State capitals

[Poiponen13]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

[Max Rockatansky]

With California it was probably more important to have the Capital in a central location during the Gold Rush.  All the California State Capitals were more or less centralized in the middle of the state.  The Capital or Alta California was beforehand based in Monterey which I believe at the time was also the largest Mexican/Spanish city.

[kphoger]

What, after all, is the purpose of a capital city?  I'd say that a capital's fundamental purpose is to be the seat of government offices.  Now, these government offices should ideally be located in a place that's convenient to most citizens of that state.  But, if the largest city is way off on one side of the state, locating the capital there could be seen as unfairly disadvantaging residents on the other side of the state (i.e. unfair to entire regions of the state).  On the flip side, if the largest city is way off on one side of the state, then not locating the capital there could be seen as unfairly disadvantaging residents of the city (i.e. unfair to the majority or at least a large percentage of the state's populace).  So it's a balancing act, and each state must decide how to accomplish it.

This is why, for example, I think it's a good thing for Missouri's capital city to be a relatively small one that's roughly halfway between Kansas City and Saint Louis:  locating the capital in either one of those large metro areas would seem quite unfair to residents of the other.  The same goes for Illinois, whose capital is in between Chicago and Saint Louis.  Likewise Pennsylvania, whose capital is in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

[jeffandnicole]

Our State capitals are 75 - 250 years old. In some cases, what was a large city at the time isn't as large anymore. Some are located centrally in the state.  Other towns and cities offer tax and other economic incentives for residents and businesses to locate in their area, and that city grows because of the opportunities available. Even the road network may have provided opportunities for growth in areas that didn't exist before.

[oscar]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

In some cases, suspicion of big-city sin and corruption (so they got instead small-city sin and corruption).

Sometimes radical population shifts. For example, Alaska's capital was relocated to Juneau in 1906, from the even smaller Russian colonial capital Sitka. Juneau was the big city in the 1900s. The current biggest city, Anchorage, didn't even exist back then. There have been unsuccessful efforts to move the capital near Anchorage (not into the city, viewed with suspicion by much of the rest of the state). Some smaller state agencies are headquartered in Anchorage, but moving the governor's office, legislature, and the rest of the bureaucracy out of Juneau was considered too costly.

In southern states, air conditioning was sometimes a factor too. Florida's capital Tallahassee was established pre-air conditioning, when much of the rest of the state was barely habitable. Now there's enough population in central and southern Florida to make relocating the capital thinkable, except for the fights that would ensue between Orlando, Tampa, and Miami about where to move the capital.

[NWI_Irish96]

We have an entire thread https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=32388.0 discussing the merits of geographical center vs population center for state capitals.

[Rothman]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

[kphoger]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

Washington...

[NWI_Irish96]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

Washington...

Of course, for those who don't remember their high school US History class and didn't see Hamilton, Washington was chosen over New York as a concession to the southern states in exchange for establishing the central US bank that the northern states wanted.

[Poiponen13]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

I meant that all states and territories of Australia have their largest city as capital:
Western Australia-Perth
South Australia-Adelaide
Victoria-Melbourne
New South Wales-Sydney
Queensland-Brisbane
Tasmania-Hobart
Northern Territory-Darwin

[bing101]

In some states like Hawaii, Arizona, Georgia and Massachusetts the largest city is the state capital like Atlanta, Phoenix, Honolulu and Boston. But some of this was because it was the only Metro area at the time of founding.

[Rothman]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

I meant that all states and territories of Australia have their largest city as capital:
Western Australia-Perth
South Australia-Adelaide
Victoria-Melbourne
New South Wales-Sydney
Queensland-Brisbane
Tasmania-Hobart
Northern Territory-Darwin

Uh huh...while deliberately omitting the fact that the largest city in Australia is not its national capital.

Largest isn't always the best place for the capital...

[kphoger]

I meant that all states and territories of Australia have their largest city as capital:

We know what you meant.  He was just pointing out that the federal capital of the same country isn't even in the top five.

[kphoger]

Also...

Abuja
Ankara
Brasilia
Ottawa
Rabat

It's hardly a rare phenomenon.  In some of those cases, in fact, the capital was moved to a smaller city.

[JayhawkCO]

6 of the 7 most populous countries in the world don't have their capitals in the largest city, with Indonesia on the way to being that way too.

Beijing vs. Shanghai
Delhi vs. Mumbai
Washington vs. New York
Nusantara vs. Jakarta
Islamabad vs. Karachi
Abuja vs. Lagos
Brasilia vs. Sao Paulo

[triplemultiplex]

There have been unsuccessful efforts to move the capital near Anchorage (not into the city, viewed with suspicion by much of the rest of the state).

"Welcome to Anchorage: Gateway to Alaska"
A sentiment I heard several times up there.

They'd also call it "Los Anchorage".  (Well, at least some of the white people did...)

[Scott5114]

In some cases it is for political reasons. The capital of Illinois is Springfield out of an attempt to keep the state government insulated from the Chicago political machine and keep Chicago's interests from drowning out the interests of rural downstate Illinois. (I would guess most Illinoisans would say it hasn't worked.)

Albany and NYC is much the same story. If you put the capital of NY in midtown Manhattan, you'd hear Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. complaining that their interests can't fairly be represented in relation to those of NYC. During much of the 19th century, New York City politics were run by Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall political machine, and putting the capital in Albany made it harder for Tammany to influence the state government.

[Rothman]

In some cases it is for political reasons. The capital of Illinois is Springfield out of an attempt to keep the state government insulated from the Chicago political machine and keep Chicago's interests from drowning out the interests of rural downstate Illinois. (I would guess most Illinoisans would say it hasn't worked.)

Albany and NYC is much the same story. If you put the capital of NY in midtown Manhattan, you'd hear Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, etc. complaining that their interests can't fairly be represented in relation to those of NYC. During much of the 19th century, New York City politics were run by Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall political machine, and putting the capital in Albany made it harder for Tammany to influence the state government.

Albany became the capital nearly a century before Boss Tweed. 

It was more about keeping the capital protected from foreign invasion.

[Road Hog]

A state capital could be relocated at the drop of a hat as long as there was enough office and meeting space.

Who said you have to have a great big granite or limestone building with a cupola on top of it?

[US 89]

A state capital could be relocated at the drop of a hat as long as there was enough office and meeting space.

Who said you have to have a great big granite or limestone building with a cupola on top of it?

Indeed. See Florida:



The capitol is in this photo... but it's the ugly looking skyscraper thing in the background. The historic building in front with the flags on top is the Old Capitol, which was the capitol building before 1977.

[Big John]

^^ Bismarck ND: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Dakota_State_Capitol

[bing101]

If San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego were the state Capitals of California and not Sacramento then you will have water interests in the Delta region respond that the water is being drained out.
I remember reading that Vallejo and Benicia were once the State Capitals of California prior to Sacramento getting it. Some of this was to negotiate with the ship building industry in San Francisco and the Gold trade industries in Sacramento during the Gold Rush era.

[jgb191]

What is the capital of Quebec?  I do not believe that the answer to that question would be Montreal.


And hopefully Scott5114 can explain to us why Oklahoma City was selected to be the capital of Oklahoma.  Why not Norman?

[oscar]

What is the capital of Quebec?  I do not believe that the answer to that question would be Montreal.

It's the city of Quebec.

[kirbykart]

Why in most states, state capital is not same as its largest city? For example, all of Australia's states and territories have their largest city as capital, as well as most European countries.

Canberra...

I meant that all states and territories of Australia have their largest city as capital:
Western Australia-Perth
South Australia-Adelaide
Victoria-Melbourne
New South Wales-Sydney
Queensland-Brisbane
Tasmania-Hobart
Northern Territory-Darwin

Uh huh...while deliberately omitting the fact that the largest city in Australia is not its national capital.

Largest isn't always the best place for the capital...

And the reason Canberra was chosen was precisely because it was halfway between the two largest cities (Sydney and Melbourne).