Tallahassee became the
capital of Florida during the second legislative session. It was chosen as it was roughly equidistant from
St. Augustine and
Pensacola, which had been the capitals of the Spanish territories of
East Florida and
West 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 halfway
point. 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 building.
[13]
From 1821 through 1845 the rough-hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida's territorial period. The
Marquis de Lafayette,
French hero of the American Revolution, returned for a tour of the
United States in 1824. The U.S. Congress voted to give him $200,000 (the
same amount he had given the colonies in 1778), US citizenship, and the
Lafayette Land Grant, 36 square miles (93 km
2) 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. Now known as the "old Capitol", it stands in front of the
high-rise Capitol building that was built in the 1970s.
[14]
Tallahassee was in the heart of Florida's
Cotton Belt—Leon County led the state in cotton production—and was the center of the
slave trade in Florida.
[15] During the
American Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the
Mississippi not captured by Union forces, and the only one not burned. A small engagement, the
Battle of Natural Bridge, was fought south of the city on March 6, 1865, just a month before the war ended.
During the 19th century the institutions that would eventually evolve into what is now
Florida State University were established in Tallahassee, firmly cementing its foundations as a university town. These included the
Tallahassee Female Academy
(founded 1843) and the Florida Institute (founded 1854). In 1851 the
Florida legislature decreed two seminaries to be built on either side of
the
Suwannee River,
East Florida Seminary and
West Florida Seminary.
In 1855 West Florida Seminary was transferred to the Florida Institute
building (which had been established as an inducement for the state to
place the seminary in Tallahassee). In 1858 the seminary absorbed the
Tallahassee Female Academy and became
coeducational.
[16]
Its main building was located near the northwest corner of South
Copeland and West Jefferson streets, approximately where FSU's
Westcott Building is today.
In 1887 the Normal College for Colored Students, ancestor of today's
FAMU, opened its doors. The legislature decided that Tallahassee was the
best location In Florida for a college serving negro students. Four
years later its name was changed to State Normal and Industrial College
for Colored Students.
After the Civil War much of Florida's industry moved to the south and east, a trend that continues today. The end of
slavery hindered the cotton and tobacco trade, and the state's major industries shifted to citrus, lumber,
naval stores,
cattle ranching and tourism. The post-Civil War period was also when
many former plantations in the Tallahassee area were purchased by
wealthy northerners for use as winter hunting preserves. This included
the hunting preserve of Henry L. Beadel, who bequeathed his land for the
study of the effects of fire on wildlife habitat. Today the preserve is
known as the
Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy, nationally recognized for its research into
fire ecology and the use of
prescribed burning.
1900–present
Until
World War II, Tallahassee remained a small southern town with virtually
the entire population living within 1 mile (1.6 km) of the Capitol. The
main economic drivers were the colleges and state government, where
politicians met to discuss spending money on grand public improvement
projects to accommodate growth in places such as Miami and Tampa Bay,
hundreds of miles away from the capital. By the 1960s there was a
movement to transfer the capital to
Orlando,
closer to the growing population centers of the state. That motion was
defeated and the 1970s saw a long-term commitment by the state to the
capital city with construction of the new capitol complex and
preservation of the old
Florida State Capitol building.
In 1970, the Census Bureau reported city's population as 74.0% white and 25.4% black.
[17]
In 1977 a 22-story high-rise Capitol building designed by architect
Edward Durell Stone
was completed, which is now the third-tallest state capitol building in
the United States. In 1978 the old capitol, directly in front of the
new capitol, was scheduled for demolition, but state officials decided
to keep the Old Capitol as a museum.
[18]
Tallahassee was the center of world attention for six weeks during the
2000 United States Presidential election recount, which involved numerous rulings by the
Florida Secretary of State and the
Florida Supreme Court.
Interstate 10
runs east and west across the north side of the city. Tallahassee is
served by five exits including: Exit 192 (U.S. 90), Exit 196 (Capital
Circle NW), Exit 199 (U.S. 27/Monroe St.), Exit 203 (U.S.
319/Thomasville Road and Capital Circle NE), and Exit 209 (U.S. 90/Mahan
Dr.)
U.S. Route 27
enters the city from the northwest before turning south and entering
downtown. This portion of U.S. 27 is known locally as Monroe Street. In
front of the historic state capitol building, U.S. 27 turns east and
follows Apalachee Parkway out of the city.
U.S. Route 90
runs east and west through Tallahassee. It is known locally as
Tennessee Street west of Magnolia Drive and Mahan Drive east of
Magnolia.
U.S. Route 319
runs north and south along the east side of the city using Thomasville
Road, Capital Circle NE, Capital Circle SE, and Crawfordville Road.
State Road 20
State Road 61
State Road 363
