Can you name all the US state capitals?

peachy13 · June 2015

I used to know this stuff. Missed Wisconsin and Virginia. And can never remember if Tennessee is Memphis or Nashville. Subject came up when a co-worker asked what the capital of South Dakota was and we had to resort to google.

http://www.sporcle.com/games/g/uscapitals

novella1186 · June 2015

Wow. I forgot a lot of them :S I used to be good at this stuff. Apparently not anymore.

[Deleted User] · June 2015

No. Never had to learn the capitals. Can do the states in alphabetical order and locate them all on map. Not good with the capitals.

lyndausvi · June 2015

Yes. Every few months I go onto sporcle to test my knowledge of the capitals, states, countries and the presidents.

southernbelle0915 · June 2015

No, I cannot name all 50 state capitals. And I don't really care that I can't. (Just being honest.)

I have never once in my life needed to know something like this. This is where I think school curriculum should focus more on stuff you actually need to know (like learning about taxes) and less on pumping kids full of shit that will not enhance their life unless they go to Buffalo Wild Wings trivia night.

[Deleted User] · June 2015

I realized back in 2002 that I missed that information in school. So, on the drive back from a cousin's wedding (Rhode Island to Illinois) my dad and grampa tried to teach me. But they got some wrong, so I learned wrong. I went to sporcle a few times to quiz myself and re-learn. At this point, if I'm going to learn about geography, I'd rather learn to name all the countries of Europe and Asia on a map rather than re-learning the state capitals.

jenna8984 · June 2015

Damn I used to be so good at geography! I got 30 out of 50. However I had about 5 others that I knew but it didn't accept them because I spelled them wrong, such as Annapolis. (I kept doing 1 N). I could have thought of about 5 more if I had more time but there were 10 that I never would have gotten with all the time in the world.

redheadbride15 · June 2015

Man, I forgot how WEIRD some of the state capitals are... tiny little places no one has ever heard of.

lyndausvi · June 2015

adk19 said:

I realized back in 2002 that I missed that information in school. So, on the drive back from a cousin's wedding (Rhode Island to Illinois) my dad and grampa tried to teach me. But they got some wrong, so I learned wrong. I went to sporcle a few times to quiz myself and re-learn. At this point, if I'm going to learn about geography, I'd rather learn to name all the countries of Europe and Asia on a map rather than re-learning the state capitals.

trying being old like me and having to remember that some country names have changed over the years.

NowIamMrsKlein · June 2015

I can name all the Provincial capitals... But then again we only have 10 provinces and 3 territories so that's not really quite the accomplishment.

[Deleted User] · June 2015

lyndausvi said:

adk19 said:

I realized back in 2002 that I missed that information in school. So, on the drive back from a cousin's wedding (Rhode Island to Illinois) my dad and grampa tried to teach me. But they got some wrong, so I learned wrong. I went to sporcle a few times to quiz myself and re-learn. At this point, if I'm going to learn about geography, I'd rather learn to name all the countries of Europe and Asia on a map rather than re-learning the state capitals.

trying being old like me and having to remember that some country names have changed over the years.

That's why I said Europe and Asia rather than Africa. I know in Africa they practically get a new country every year. I tried learning those once, lost cause. When European countries change it's a pretty big deal on American news programs, and it sticks around for a pretty long time.

mileybangerz · June 2015

Why would anyone need this stupid information?

STARMOON44 · June 2015

adk19 said:

lyndausvi said:

adk19 said:

I realized back in 2002 that I missed that information in school. So, on the drive back from a cousin's wedding (Rhode Island to Illinois) my dad and grampa tried to teach me. But they got some wrong, so I learned wrong. I went to sporcle a few times to quiz myself and re-learn. At this point, if I'm going to learn about geography, I'd rather learn to name all the countries of Europe and Asia on a map rather than re-learning the state capitals.

trying being old like me and having to remember that some country names have changed over the years.

That's why I said Europe and Asia rather than Africa. I know in Africa they practically get a new country every year. I tried learning those once, lost cause. When European countries change it's a pretty big deal on American news programs, and it sticks around for a pretty long time.

Wha?????? I mean, learn what you want but Africa does not get a new country every year and it's not that hard to keep track of it you care.

kimmiinthemitten · June 2015

FI is a HS World History teacher and challenges his students to these tests every year. It's amazing how much time a teenager will invest in something like this just to beat their teacher:).

KatWAG · June 2015

Yes, I know all of them. But I lobby state governments so I need to know them.

jenna8984 · June 2015

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

redheadbride15 · June 2015

jenna8984 said:

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

Yeah, and NYC isn't the capital of NY, and LA isn't the capital of CA, and Portland/Oregon, Seattle/WA, Las Vegas/NV, St. Louis/MO, and so forth and so on...

lyndausvi · June 2015

jenna8984 said:

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

You will find a lot of the capitals are in the middle-ish part of the state. They are often picked to be a more neutral place. The southern part of Illinois might feel slighted if the capital was all the way up in big city of Chicago. Chicago doesn't reflect the wants and needs of the entire state.

Same with NY. NYC does not speak for the entire state of NY. Albany is more in the middle-ish. State issues might get lost in the big city so-to-speak.

redheadbride15 · June 2015

lyndausvi said:

jenna8984 said:

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

You will find a lot of the capitals are in the middle-ish part of the state. They are often picked to be a more neutral place. The southern part of Illinois might feel slighted if the capital was all the way up in big city of Chicago. Chicago doesn't reflect the wants and needs of the entire state.

Same with NY. NYC does not speak for the entire state of NY. Albany is more in the middle-ish. State issues might get lost in the big city so-to-speak.

This makes sense to me. But Boston is still the capital of MA (sometimes I think the rest of MA resents that).

lyndausvi · June 2015

redheadbride15 said:

lyndausvi said:

jenna8984 said:

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

You will find a lot of the capitals are in the middle-ish part of the state. They are often picked to be a more neutral place. The southern part of Illinois might feel slighted if the capital was all the way up in big city of Chicago. Chicago doesn't reflect the wants and needs of the entire state.

Same with NY. NYC does not speak for the entire state of NY. Albany is more in the middle-ish. State issues might get lost in the big city so-to-speak.

This makes sense to me. But Boston is still the capital of MA (sometimes I think the rest of MA resents that).

Some of these state capitals were figured out some 200+ years ago. 200 years ago the western part of Mass might not have been much. The majority of the population would have been closer to the coast. Thus making Boston a better choice. Fastword 200+ years, well things change. They are not going to move the state capital.

wandajune6 · June 2015

I used to know them all. In fact, I recently came across my award for reciting them all perfectly in school.

Now, apparently not so much. I got 7 wrong. Should probably give that award back.

teddygirl9 · June 2015

I think my spelling is partly to blame...but I only got 3 haha.

I'm better with canadian =\

arrippa · June 2015

State capitals are an example of my bad learning process. I memorized them enough to pass the test and then promptly forgot them. I didn't actually learn them.

KatWAG · June 2015

redheadbride15 said:

lyndausvi said:

jenna8984 said:

I try to think of all the major airports. And then I'm shocked how many are not the capital....like the airport is in Chicago...why the fuck is Chicago not the capital? lol

You will find a lot of the capitals are in the middle-ish part of the state. They are often picked to be a more neutral place. The southern part of Illinois might feel slighted if the capital was all the way up in big city of Chicago. Chicago doesn't reflect the wants and needs of the entire state.

Same with NY. NYC does not speak for the entire state of NY. Albany is more in the middle-ish. State issues might get lost in the big city so-to-speak.

This makes sense to me. But Boston is still the capital of MA (sometimes I think the rest of MA resents that).

MA is also a much smaller state than IL, CA, WA, FL, etc

VulgarGirl · June 2015

Phoenix is the capital of Arizona.

That's it. That's all I got. And that's cause I live in Phoenix because literally this has never been information I needed in my day to day life.

CMGragain · June 2015

@ lyndausvi and adk 19, I knew we had a lot in common! I put myself to sleep by reciting states and capitols, and if that doesn't work, I think of European, Asian and African countries. It's better than counting sheep. African countries were hardest for me to learn, since they have changed so much since I was in elementary school.

melbenso · July 2015

What I think of to name the state capitols:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Indianapolis, Indiana
And Columbus is the capital of Ohio
There's Montgomery, Alabama, south of Helena, Montana
Then there's Denver, Colorado, under Boise, Idaho.

Texas has Austin, then we go north
To Massachusetts' Boston, and Albany, New York
Tallahassee, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Nashville, Tennessee.

(Elvis used to hang out there a lot, ya know.)

Trenton's in New Jersey, north of Jefferson, Missouri
You've got Richmond in Virginia; South Dakota has Pierre
Harrisburg's in Pennsylvania and Augusta's up in Maine
And here is Providence, Rhode Island, next to Dover, Delaware.

Concord, New Hampshire, just a quick jaunt
To Montpelier, which is up in Vermont
Hartford's in Connecticut, so pretty in the fall
And Kansas has Topeka; Minnesota has St Paul.

Juneau's in Alaska and there's Lincoln in Nebraska
And it's Raleigh out in North Carolina and then
There's Madison, Wisconsin, and Olympia in Washington
Phoenix, Arizona, and Lansing, Michigan.

Here's Honolulu; Hawaii's a joy
Jackson, Mississippi, and Springfield, Illinois
South Carolina with Columbia down the way
And Annapolis in Maryland on Chesapeake Bay.

(They have wonderful clam chowder.)

Cheyenne is in Wyomin' and perhaps you make your home in
Salt Lake City out in Utah, where the Buffalo roam
Atlanta's down in Georgia, and there's Bismarck, North Dakota
And you can live in Frankfort in your old Kentucky home.

Salem in Oregon; from there we join
Little Rock in Arkansas; Iowa's got Des Moines
Sacramento, California; Oklahoma and its City
Charleston, West Virginia, and Nevada, Carson City.

That's all the capitals there are!

ETA:
https://youtu.be/eAII411eqPg

huskypuppy14 · July 2015

I got 41/50, but I'm kicking myself I couldn't think of Santa Fe. I literally could not think of a city in New Mexico. I also couldn't think of Indianapolis, or Springfield, duh!

kvruns · July 2015

So I know this isn't quite the same but I just had a coworker send me an email that said "client has an employee with a dependent who was born in Alaska and from what they can find out the member is unable to get a social here in the states".

Errrrrr Alaska is part of the US?! There are some special social security programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives but that didn't quite mesh with her question. Hmmm

jenna8984 · July 2015

huskypuppy14 said:

I got 41/50, but I'm kicking myself I couldn't think of Santa Fe. I literally could not think of a city in New Mexico. I also couldn't think of Indianapolis, or Springfield, duh!

@huskypuppy14 My company has an office in Albuquerque so I just kept typing that over and over thinking I spelled it wrong. I was like "but there is no other city in NM!" lol

[Deleted User] · July 2015

kvruns said:
So I know this isn't quite the same but I just had a coworker send me an email that said "client has an employee with a dependent who was born in Alaska and from what they can find out the member is unable to get a social here in the states".

Errrrrr Alaska is part of the US?! There are some special social security programs for American Indians and Alaska Natives but that didn't quite mesh with her question. Hmmm

Probably just as hard as getting a BC from a military base in Japan.

Can you name all the US state capitals?

Re: Can you name all the US state capitals?

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