Jefferson City, Missouri

Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the <a href="/facts/List_of_capitals_in_the_United_States/RMAd1LFl">capital</a> of the <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. state</a> of <a href="/facts/Missouri/wQ3VAb99">Missouri</a>. It had a population of 43,228 at the <a href="/facts/2020_United_States_census/dTEm5TRr">2020 United States census</a>, ranking as the <a href="/facts/List_of_cities_in_Missouri/FksIKJJx">16th most populous city</a> in the state, but the 9th least populous U.S. state capital. It is also the <a href="/facts/County_seat/ItAWPoWw">county seat</a> of <a href="/facts/Cole_County,_Missouri/hBS8bwvj">Cole County</a> and the principal city of the <a href="/facts/Jefferson_City_Metropolitan_Statistical_Area/SRMDKNbk">Jefferson City Metropolitan Statistical Area</a>, the second-most-populous metropolitan area in Mid-Missouri and the fifth-most populous in the state. It forms part of the nine-county <a href="/facts/Columbia,_Missouri/oF76f5AF">Columbia</a>–Jefferson City–<a href="/facts/Moberly,_Missouri/FgSo7V5Q">Moberly</a> <a href="/facts/Combined_statistical_area/tq6UTDlD">combined statistical area</a>, which has 415,747 residents. Most of the city is located within Cole County, with a small northern section extending into adjacent <a href="/facts/Callaway_County,_Missouri/orEM6Iz0">Callaway County</a>.
Jefferson City is named for <a href="/facts/Thomas_Jefferson/8yxtcjKK">Thomas Jefferson</a> (1743–1826), the third <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">President of the United States</a>, 1801–1809, and earlier major author of the <a href="/facts/United_States_Declaration_of_Independence/UyTgzfpx">Declaration of Independence of the United States</a> on July 4, 1776. He also served several diplomatic posts overseas in <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">Europe</a> and was the first <a href="/facts/United_States_Secretary_of_State/AgUe4Dkq">U.S. Secretary of State</a> (1790-1793) in the first <a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_the_United_States/2ouVJrjQ">President's Cabinet</a> of <a href="/facts/George_Washington/ucb7mE4Q">George Washington</a>, and subsequently the second <a href="/facts/Vice_President_of_the_United_States/tYWUGv0A">Vice President</a> (1797-1801) under second chief executive <a href="/facts/John_Adams/ULzkzFsY">John Adams</a>.
Jefferson City is located on the northern edge of the <a href="/facts/Ozark_Plateau/2Ew5n8vh">Ozark Plateau</a> on the southern side of the <a href="/facts/Missouri_River/NL8Sj9Wb">Missouri River</a> in a region known as <a href="/facts/Mid-Missouri/7yLHGzW4">Mid-Missouri</a>, that is roughly mid-way between the state's two large urban areas of <a href="/facts/Kansas_City,_Missouri/N8GxbWWR">Kansas City</a> to the west and <a href="/facts/St._Louis/22beLecX">St. Louis</a> in the east (along the west bank of the <a href="/facts/Mississippi_River/RduarPzj">Mississippi River</a>). It is 29 miles (47 km) south of <a href="/facts/Columbia,_Missouri/oF76f5AF">Columbia, Missouri</a>, and sits at the western edge of the <a href="/facts/Missouri_Rhineland/m8FDmYKd">Missouri Rhineland</a>, one of the major wine-producing regions of the <a href="/facts/Midwest/VanHjkw2">Midwest</a>. The city is dominated by the monumental domed <a href="/facts/Missouri_State_Capitol/6GvH4ub3">Missouri State Capitol</a>, which rises from a bluff overlooking the nearby Missouri River to the north; <a href="/facts/Lewis_and_Clark/ADmWYa77">Lewis and Clark</a> with their Corps of Discovery passed the bluff here on their historic expedition upriver in 1804, eventually journeying westward to the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Northwest/EjJhETXc">Pacific Northwest</a> region and the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>, before Europeans or Americans established any settlement there.
Many of Jefferson City's primary employers are in service and manufacturing industries like Hitachi. Jefferson City is also home to <a href="/facts/Lincoln_University_(Missouri)/e1czocPE">Lincoln University</a>, a <a href="/facts/Public_university/Avsc2TmM">public</a> <a href="/facts/Historically_black_colleges_and_universities/NC4q44T5">historically black</a> and federal <a href="/facts/Land-grant_university/hCRoj5g0">land-grant university</a> founded the year after the <a href="/facts/American_Civil_War/A9FT3ksD">American Civil War</a> in 1866, by the <a href="/facts/Union_Army/WaDC9c06">Union Army</a> black veterans of the <a href="/facts/1st_Missouri_Regiment_of_Colored_Infantry/ls08yXRW">First Missouri Regiment of Colored Infantry & 62nd Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops</a> with support from the <a href="/facts/2nd_Missouri_Regiment_of_Colored_Infantry/sCNQ60Qy">Second Missouri Regiment of Colored Infantry / 65th Regiment of U.S. Colored Troops</a>.

Jefferson City, Missouri open-in-new

Jefferson City, Missouri