The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1900-11-03
ORIGINAL STATE CAPITALS.
Changes That Have Been Mads In thu
Seats Of Government of
Various stateA-

-
Very few American states have now
heir original state capitals, a circum-
,tance which Is being recalled by the
sbservances in various parts Of tho
country Of the establishment Of the
Aresent capitals. The original capital
Of Indiana was Corydon; OF Illinois.
vandalia; and Of Ohio, Chilllcothe.
Corydon and vandslia are small towns,
but Chillicothe has grown to be a city
Of some importance. The original cap
ital Of New York was this city, and for
q short time New York had two cap
itals. New York city aud Jamaica, L. /.
Afterward, the course Of capital moved
aortherly, first to Poughkeepsle, then
10 Kingston, and finally to Albany,
where II has been situated for more
than q century, says the New York
Sun.
The original capital Of Alabama was
Tuscaloosa; and Of Georgia, Milledge-
Vile, until superseded by Atlanta after
the close Of the civil a Iowa City
was the original capital Of Iowa, now
Des Moines; and In some of the new
northwestern states, notably North
Dakota, it has been necessary to put
the matter of capital selection to the
determination Of the voters on several
occasions, and not without consider
able contention and friction in the set
Element Of the dispute. New Orleans
for q time after the civil war the cap
ital Of Louisiana, has been superseded
by Baton Rouge. Detrok, the largest
city in Michigan. was originally the
capital, a position now occupied BY
Lansing. Lecompton was the first cap
ital of Kansas; Topeka is the capita
now.
Omaha was the capital Of Nebrasks
as a territory and remained such for Z
short time after its admission, unit
Lincoln succeeded 1t. Wheeling wa
the first capital Of West Virginia be
fore the selection Of Charleston, ans
Virginia City was the capital Of Neva
da before the selection Of Carson CITY
or Carson, as It Is called locally. Den
yer has always been the capital Of Col
orado, state or territory. Yankton
South Dakota, was the capital Of Da
kota territory before its admission int
the union as two separate states, bu
the present capital Of South Dakota
the town OF Pierre, and Il was not e.
tablished a. such until after some cor
~troversy.
BY what may best, perhaps, be d.
seribed a. q paradox, Rhode Islant
the smallest OF the states In the couu
try, has the largest number Of capitals
II now has two, Providence and New
! port, and originally had five simultan'
' Gus capitals, so to speak. Providence
Newport, South KingStown, Eas
Greenwich and Bristol. Connection
has two, Hartford and New Haven, an
It IL sometimes found difficult, at pre-
ent, to understand why a small stat
with q sparse population and havin
little Official business to transas
should have found II Unnecessary to mail
tain more than capital. 1t 10 ei
Z planned by the fact. however, that !
early times and for some PEARS aft'
i the revolutionary period, local jes
Q ousies existed between the sever
q towns Of q state, and Il was TO appeal
. these jealousies that the concessio
: was made Of two capitals. Rhot
Island, though not the pioneer, 10 no
the last survivor of this custom and I
citizens are TO vote In November on Il
proposition to do away with NewpoI
+ a. a capital and to establish Providen'
' as the only one
!. Another reason which has had col
adorable to do with the establishmeI
' Of capitals In early times in COUNT
districts was found In the deini
boundaries Of the states. All the ori
inal states had fixed boundaries wit
!. admitted, but most Of the western al
:. southwestern states were subdivision
Of former territories and the capt.
which was appropriate at one tin
would not serve after different bou
:. darles were chosen. The territory
Q Michigan, for instance, included a pa
Of northwestern Ohio, including q
city Of Toledo. Ohio was admitt'
81 into the union in 1902 and the mort
western counties were not annexed
It until 1896. This change in the sta
boundaries justified the selection OF
" more northerly town for the capitI
a and Columbus was chosen.
s. The United States has changed
NJ capital, originally In New York a
!" afterward In Philadelphia, like most
the separate states.