by state or year established)
State Capital city EstablishedList by year established Prior capital cities
New Mexico Santa Fe 1609 or 1610 [ None ]
Massachusetts Boston 1630 [ None ]
Maryland Annapolis 1694 St. Mary's City (1634-1694)
Delaware Dover 1777 New Castle (1704-1777)
Virginia Richmond 1780 Jamestown (1607-1699)
Williamsburg (1699-1780)
New Jersey Trenton 1790 Twin Capitals:
Perth Amboy & Burlington (1703-1775)
No permanent location (1775-1790)
South Carolina Columbia 1790 Charleston (1670-1790)
North Carolina Raleigh 1792 New Bern (1771-1776)
No permanent location (1776-1792)
Kentucky Frankfort 1793 Lexington (Temporary, 1792)
New York Albany 1797 Temporary Capitals:
Kingston, Poughkeepsie & New York City (1777-1797)
Vermont Montpelier 1805 Numerous temporary (1777-1805)
New Hampshire Concord 1808 Portsmouth (1679-1774)
Exeter (1775-1781)
Temporary towns (1781-1808)
Pennsylvania Harrisburg 1812 Chester (1681-1683)
Philadelphia (1683-1799)
Lancaster (1799-1812)
Ohio Columbus 1816 Chillicothe (1803-1810)
Zanesville (1810-1812)
Chillicothe (1812-1816)
Arkansas Little Rock 1821 Arkansas Post (1819-1821)
Mississippi Jackson 1822 Natchez (1798-1802)
Washington (1802-1817)
Natchez (1817-1821)
Columbia (1821-1822)
Florida Tallahassee 1824 [ None ]
Indiana Indianapolis 1825 Vincennes (1800-1813)
Corydon (1813-1824)
Missouri Jefferson City 1826 St. Louis (1820)
St. Charles (1821-1826)
Tennessee Nashville 1826 Knoxville (1792-1812)
Kingston (1807 - one day)
Nashville (1812-1817)
Knoxville (1817)
Murfreesboro (1818-1826)
Maine Augusta 1832 Portland (1820-1832)
Wisconsin Madison 1838 Belmont (1836)
Burlington, now in Iowa (1837-1838)
Illinois Springfield 1839 Kaskaskia (1818-1820)
Vandalia (1820-1839)
Texas Austin 1845 Houston (1837-1840)
Austin (1840-1842)
Washington-on-the-Brazos (1842-1845)
Alabama Montgomery 1846 St. Stephens (1817-1819)
Huntsville (1819-1820)
Cahaba (1820-1826)
Tuscaloosa (1826-1846)
Michigan Lansing 1847 Detroit (1837-1847)
Minnesota St. Paul 1849 [ None ]
California Sacramento 1854 Temporary capitals:
Monterey, San Jose, Vallejo,
Benicia, San Francisco(1850-1854)
Utah Salt Lake City 1856 Fillmore (1851-1856)
Iowa Des Moines 1857 Burlington (1838-1841)
Iowa City (1841-1857)
Oregon Salem 1859 Oregon City (1849-1851)
Corvallis (1855-six months)
Salem (1851-1859)
Kansas Topeka 1861 Fort Leavenworth (1854)
Shawnee Mission (1854-1855)
Pawnee (1855)
Lecompton (1855-1861)
Nevada Carson City 1861 [ None ]
Idaho Boise 1865 Lewiston (1863-1865)
Colorado Denver 1867 Colorado City (1862)
Golden (1862-1867)
Georgia Atlanta 1868 Savannah (1733-1782)
Augusta (1786-1795)
Louisville (1796-1806)
Millidgeville (1807-1868)
Nebraska Lincoln 1868 Omaha (1855-1868)
Wyoming Cheyenne 1869 [ None ]
Connecticut Hartford 1875 Twin capitals:
Hartford & New Haven (1701-1875)
Montana Helena 1875 Bannack (1864-1865)
Virginia City (1865-1875)
Louisiana Baton Rouge 1882 New Orleans (1812-1830)
Donaldsville (1830-1831)
New Orleans (1831-1849)
Baton Rouge (1849-1862)
New Orleans (1862-1882)
West Virginia Charleston 1885 Wheeling (1863-1870)
Charleston (1870-1875)
Wheeling (1875-1885)
Arizona Phoenix 1889 Fort Whipple (1864)
Prescott (1864-1867)
Tuscon (1867-1877)
Prescott (1877-1889)
North Dakota Bismarck 1889 [ None ]
South Dakota Pierre 1889 Yankton (1861-1883)
Bismark (1883-1889)
Washington Olympia 1889 [ None ]
Alaska Juneau 1900 Sitka (1884-1900)
Rhode Island Providence 1900 Rotated between five counties (1663-1854)
Twin Capitals: Newport and Providence (1854-1900)
Oklahoma Oklahoma City 1910 Guthrie (1890-1910)
Hawaii Honolulu 1959 [ None ]
State Houses: America's 50 State Capitol Buildings

State Houses: America's 50 State Capitol Buildings, by Susan W. Thran. 336 pages. Publisher: Boston Mills Press (September 12, 2005)

These glorious buildings are, in the author's words, "the homes of history," where laws are passed, where democracy is enacted, where history is written. Though each state capitol bears some similarity to the other forty-nine, each in its architecture and design reflects uniquely the pride of its state, both culturally and historically.

The book also discusses important moments in the history of each building and the state itself, including: - the origin of the state's name - its capital city - when the state was admitted to the Union, and - the number of members in its legislative bodies.
Fifty State Capitols: The Architecture of Representative Government

Fifty State Capitols: The Architecture of Representative Government, by Jim Stembridge. Photography by Jim Stembridge. 128 pages. Publisher: Coho Publishing; 1st edition (June 6, 2011)

State governments, headquartered in their iconic capitol buildings, have been governing continuously—and largely democratically, peacefully, and openly—for more than two centuries, a record difficult to match in the history of civilization. Fifty State Capitols shows how the architecture of state capitols contributes to the success of representative government.

The formality, timelessness, and public grandeur of representative government are on public display at every one of America’s fifty state capitols. Fifty State Capitols describes the majesty and stateliness of each state capitol’s exterior form and selected interior details, in words and photographs, including a brief history of the building.