List of capitals in the United States

This is a list of current and former national and subnational in the United States, which includes the  or  of all s,, , or  that are or were located in the , organized by current  location.

The city chosen to be capital for a given region may change from time to time, typically during rapid population growth or time of governmental instability caused by local war. When territories were divided up into smaller states, especially during the, new capitals within the new boundaries needed to be chosen.

National capital
 has been the since 1800.

State capitals

 * For the former capitals of U.S. states, see, below.
 * For additional information on the states, see .

The current roster of state capitals of the United States has not changed since 1910, when replaced  as the capital of the. Four states were granted statehood after 1910 ( and in 1912 and  and  in 1959), but the capital of each of these four states had been the capital of the preceding territory since before 1910. It is unlikely that any of the current state capitals will change in the near future, due to the considerable cost of moving government operations.

In 33 of the 50 U.S. states, the state capital is currently not the state's most populous city.

The dates listed in the following table indicate the year since which the current capital has continuously served as the sole capital. In nine states, as noted below, the current capital had served as capital previously, but one or more other cities were capital in the interim.

Insular area capitals
An 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. Only five of the fourteen insular areas are populated; these are listed here. There are three additional freely associated states and five additional disputed areas claimed by the United States and other nations; see  for details.

United States of America [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|32px]]
From 1765 to 1800, Congress met in numerous locations; therefore, the following cities can be said to have once been the United States capital :


 * Stamp Act Congress


 * First Continental Congress
 * , :  to.


 * Second Continental Congress
 * Pennsylvania State House -, :   to
 * Henry Fite House -, :  to
 * Pennsylvania State House -, :  to
 * Court House -, :  (one day)
 * Court House -, :   to
 * Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) -, :  to


 * Articles of Confederation
 * Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) -, :  to
 * -, :  to
 * -, :  to
 * -, :  to
 * City Hall -, :   to Autumn 1788


 * Constitution
 * , :  to
 * , :  to
 * , :  to
 * :  to present
 * , : September 1814 - When Washington was sacked by the British during the the government with its records and documents, including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, fled to Virginia and took refuge in the vicinity of Leesburg

Vermont Republic [[Image:Flag of Vermont Republic.svg|32px]]
Before joining the United States as the fourteenth state, Vermont was an independent republic known as the. Two cities served as the capital of the Republic:
 * , 1777
 * , 1777-1791

Kingdom and Republic of Hawaii [[Image:Flag of Hawaii.svg|32px]]
Prior to becoming a territory of the United States in 1898, Hawaii was an independent nation. Two cities served as its capital:
 * . Served as the capital of the, 1820–1845.
 * Served as the capital of the, 1845–.
 * Served as the seat of the after the,  –,.
 * Served as the capital of the when it was established on   until the Republic was annexed by the United States on   under the  to become the.
 * Served as the capital of the when it was established on   until the Republic was annexed by the United States on   under the  to become the.

Republic of Texas [[Image:Flag of Texas.svg|32px]]
Before joining the United States under the in 1845, Texas was an independent nation known as the. Seven cities served as its capital:
 * (now Washington-on-the-Brazos), 1836
 * , 1836
 * , 1836
 * , 1836
 * , 1836
 * , 1837–1839
 * , 1839–1845

Confederate States of America [[Image:Confederate National Flag since Mar 4 1865.svg|32px]]
The had three capitals during its existence.

The Confederate constitutional convention was held in, in December of 1860 because it was the largest and most influential city in the geographic center of the original seven Confederate states (, , , , ,  and ) that planned to secede from the Union.

The first Confederate capital was established on February 4, 1861 in and remained there until it was moved to  after  joined  the Confederacy on May 23, 1861.

As the was pushed farther south and  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, VA.

The C.S.A. state capitals remained the same as when each state seceded from the. Some of the capitals were moved temporarily in an effort to stay ahead of the advancing Federals. As Confederate areas were occupied, the US Army established military districts to govern each area. These military districts often shifted as the war progressed and even after the war concluded through the end of.

Following the surrender of  in, which ended the  on April 9, 1865, the eleven  that seceded from the United States of America to create the C.S.A., gradually had their Senators and Representatives recognized and seated by Congress starting with  on July 24, 1866, then  on June 22, 1868, , ,  and  on June 25, 1868, then  on July 14, 1868, then  on January 26, 1870, then  on February 23, 1870, then  on March 30, 1870 and finally  on July 15, 1870.

There is some disagreement over whether this recognition by Congress is what determines the status of 'statehood'. The US Supreme Court decision in 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.


 * ,,  (declared) –
 * ,,  (declared) –

State of Muskogee [[Image:Flag of the Creek Nation.svg|32px]]
The was a short-lived  state in Florida. It consisted of several tribes of and s. It existed from 1799 to 1803. It had one capital:
 * , 1799-1803

Republic of West Florida [[Image:Bonnieblue.svg|32px]]
The was a short-lived republic consisting of parts of, ,  and.
 * , 1810

Republic of Indian Stream
The was an independent nation within the present state of.
 * , 1832-1835

Republic of the Rio Grande [[Image:Flag of the Republic of Rio Grande.svg|32px|border]]
The was an independent nation including land now in   and.
 * , January 7, 1840-January 28, 1840
 * ,, January 28, 1840-March 1840
 * , March 1840-November 6, 1840

California Republic [[Image:1stBearFlag.svg|32px]]
Before being annexed by the United States in 1846, California was an independent republic known as the. The California Republic was never recognized by the United States which maintained that the U.S. Military Government of California headquartered at was the legitimate government of the region. There was one  capital of the California Republic:
 * , 1846

Former state capitals
Most of the original had their capitals occupied or attacked by the British during the. State governments operated where and as they could. The was occupied by  from 1776 to 1783. A similar situation occurred during the, during the in many , and during the  of 1680-1692 in.

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. , has been a capital city continuously since 1630, making it the longest-running U.S. capital. , has been a capital city the longest having become capital in 1610 and interrupted only by the of 1680-1692. Boston, Santa Fe, and are the only three U.S. cities that have been capitals for more than 300 years.
 * The state and its current capital are shown in bold.
 * The year listed for each capital is the starting date; the ending date is the starting date for the successor unless otherwise indicated.
 * The year in which statehood was granted is shown in bold.