The name "Tallahassee" is a Muskogean languagesMuskogean Indian word often translated as "old fields" or "old town." This likely stems from the Creek (people)Creek (later called Seminole (tribe)Seminole) Indians that migrated from Georgia and Alabama into this region during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Upon arrival, they found large areas of cleared lands that had previously been occupied by the Apalachee tribe. During the 1600s, several Spanish missions were established in the Apalachee Provinceterritory of the Apalachee with the aim of procuring food and labor for the colony at St. Augustine, FloridaSt. Augustine. The largest of these, Mission San Luis de Apalachee, has been partially reconstructed by the state of Florida. Prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries, the first European to visit Tallahassee was the Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto (explorer)Hernando de Soto, who spent the winter of 1538-1539 encamped at the Apalachee village of Anhaica. Based on archaeological excavations, this site is now known to have been located about one-half mile east of the present Florida capitol building. From 1821 through 1845, the rough-hewn frontier capital gradually grew into a town during Florida's territorial period. In 1845, a Greek revival masonry structure was erected as the Capitol building in time for statehood. Now known as the "old Capitol" because of the new building constructed in the 1970s, it stands in front of the current new capitol high rise today. http://www.cfhf.net/maps/1839.htm During the American Civil War, Tallahassee was the only Confederate state capital east of the Mississippi RiverMississippi not captured by Union forces. Following the Civil War, much of Florida's industry shifted to the south and east, a trend that continues to this day. The end of slavery caused the cotton and tobacco trade to suffer, and the state's major industries became citrus, naval stores, cattle ranching, and even tourism, all of which occurred to the south and east due to climate and geography. Throughout much of the 20th century, Tallahassee remained a government and college town, where politicians would meet to discuss spending money on grand public improvement projects to accommodate growth in places such as Miami and Tampa Bay, hundreds of miles away from the capital. By the 1960s, there was a movement to transfer the capital to Orlando, closer geographically to the growing population centers of the state. That motion was defeated, however, and the 1970s saw a long-term commitment by the state to the capital city with construction of the new capitol complex and preservation of the old capitol building. In recent years, Tallahassee has seen an uptick in growth, mainly in government and research services associated with the state and Florida State University. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallahassee%2C_Florida