Tallahassee is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2022, the population was 201,731, making it the eighth-most populous city in the state of Florida. The population of the Tallahassee metropolitan area was 385,145 as of 2018. Tallahassee is the largest city in the Florida Big Bend and Florida Panhandle region, and the main center for trade and agriculture in the Florida Big Bend and Southwest Georgia regions.
Leon County is a county in the Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 census, the population was 292,198.
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the United States by enrollment and the only public historically black university in Florida. It is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, as well as one of the state's land grant universities, and is accredited to award baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degrees by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
In 1824, in appreciation of the enormous service rendered to this country by the Marquis de Lafayette during the Revolutionary War, Congress voted to grant him a full township in the Florida Territory. This tract was called the Lafayette Land Grant and encompassed over 23,000 acres. While the Marquis never came to visit his property, he designated an agent to sell parcels of it on his behalf. The 2,400 acres upon which Goodwood Plantation was sited was purchased by Hardy Croom from the Lafayette Grant in 1834.
Bellevue Plantation was the U.S. home of Catherine Willis Gray Murat, located in Tallahassee, Florida. It was purchased in 1854 after Catherine's second husband Prince Achille Murat died in 1847. Murat was the great-grandniece of George Washington. She was a daughter of Colonel Byrd C. Willis and his wife Mary Lewis. Mary Lewis was the granddaughter of Fielding Lewis, George Washington's brother-in-law. Through the Lewis family, she was also a relative of explorer Meriwether Lewis.
The Park Avenue Historic District is a U.S. historic district located in Tallahassee, Florida. The district runs along Park Avenue and Call Street. It contains 27 historic buildings.
The Grove, known officially as the Call/Collins House at The Grove, is an antebellum plantation house located in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. Territorial Governor Richard Keith Call constructed The Grove circa 1840. By 1851, Call deeded the property to his daughter, Ellen Call Long, who owned it until 1903. Long's granddaughter, Reinette Long Hunt, acquired the property and owned it until her death in 1940. Hunt opened The Grove Hotel during this era and developed onsite cottages that served as rental properties. After a brief period under the ownership of John W. Ford and Josephine Agler, future Florida governor LeRoy Collins and his wife, Mary Call Darby Collins, a great-granddaughter of Richard Keith Call, bought The Grove.
The history of Tallahassee, Florida, much like the history of Leon County, dates back to the settlement of the Americas. Beginning in the 16th century, the region was colonized by Europeans, becoming part of Spanish Florida. In 1819, the Adams–Onís Treaty ceded Spanish Florida, including modern-day Tallahassee, to the United States. Tallahassee became a city and the state capital of Florida in 1821; the American takeover led to the settlements' rapid expansion as growing numbers of cotton plantations began to spring up nearby, increasing Tallahassees' population significantly.
The Union Bank of Tallahassee, Florida was established around 1830 and the bank building constructed for it in 1841. It is Florida's oldest surviving bank building. It is located at Apalachee Parkway and Calhoun Street and is now a museum and archive and research center for African American history. On February 24, 1971, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The David S. Walker Library was a private subscription library in Tallahassee, Florida. It was organized as the University Library in 1883. It is now a historic library building named for Governor David S. Walker, the eighth governor of Florida, who served from 1865 through 1868. It is located 209 East Park Avenue. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The library building is one of 65 Leon County properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Jefferson County Middle / High School (JCMHS) is a public school in unincorporated Jefferson County, Florida, with a Monticello postal address. A part of Jefferson County Schools, it serves grades 6 - 12. The school's mascot is a tiger and the school colors are orange and blue. It is at 50 David Road, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the center of Monticello. The school was formerly housed in the historic Jefferson Academy building, opened in 1852 in the first brick school building in Florida. Minority enrollment at Jefferson County Middle / High School is about 340 and 84 percent minority. It was operated by Somerset Academy Inc. for five years. The student body is minority majority, about 60 percent African American.
The Caroline Brevard Grammar School is a historic school in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at 727 South Calhoun Street and was designed by architect, William Augustus Edwards. On December 17, 1987, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Greene-Lewis House is a historic home in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at 535 West College Avenue. On June 11, 1998, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The John Gilmore Riley House is a historic home in Tallahassee, Florida. It is located at 419 East Jefferson Street. On August 1, 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It is now known as the John G. Riley Center/Museum of African American History and Culture.
The Lewis House, also known as Lewis Spring House, is a historic home in Tallahassee, Florida, located north of I-10, at 3117 Okeeheepkee Road. It was built in 1954. On February 14, 1979, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for George Lewis II, President of the Lewis State Bank, and his wife Clifton. George Lewis gave the name "Spring House" to the home "for the natural spring and small stream that flows from the property." The National Trust for Historic Preservation describes its significance: "The novel hemicycle form of Spring House represents a late, and little-known, stage in Wright’s long, prolific career. Although there are approximately 400 intact houses attributed to Wright throughout the country, only a fraction were from his hemicycle series."
The Tookes House is a historic 11 bedroom home in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is located at 412 West Virginia Street. On January 26, 2001, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
Frenchtown is a primarily African American neighborhood in Tallahassee, Florida. It is the oldest such neighborhood in the state.
Aquilina Celia Casañas Howell was the first woman to serve as Assistant Superintendent of Leon County Schools, serving from 1981 until her retirement in 1985. Howell is credited as the driving force behind the peaceful desegregation of Tallahassee's public schools, using her consensus building skills to unite disparate groups.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.
