Curated category
State capitals in the United States
- Austin, TexasAustin, Texas was formally incorporated on the 27th of December 1839, named in honor of Stephen F. Austin, the man history remembers as the Father of Texas.
- Boise, IdahoBoise, Idaho was founded not as a city but as a military outpost in 1863, dropped into a high-desert valley during a gold rush that would reshape the entire…
- Nashville, TennesseeNashville sits on the Cumberland River, a city that has worn more identities than almost any other in the American South.
- Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento sits at the meeting point of two rivers, the Sacramento and the American, in a valley that a Spanish soldier once said smelled like champagne.
- DenverDenver sits at exactly one mile above sea level, a fact so precise that engineers marked the benchmark on the steps of the State Capitol building.
- IndianapolisIndianapolis sits at the center of the American continent, and its official slogan tells you exactly what that has meant: "Crossroads of America." On the…
- Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona stands as the fifth-most populous city in the United States, home to over 1.6 million people as of the 2020 census.
- Columbus, OhioColumbus, Ohio sits at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers, a place where a Mingo village once stood before colonial militiamen burned it to…
- Richmond, VirginiaRichmond, Virginia sits at the James River's fall line, a geographic fact that has shaped nearly everything about it. The point where the river's rapids meet…
- Oklahoma CityOklahoma City came into being in a single afternoon. On the 22nd of April 1889, the federal government opened a stretch of unoccupied land called the…
- Providence, Rhode IslandProvidence, Rhode Island carries a name that was chosen deliberately. In June 1636, a Puritan minister named Roger Williams was banished from the…
- Columbia, South CarolinaColumbia, South Carolina sits almost exactly at the geographic center of its state, at the place where the Saluda River and the Broad River meet to form the…
- Trenton, New JerseyTrenton, New Jersey wears two identities at once. Look at the bridge spanning the Delaware River and you will see it spelled out in lights: "Trenton Makes…
- Frankfort, KentuckyIn 1780, a group of settlers from Bryan Station walked toward Mann's Lick to make salt. They followed an ancient buffalo trail that crossed the Kentucky…
- BostonBoston was founded on a narrow peninsula in 1630, and from that modest beginning it grew into one of the most consequential cities in American history.
- Salt Lake CitySalt Lake City sits at 4,327 feet above sea level, ringed by mountains that rise more than two miles higher still. Twin Peaks, to the southeast in the…
- AtlantaAtlanta straddles the Eastern Continental Divide, meaning that rainwater falling on one side of the city drains toward the Atlantic Ocean, while rainwater on…