Jefferson City

Jefferson City, city (1990 pop. 35,481), state capital and seat of Cole co., central Mo., on the south bank of the Missouri River, near the mouth of the Osage; inc. 1825. The state government is the major employer, but the city, with rail and river facilities, is also the commercial and processing center of an agricultural area. Machinery, construction materials, dairy products, furniture, and transportation equipment are produced. It was a small river village when it was chosen (1821) for the state capital; the legislature moved there from St. Charles in 1826. Because of divided loyalties and the difficulties of holding the state in the Union, Jefferson City was occupied by Union troops during the Civil War. The Italian-Renaissance capitol of Carthage marble (completed 1917) contains murals by Thomas Hart Benton and N. C. Wyeth, and is the site of the Missouri state museum. In the city are Lincoln Univ., the state penitentiary, and a national cemetery.

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Jefferson City

City (pop., 2000: 39,636), capital of Missouri, U.S. Located on the Missouri River near the centre of the state, it was selected as the site of the state capital in 1821. Named for Thomas Jefferson, it was incorporated as a town in 1825 and as a city in 1839. Loyalties were divided during the American Civil War, but it remained in the Union. The Capitol, completed in 1918, contains murals by Thomas Hart Benton. It is the trading centre for surrounding farmlands and has diversified manufacturing. Lincoln University was founded there by black veterans of the Union army in 1866.

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Jefferson City

a city in central Missouri, the state capital, on the Missouri River. Pop.: 37 550 (2003 est.)