I realise that many American state capitals are not the largest city in that state- compare Los Angeles to Sacremento, or Albany to New York City. I believe that the location was the main justification for selection, with most capitals near to the geographical centre of their state.

Firstly, can anyone confirm this, and secondly, can anyone explain why Washington is the national capital, instead of somewhere in the middle of the country- perhaps Kansas or Nebraska?

There are three states that come to mind that flaws your point about the center of the state: Florida (Tallahassee is in the "panhandle"), Minnesota (as St. Paul is near the eastern state line), and Juneau, Alaska is near the southeast corner.

When the first 13 colonies became states, Washington, DC, was near the center of the nation (at the time - 1787). Delaware became a state on December 1, 1787, with two others joining that year. Westward expansions began in the 1800's, starting with the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. That alone doubled the area of the United States. The geographic center of the continental United States is in Kansas now.

Ozzz, Washington, D.C. was created by Maryland and Virginia, two states of the original 13. They each donated an equal amount of land to equal 10 square miles. The land was mostly swamp and no one cared much about a central government anyway so the value of the donation of land was nominal.
Today, D.C. is still 10 miles on each side. Putting the capital in Kansas, for example, was not feasable because this territory was not yet wrested from the native Indians and Kansas did not yet exist.

Really, just like the federal capital, originally most of our state capitals were central at the time they were named capitals. I was raised in Florida and live in Alaska, so I'll chime in on Tallahassee and Juneau.

Tallahassee was a compromise location between St. Augustine, down the Atlantic coast from Jacksonville a little, and Pensacola, farther west out the panhandle. South Florida was as yet undeveloped--that awaited Henry Flagler, who wasn't even born until several years after Tallahassee became the capital, and his railroad. Florida, in the 1960s, debated moving the capital nearer to Orlando, which is now central to the state both geographically and economically, thanks to Disney World.

Sitka, also in southeast Alaska, was the capital of Russian America. Juneau was the site of an early gold rush after the Alaska Purchase and was near the center of southeast Alaska, where most white people lived from the time of the Russians in the 1700s, and the site of most economic activity at the time. Anchorage came much later, beginning with the railroad and flourishing during WWII. Alaskans voted in the 1970s to move the capital to Willow, much closer to Anchorage, Alaska's largest city and economic hub, though far south of the geographic center. The legislature never appropriated the huge amount of money necessary for the move, and the idea has been discarded.

There's actually quite a story about how George Washington got the capital situated on the Potomac. It was a deal between northern and southern factions over Revolutionary War debt, and also a personal thing between Secy. Jefferson of Virginia and Secy. Hamilton, from New York. The site was central to the U.S. and had never been built on, thus providing a compromise deal and a chance to lay out a pristine capital for the daring young nation. At first it was an undeveloped swamp, later a slave trading center, now an urban slum. Oh well, it was a good idea, and the layout is ingenious and the federal buildings magnificent.

Thanks for all your answers; it made for interesting reading.

Putting Washington in a swamp is similar to Australia's national capital. We just built Canberra in the middle of a paddock full of crows, miles from anywhere.

I like to think that the only reason that Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming is that this is where the wagon broke down. The real reason that the capital is in the very south east corner of the state is because of the railroads and the influence of cattle ranch owners in the 1800's.

For various reasons, capitols have "moved" from one city to the next- for example, my home state of Pennsylvania. The capital was once Philadelphia, and I believe Pittsburgh was involved somewhere along the line. But, for whatever reason, Harrisburg was chosen to be the capital.

In case anyone is interested, Atlanta was not the capital of Georgia when Sherman's Army burned most of the city during the American Civil War. Milledgeville was! Georgia's first capital was Savannah, then Augusta, Louisville, Milledgeville, and finally in 1868 Atlanta. However, Macon is in the center of the state.