Tallahassee is a city in the northern part of Florida, capital of the state, and seat of Leon County. As well as being the seat of local 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 interesting attractions are the Old Capitol, built in 1845 and added to in 1902, now a museum; the Black Archives Research Center and Museum, in line with the campus of Florida A&M University, having a bunch of greater than 500,000 documents and artifacts; and the Museum of Florida History, which houses the state archives along with archeological and historical exhibits. There are several archaeological sites along the coast, 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. Sections of the Apalachicola National Forest are nearby. Every December Tallahassee is illuminated by above 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 discovered an Apalachee village. Nearly 100 years later, the Franciscans founded 16 missions in the area, the primary being San Luis de Talimali. Right 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 initially in Tallahassee in 1824, and the city incorporated in 1825. During the American Civil War (1861-1865), it was the sole Confederate capital east of the Mississippi River not captured by Union troops. The community's name is obtained from an Apalachee term meaning "old town" or "abandoned fields."
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