The name "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean Indian word often translated as "old fields," or "old town." The founding of Tallahassee was largely a matter of convenience...
In 1821, Florida was ceded by Spain to the United States. A territorial government was established, but the impracticalities of alternately meeting in St. Augustine and Pensacola - the two largest cities in the territory at the time - led territorial governor William Pope Duval to appoint two commissioners to establish a more central meeting place.
In October of 1823, John Lee Williams of Pensacola and Dr. William Simmons of St. Augustine selected the former Indian settlement of Tallahassee (roughly midway between the two cities) as a suitable place. Their decision was also based on its location near a beautiful waterfall - now part of Cascades Park - and the old capital of the Apalachee chiefdom. In March of the following year it was formally proclaimed the capital. Florida did not become a state, however, until 1845.
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