Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2020 Tallahassee has a population of 196,169 people.

State capital city
City of Tallahassee
Tallahassee skyline Florida State Capitol Florida State University Cascades Park Carnegie Library at FAMU Museum of Florida History Gallies Hall
Flag Seal
Location within Leon County and the state of Florida
Coordinates: 30°27′18″N 84°15′12″W
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Leon
Established	1824 (1824)
Government
• Type	Council–Manager
Area
• Total	104.74 sq mi (271.27 km2)
• Land	101.85 sq mi (263.80 km2)
• Water	2.89 sq mi (7.47 km2)
Elevation	203 ft (62 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	196,169
• Rank	127th, U.S.
• Density	1,926.00/sq mi (743.64/km2)
• Urban	252,934 (US: 162nd)
• Urban density	2,016.1/sq mi (778.4/km2)
• Metro	385,145 (US: 140th)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP code(s)	32300–32399
FIPS code	12-70600
GNIS feature ID	308416
Website	www.talgov.com

The name comes from the Apalachee Native American words: talwa meaning town, and ahassee meaning old.

Tallahassee was created as the capital of Florida during the territory's second legislative session. It was chosen as the midpoint between St. Augustine and Pensacola, which had been the capitals of the Spanish and British colonies of East Florida and West Florida, respectively. (At that time, very few people lived in the swamps of South Florida.) The first session of Florida's Legislative Council–as a territory of the United States–met on July 22, 1822 at Pensacola and members from St. Augustine traveled fifty-nine days by water to attend. The second session was in St. Augustine and required western delegates to travel perilously around the peninsula on a twenty-eight day trek. During this session, it was decided that future meetings should be held at a half-way point to reduce the distance. Two appointed commissioners selected Tallahassee, at that point an abandoned Apalachee settlement, as a halfway point. In 1824, the third legislative session met there in a crude log capitol. Also in 1824, Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, returned for a grand tour of the United States. The US Congress voted to give him $200,000 (the same amount he had given the colonies in 1778), US citizenship, and the Lafayette Land Grant, of land that today includes large portions of Tallahassee. In 1845, a Greek revival masonry structure was erected as the Capitol building in time for statehood.

In 1977, a 23-story high-rise Capitol building designed by architect Edward Durell Stone was completed. It is now the third-tallest state capitol building in the United States. In 1978, the old capitol was scheduled for demolition, but the State Of Florida decided to keep the Old Capitol as a museum and point of interest.

The city is the location of two important universities, Florida State University and Florida A&M University.

Tallahassee, Florida Media

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  The Mission San Luis de Apalachee as it may have appeared in the 17th century

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  A hand-colored photograph of Cascades Park in 1912

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  A reenactment of the 1865 Battle of Natural Bridge

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  Nicely colored in age toned cream tones. This panoramic view identifies the street names and points of interest in Tallahassee more than a century ago.

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  A view of both the historic and the current Florida State Capitols

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  Historic Grove Plantation, known officially as the Call/Collins House at The Grove. Territorial Governor Richard Keith Call built this antebellum plantation house c. 1840.

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  Tallahassee experiences four seasons. Shown here are the autumn leaves along the sidewalks of Monroe Street in Downtown Tallahassee.

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  Maclay Gardens Reflection Pool

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  The Florida Supreme Court building