state capitals

Washington, D.C. has been the capital of the United States since 1800. Eight other cities have served as the meeting place for Congress and are therefore considered to have once been the capital of the United States. In addition, each of the 50 U.S. states and several territories of the United States maintains its own capital.

State capitals

In 33 of the 50 U.S. states, the state capital is currently not the state's most populous city. Only two of the state capitals, Trenton, New Jersey and Carson City, Nevada border another state, while Juneau, Alaska shares a border with the Canadian province of British Columbia. The dates listed in the following table indicate the year since which the current capital has continuously served as the sole capital.

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.

Former national capitals

United States of America

From 1774 to 1800, Congress met in numerous locations; therefore, the following cities can be said to have once been the United States capital:

Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: September 5, 1774 to October 24, 1774

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: May 10, 1775 to December 12, 1776
Henry Fite House, Baltimore, Maryland: December 20, 1776 to February 27, 1777
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: March 4, 1777 to September 18, 1777
Court House, Lancaster, Pennsylvania: September 27, 1777 (one day)
Court House, York, Pennsylvania: September 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778
Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: July 2, 1778 to March 1, 1781

Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: March 1, 1781 to June 21, 1783
Nassau Hall, Princeton, New Jersey: June 30, 1783 to November 4, 1783
Maryland State House, Annapolis, Maryland: November 26, 1783 to August 19, 1784
French Arms Tavern, Trenton, New Jersey: November 1, 1784 to December 24, 1784
City Hall (Federal Hall), New York City, New York: January 11, 1785 to Autumn 1788

Federal Hall, New York City, New York: March 4, 1789 to December 5, 1790
Congress Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: December 6, 1790 to May 14, 1800
United States Capitol, Washington, D.C.: November 17, 1800 to present

Vermont Republic

Before joining the United States as the fourteenth state, Vermont was an independent republic known as the Vermont Republic. Two cities served as the capital of the Republic:

Westminster, 1777
Windsor, 1777-1791

The current capital of the State of Vermont is Montpelier.

Kingdom and Republic of Hawaii

Prior to becoming a territory of the United States in 1898, Hawaii was an independent nation. Three cities served as its capital:

Kailua-Kona. Served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1795-1820.
Lahaina. Served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1820–1845.
Honolulu
- Served as the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, 1845–January 17, 1893.
- Served as the seat of the Provisional Government of Hawaii after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, January 17, 1893–July 4, 1894.
- Served as the capital of the Republic of Hawaii when it was established on July 4, 1894 until the Republic was annexed by the United States on July 7, 1898 under the Newlands Resolution to become the Territory of Hawaii. On becoming a state, Honolulu became the capital of the State of Hawaii.

Republic of Texas

Before joining the United States under the Texas Annexation in 1845, Texas was an independent nation known as the Republic of Texas. Seven cities served as its capital:

Washington (now Washington-on-the-Brazos), 1836
Harrisburg, 1836
Galveston, 1836
Velasco, 1836
West Columbia, 1836
Houston, 1837–1839
Austin, 1839–1845

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America had three capitals during its existence.

Montgomery, Alabama, February 4, 1861 - May 29, 1861
Richmond, Virginia, May 6, 1861 (declared) – April 3, 1865
Danville, Virginia, April 3, 1865 - April 10, 1865

The Confederate constitutional convention was held in Montgomery, Alabama in December 1860 because it was the largest and most influential city in the geographic center of the original seven Confederate states (South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas) that planned to secede from the Union. The first Confederate capital was established on February 4, 1861 in Montgomery and remained there until it was moved to Richmond after Virginia joined the Confederacy on May 23, 1861. As the Army of Northern Virginia was pushed farther south and Richmond fell under the Federal guns in early 1865, the Confederate government fled using the only viable railroad line available on April 2, 1865 to Danville, Virginia.

The CSA state capitals remained the same as when each state seceded from the Union. Some of the capitals were moved temporarily in an effort to stay ahead of the advancing Federals. As Confederate areas were occupied, the U.S. Army established military districts to govern each area.

Following the surrender of General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia in Appomattox Court House, Virginia, which ended the American Civil War on April 9, 1865, the eleven southern states that seceded from the United States of America to create the Confederate States of America, gradually had their Senators and Representatives recognized and seated by Congress starting with Tennessee on July 24, 1866, then Arkansas on June 22, 1868, Louisiana, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina on June 25, 1868, then Alabama on July 14, 1868, then Virginia on January 26, 1870, then Mississippi on February 23, 1870, then Texas on March 30, 1870 and finally Georgia on July 15, 1870.

There is some disagreement over whether this recognition by Congress is what determines the status of "statehood". The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Texas v. White raises questions on this point where the court ruled that Texas never left the Union, and essentially that once a territory is admitted and recognized as a state, it is in perpetuity a state in the Union. The court did allow some possibility of divisibility of the union "through revolution, or through consent of the States."

Unrecognized national capitals

There have been a handful of 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.

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.

Jonesborough, Tennessee, 1784-?
Greeneville, Tennessee, 1785?-?

State of Muskogee

The State of Muskogee was a short-lived Native American state in Florida. It consisted of several tribes of Creeks and Seminoles. It existed from 1799 to 1803. It had one capital: