Tallahassee, Florida

Tallahassee, Florida

Coordinates: 30 27 N 84 17 W

Population: 156,612 (2004 est.)

Now that November 4th is just two short weeks off, tipping point states and swing states seem to be the only geographical units anybody wants to talk about. (Which, of course, differs from non-election years when everyone’s a-twitter about core areas, oblasts, and Exclusive Economic Zones.) In any case, I thought I would share a bit of trivia about the Sunshine State’s seat of government today. Located in the northwestern part of Florida known as the panhandle, this city had existed for well over 200 years before it was chosen to become the territorial capital in 1824. Until Spanish and then other European colonists arrived here, the Apalachee people inhabited the region. Conflict and disease soon reduced their population, but they left behind the name Tallahassee meaning “old town” or “abandoned fields.” During the American Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate capital city east of the Mississippi River that Union troops didn’t capture.

Ben Keene is the editor of Oxford Atlas of the World. Check out some of his previous places of the week.