I used to live in Missouri. The capital of this state is Jefferson City. This is the only state capital named for the 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson. It became the capital of Missouri when it became a state in 1821. I currently live in Washington State, the only state named for a President. Only George Washington has more counties named for him. There are said to be 31 counties named Washington and 26 named for Jefferson. However, this may not be entirely accurate. Another source says there are 22 counties and one Parish named for Thomas Jefferson. Louisiana is the only state that has parishes rather than counties. Jefferson City is the home of Lincoln University, a historically Black school. Jefferson City is in the center of Missouri by design. It has a population of about 43,000 people. I did not know that a state called Jefferson has been proposed for Northern California and Southern Oregon. It will be very interesting to follow this development in the future.
There have been 3 capitols in Jefferson City since it has been the capital of Missouri. The first capitol building burned to the ground. The 2nd capitol was created to replace the building that burned. It was smaller. The 3rd capitol replaced the 2nd building, and it was a larger building that was needed for its increased size. It’s in use today.
The town of Olympia, the capital of Washington State, is north of where we now live. Ruth and I have visited both capitol buildings. The population of Olympia is said to be 55,919 in 2021. There are 4 Jefferson Cities in America. There are no towns named Jefferson in foreign countries, which I find exceedingly strange given Jefferson’s international profile.
I began with a list of the 29 Jeffersons and a separate list of the 4 Jefferson Cities. According to Geotargit, which has 2 entries, there are 29 Jeffersons in the United States. Most of them are named for Thomas Jefferson. There is no mention of Jefferson City on its first internet entry or the 2nd. I will do a separate blog about the 29 Jeffersons beginning with the Jefferson in Wisconsin. It is on my map and indicates that it was named for Thomas Jefferson, the President. The only foreign Jefferson is the proposed state of Jefferson in Northern California and Southern Oregon. It is mentioned that the Jefferson City in Tennessee was once called Mossy Creek. It all gets very strange in a hurry.
We have been to Jefferson City a few times. Ruth, in fact, has a cousin who served in the Missouri House. He was influenced to campaign and run for the House seat by a local friend, who was also in the legislature. Don ran a grocery store in Summersville, MO when not in Jefferson City.
Hank
Security Conscious 