Fun with States and Capitals

While talking about the upcoming MLB season with a friend, his nine year old son stopped me in my tracks.

"Why aren't the teams in the capital of their state?"

I never thought about this.

It's obvious why they are in the big cities...that's where the people are.

But why aren't the biggest metropolitan areas/cities the capital of the state?

Here's the breakdown:

Only seventeen states have their capitals in their largest cities.

And only the Boston Red Sox represent their state's capital.

Six teams choose to represent their state, rather than the city they play home games in:
New York Mets
New York Yankees
Colorado Rockies
Arizona Diamondbacks
Minnesota Twins
Texas Rangers

Why was I forced to learn the capitals in third grade when it is much more important to learn where the Cubs play?

That's a great place to start...

Why is Springfield the capital of Illinois and not Chicago?

This gets very interesting.  I learned that Illinois has changed its capital three times.

Kaskaskia was the first capital in 1809, moved to Vandalia in 1820.

Springfield became the capital in 1839.

Chicago was not incorporated until 1837 and was not considered because it did not become the center of commerce until the  second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914).

Why isn't Miami the capital of Florida?

Tallahassee was chosen because it was the midpoint between the two largest cities at the time (1824) St. Augustine and Pensacola.

Why Jefferson City and not St. Louis?

St. Louis was the first capital in 1812, then it moved to St. Charles.

When Missouri entered the Union in 1821, Jefferson City was chosen as the capital because it was located in the center of the state.

Albany?  Really?

Because of its location on the Hudson, it was the center of trade in the early days of the United States.  It also didn't hurt that it was the location of our first railroad system. 

New York City was the nation's capital from 1785-89.

Harrisburg over Philadelphia?

Philadelphia was the seat of the state government before it was moved to Lancaster in 1799 and then moved to Harrisburg in 1812 because of the city's important trade location on the Susquehanna river. 

Philadelphia was the nation's capital from 1790-1800.

In my limited surveying for this post, almost all that were asked answered that Baltimore is the capital of Maryland and not Annapolis.  Wrong!

Baltimore was briefly the nation's capital while Philadelphia was under attack from the British (1776).

Annapolis also became the nation's capital towards the end of the revolutionary war 1873-74.

Sleepless in....Olympia?

Why Olympia?  The internet tells me it was selected mainly because it was at the center of the more populated western half of the state.

No, it's not Detroit, it's Lansing for Michigan.

Well, it was Detroit at first but relocated to Lansing in 1847 to develop the state's western portion.

I'm too old to site my sources, all info was gained from Google searches.