Tallahassee is a city in the Northern part of Florida, the capital of the state, and the 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.

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".