I’ve noticed that the capitals of US states are generally the lesser known and poorer cities. Like Albany or Trenton. Why is that???

Question

Trenton

Albany

Concord

Austin

Springfield

Bismarck

?!?

Answer 1

There are multiple factors considered when establishing or naming a capital city. First is location to the state's populations. For example, Frankfort, KY was not chosen for being the most populous city. Rather it was relatively close to most residents at that time. If a capital city is too far away from the populace, it makes the state government feel distant and unresponsive. (By the way, this was one of the arguments made against England in Thomas Paine's pamphlet, "Common Sense.")

Second, if a capital city were located in the most populated or wealthy city, other residents would feel that city would have an undue advantage in state politics. Moving it away from those larger cities gives the appearance of being unbiased. To use an example from early American history, the nation's capital was originally in New York City. At the time, NYC was roughly the middle of country if you only considered those individuals able to vote at the time (white, property owning men). However, many in the agrarian South feared this would give Northern merchants and industrialists too much influence over the federal government. The compromise was to move the capital closer to the South.

Answer 2

One could ask the same question about the national capital. At the time of the nation's founding, Washington was not a city but it was a compromise between the northern and southern interests. Back when all of the states were on the Atlantic coast, the site of Washington was in the middle. One thing is certain, and that is that once a capital is established, it will rarely be moved. An exception is my own state of Arizona. The capital used to be in Prescott in the cool mountains but is now in Phoenix.

Answer 3

Typically, the state capital is in or near the middle of the state. It needs to be in a location easily accessed by highways/roads, in a town with a respectable amount of people, but it doesn't have to be the most populous.

Take North Dakota for example. Its most populous city is Fargo, but that is on the eastern border of the state. Not easily accessed by people on the Western side. Bismarck is in the center, which makes it relatively easy for people from anywhere in the state to reach it. In addition to this, railroads (and later highways) were built going along the Northern and Southern borders of the state, and through the middle. Bismarck was in a prime location to be accessed via railroad/highway.

Answer 4

Years ago Albany was larger than New York City

Albany is the oldest city in the state of New York

odds are changing population numbers make other state capitals seem small today, but they were larger back in their time