ROOTED HERE
A city with its own story.
Explore the places behind the name.
Florida’s capital pairs civic history with college-town arts, neighborhood cafes and the open space of Cascades Park.
People made the city.
Follow the sourced timeline and use museum and library collections to explore Tallahassee in more depth. Read the historical source.
- Before the capital
Apalachee homeland
The region’s history includes Apalachee communities and the later Spanish mission network. Mission San Luis interprets part of that history.
Local history source ↗ - 1824
A territorial capital
Tallahassee was selected as the seat of Florida’s territorial government between Pensacola and St. Augustine.
Local history source ↗ - 1825
A city charter
The territorial council issued Tallahassee’s first city charter on December 9, 1825.
Local history source ↗ - 1845
Statehood
Florida became a state on March 3, 1845, with Tallahassee continuing as its capital.
Local history source ↗
See the history for yourself.
Choose a museum or cultural stop and check its current visiting schedule before traveling. City history source.
For deeper research, the Tallahassee library resources is a starting point for archival material and research help. Historic photographs have their own permissions; we link to the collection instead of treating every old image as free to reuse.
Selected milestones researched September 13, 2026. This is an introduction, not a complete account of the city’s history.