why most state capitals are located in a relatively small town?

Question

By looking at most states in the US, found most state capitals are not in the biggest city in the state, and usually in a relatively small town. Is there any historical reason or realistic reason for this? Thanks!

If a state capital was the larger/largiest city in the state, why it has not been developed to the largest city in the evolution of the society. For example, New York City is the biggest, San Francisco and Chicago etc. are all the biggest city in their respective state, but they are not the capital of the state. Thanks for any answer!!

By looking at the answers, I realized I didn't ask the question clearly. Sorry, let me rephrase:

The current state capitals were mostly established in the 19th/18th century, from then to now:
1. From the government perspective, aren't there more advantages to develop the state capital to the bigges city or move to the biggest city because the government would be surrounded by and in convenient touch with more people and industries/companies?
2. From the business perspective, isn't more advantegous to build the companies in the capital city because it is more convenient to build relationship and deal with the government/politicians?
3. From personal perspective, isn't more beneficial to live in a capital city because of many benefits affecting personal life?
4. From the geographic perspective, a state capital is usually located in a more convenient place such as the center of the land, the tranportation etc,it should draw the biggest crowd and biz, then form the biggest city.

Answer 1

Usually, it's the state capital that's first and the big city comes later. Government itself is an industry, plus various organizations and companies may want to put in a branch merely to deal with the government. This leads to many large cities for state governments.
State capitals were chosen for historical reasons (as is the case with most of the original thirteen colonies), or to be more centrally located (such as Jefferson City, Missouri -- it was deliberately chosen before a city actually existed!) In fact, Alaska, at one point, considered moving the state capital from Juneau to Anchorage for this very reason. It also depends on what transportation connections were available at the time. Most are not small towns, though. Jefferson City (for example), while not one of the largest cities in Missouri, is not exactly a town (population is about 40,000).
Pierre, South Dakota, is probably the second smallest at about 15,000 and closer to being a town; Montpelier, Vermont holds the smallest size at about 8000. In case you're curious, the largest state capital is Phoenix, Arizona (about 1,000,000).

Answer 2

Most state capitals are centrally located within the state. These cities were chosen years ago when attack came only by land and thus it was a sort of defense. Also, the size of many cities is a fairly recent development. During the industrial revolution, towns with sawmills, steel factories, mines, railway depots and the like were booming. Since the age of technology has taken over, the populations of some towns has dwindled. Many state capitals are large cities (just not the largest in the state) and many used to be the larger.

Answer 3

Boston - largest in MA, Providence largest in RI, Hartford largest in CT, Phoenix, AZ, .... so there are lots of exceptions...

Sometimes the state capital was the largest city at the time it was picked, but then later other cities grew more. So it wasnt practical to pick up all the government offices and shift them. Plus, as some others have noted, the state capital might be centrally located while the largest city might be at the edge of the state. For some states, smaller towns were pciked intentionally because the rural people of the state didnt want the big city to have too much power... so, Albany NY, Sacramento, CA, etc.

Answer 4

I offer this in addition to the statements made above. Many of the cities you mention were actually the capital of the state at one time. For example, Georgia's capital has changed 13 times! A capital is a place for government and could exist without anything around it. The businesses just happen to be around the capital but the government could function without the surrounding people/businesses (with the exception of basic services). This is why the capital does not have to match up with the largest city necessarily.

Answer 5

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Answer 6

Because when most state capitals were chosen the state's economic center had yet to established. Farming was the only business.

Answer 7

Krasnoarmeisk, Myshkin, Putchezh, Kholui, Urupinsk, Mariinsky Posad, Kirillov, Suzdal and Gus-Krustalnyi. Pick one

Answer 8

Most capitals are located near transportation

Answer 9

because they need to be located near the international airport.

Answer 10

I don't know why that is.