Jefferson City, city on the Missouri River, in the central part of Missouri, capital of Missouri and seat of Cole County, also in Callaway County. The state government is the chief employer. The city is a trade and distribution center for an agricultural region and has a variety of manufacturing industries. Products include cosmetics, fabricated metal, electrical equipment, and printed materials. Points of interest include the State Capitol (dedicated 1924), containing noted murals by Thomas Hart Benton and Sir Frank Brangwyn; the large Fountain of Centaurs, designed by Adolph A. Weinman and situated on the Capitol grounds; the Governor's Mansion; and the Cole County Historical Society Museum. The city is the seat of Lincoln University, founded in 1866 by black veterans of the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Lake of the Ozarks and Rockbridge State Park are nearby.
The area of Jefferson City was explored by members of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804, but permanent white settlement did not occur until 1821, when the federal government granted land for the state capital. Daniel Morgan Boone, the son of the famous frontiersman, laid out the community, which is named for United States President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809). The first Capitol building, completed in 1826, burned in 1837; its replacement also was destroyed by fire in 1911. The city was incorporated in 1839. Jefferson City remained in the Union during the American Civil War despite widespread sympathies for the Confederacy among its citizens. The city's economy grew with the expansion of state government after 1900; its chief development as a manufacturing center dates from the 1960s. Jefferson City suffered extensive damage in the great floods of 1993. Population 33,619 (1980); 35,481 (1990); 34,911 (1998 estimate).
