Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas
Looking at Texas, two things come to mind. One, wow, is Austin ever isolated from the rest of the state capitals even while being in the lower 48. And two, West Texas covers a lot of area before there's a state capital closeby.
Florida's capital is also way away from the rest of the state. West Virginia's is also, which isn't surprising considering it isn't exactly a big state.
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When Florida became a US Territory in 1821 Tallahassee was chosen as a compromise between Pensacola, the former capital of West Florida and St. Augustine, the former capital of East Florida.
Florida Legislators would alternate between both Capitals for their yearly meetings and the travel times between both would take over a month so they decided to choose a city that was a half way point.
As for it being away from the rest of the state it wasn't at the time since most of the population was concentrated in northern Florida while most of the peninsula was sparsely populated.
There has always been talk about moving the Capital to a more geographically centrist place like Orlando.