Tourist information -
Tallahassee
Tallahassee is a city in the northern part of Florida, capital of the state, and seat of Leon County. In addition to being the seat of state government, Tallahassee is an education center and a hub for a fertile farming region. Manufactures of the greater city area include lumber and wood products, processed food, building supplies, printed materials, and gunpowder. The city is the home of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, a state-of-the-art scientific research institution. Tallahassee is the seat of Florida State University (1851), Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (1887), and a community college. Commercial air service is provided through Tallahassee Regional Airport.
Among the city's points of interest are the Old Capitol, built in 1845 and added to in 1902, now a museum; the Black Archives Research Center and Museum, based on the campus of Florida A&M University, with a collection of more than 500,000 documents and artifacts; and the Museum of Florida History, which houses the state archives as well as archeological and historical exhibits. There are several archaeological sites in the area, including the Lake Jackson Indian Mounds, the remains of a ceremonial center that flourished in the region between 1200 and 1500; and the San Luis Archaeological and Historic Site, which features both ongoing excavations and a reconstructed 17th-century Apalachee chief's home. Parts of the Apalachicola National Forest are nearby. Every December Tallahassee is illuminated by more than 100,000 holiday lights as the city celebrates Winter Festival.
The Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto visited the site of modern Tallahassee during the winter of 1539-1540 and found an Apalachee village. Nearly 100 years later, the Franciscans founded 16 missions in the area, the most important being San Luis de Talimali. After the United States officially acquired Florida from Spain in 1821, the site of Tallahassee was chosen as the capital of the territory of Florida because of its location midway between the population centers of Saint Augustine and Pensacola. The legislature met for the first time in Tallahassee in 1824, and the city incorporated in 1825. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), it was the only Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not captured by Union troops. The community's name is taken from an Apalachee term meaning "old town" or "abandoned fields." |
