Why is the state capital rarely / never the largest city?

Is it a wish to be deliberately obscure?

I imagine it's to do with the age of European settlements in the US. Contrasting the US with England - by the time England started to set up this kind of governmental structure most of it's settlements had been established for centuries - each region probably had an obvious and long-established candidate for administrative centre. In the US these structures were being set up when most settlements were in the their infancy - at the time the choice of State capital may have made sense, in terms of population, but subsequently somewhere else has experienced much greater growth.

It may also be that some of the state capitals were planned as such - Washington DC is a planned capital, I think?

I am sure there are some states that have the largest city as the capital, Indianapolis, Indiana for one; Richmond, Va for another. But most cases you are correct. Often, a town was selected because it was located near the center of the state; other times, the town selected was, at that time, the largest and/or most important town in the state: Annapolis, Maryland comes to mind. Columbia Missouri is located in the center of the state midway between St Louis and Kansas City. Indianapolis, though the largest, is also in the center.
I think location was the most common reason.
An exception would be Juneau, Alaska, which was the most accessible year round because the water didn't freeze in the winter.

Not to nitpick, but Columbia, MO isn't the capital. It's Jefferson City. Your point is still valid though, as it's still right between STL and KC.

That's not a nitpick; it's a correction and I appreciate it....think I'd know the state capitals but I guess I do not...thanks.
Las Vegas, Nevada, for instance, did not exist when Silver City was picked as the territorial capital although today I am sure it would be selected even though it's not centrally located. Isn't Denver the capital of Colorado? If so, it's more or less in the middle and the largest city in the State.

I would add to this fine analysis that states want the capital to be politically somewhere in between the urban attitudes of the big city dwellers concentrated in the cities and the rural attitudes of the farmers scattered all over the state. If the politicians representing the various parts of the state all live and work in the largest city, then they will, over time, come to advance the interests of the city over those of the country when said interests conflict.

As an upstate New Yorker for instance, I am very glad that the state capital is not New York City. Sometimes those people tend to want rules that do not work well for the state as a whole.

It is my understanding that Washington, DC, was planned like Brasilia was planned.

Albany, New York, was[is?] on the Erie Canal - maybe a terminus? - the most important human created mode of transportation in the early to mid 19th century in the USA.

Erie Canal rocks out bigtime. I love being close to what is left of it. I don't even know why I like it -- I just do.

I wonder why the Erie Canal wasn't made into a national park like the C & O Canal. It would be better: more scenic; more economically important, etc....with all the rails-to-trails elongated parks, it would have been a natural.

The largest city in Virginia is Virginia Beach. Richmond is 4th.

Interesting point about Juneau. It's actually the only state capitol not accessible by road. So, if anything, it would be the least accessible capitol city.

Albany was the eastern terminus of the Erie Canal. But it was the state capitol long before that.

I think in most cases where the largest city is not the seat of government, another site was chosen: 1) to spur development and settlement in that area and 2) because it was thought that politicians functioned best when there are fewer distractions around.

Richmond is 4th!?! Chrahst! Who would have thought that? At least I don't live in Virginia; oh, wait, I do - since 1970....Folks, it's obvious that I am here for comic relief...on matters of fact, rely on others....Sweesh :ohdear: 4th? I guess I should get out more....How about the Richmond metro area? Is that pretty large in comparison? Of course if you go with metro areas then Virginia Beach would run into the whole Norfolk - Hampton Roads complex.... :( [there goes the dummy]

Since I've had my multiple errors pointed out - and thanks, I won't have to persist in error - I ask this question: doesn't "capitol" refer only to the building[s] of government and "capital" refer to the town and the rest that's not the building[s] which is the actual seat of government?

You're right of course... :ohdear:

English is the rabbit's second language...

All very interesting.

I guess this is how Canberra got to be the capital of Australia, well before surfing and volleyball were invented?

So what is MES advising us to do?
Leave the 'Buildings of govt,' or the recognised Major city?

..and a very wise and articulate rabbit it is if I may be so bold to add...I trust he/she was not unduly offended when a member here thought he/she was a kangaroo :lol: