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.