US States: Classified (2)

This page lists the fifty US states, in the order in which they joined the Union. There are two reasons for presenting the states in this order, as well as in alphabetical order – as they are on the page entitled US States: Classified (1): firstly because the order in which they joined the union is a subject in its own right, and secondly, if the answer to a question is the name of a state, it might help you to test yourself if the states are not listed alphabetically.

The other page – US States: Classified (1) – gives the capital cities, largest cities (where different), official and license plate nicknames, and the date on which they joined the Union (with their associated ordinal numbers). This page, as well as the dates of joining and the ordinal numbers, also gives the 'official' nicknames, and the largest cities. This is because in quizzes, you're more likely to be given these details, and asked to name the state, than the other way round. In other words, the answer to the question is the name of the state (as explained above).

In respect of the order the states joined the Union, I think it's fair to say that you're most likely to get asked about the first few and the last few. The ones in the middle are included for completeness – not least because of the inclusion of the Nickname and Largest City columns.

Where there is no official state nickname, according to Wikipedia, this page gives the one that I reckon to be the best known, and hence the most likely to be asked in a quiz.

Where the Largest City column includes '(C)', this means that the largest city is also the capital city of the state concerned.

The original thirteen

No.		Nickname		Largest City		Name	Date joined
1		First State		Wilmington		Delaware	7 December 1787
2		Keystone State		Philadelphia		Pennsylvania	12 December 1787
3		Garden State		Newark		New Jersey	18 December 1787
4		Peach State		Atlanta (C)		Georgia	2 January 1788
5		Constitution State		Bridgeport		Connecticut	9 January 1788
6		Bay State		Boston (C)		Massachusetts	6 February 1788
7		Old Line State		Annapolis (C)		Maryland	28 April 1788
8		Palmetto State		Columbia (C)		South Carolina	23 May 1788
9		Granite State		Manchester		New Hampshire	21 June 1788
10		Old Dominion		Norfolk		Virginia	26 June 1788
11		Empire State		New York City		New York	26 July 1788
12		Tar Heel State		Charlotte		North Carolina	21 November 1789
13		Ocean State		Providence (C)		Rhode Island	29 May 1790

1791–6

14		Green Mountain State		Burlington		Vermont	4 Mar 1791
15		Bluegrass State		Louisville		Kentucky	1 June 1792
16		Volunteer State		Memphis		Tennessee	1 June 1796

Nineteenth century

17		Buckeye State		Columbus (C)		Ohio	1 March 1803
18		Pelican State		New Orleans		Louisiana	30 April 1812
19		Hoosier State		Indianapolis (C)		Indiana	11 December 1816
20		Magnolia State		Jackson (C)		Mississippi	10 December 1817
21		Prairie State		Chicago		Illinois	3 December 1818
22		Heart of Dixie		Birmingham		Alabama	14 December 1819
23		Pine Tree State		Portland		Maine	15 March 1820
24		Show Me State		St. Louis		Missouri	10 August 1821
25		Natural State		Little Rock (C)		Arkansas	15 June 1836
26		Wolverine State		Detroit		Michigan	26 January 1837
27		Sunshine State		Jacksonville		Florida	3 March 1845
28		Lone Star State		Houston		Texas	29 December 1845
29		Hawkeye State		Des Moines (C)		Iowa	28 December 1846
30		Badger State		Milwaukee		Wisconsin	29 May 1848
31		Golden State		Los Angeles		California	9 Sep 1850
32		North Star State		Minneapolis		Minnesota	11 May 1858
33		Beaver State		Portland		Oregon	14 February 1859
34		Sunflower State		Wichita		Kansas	29 January 1861
35		Mountain State		Charleston (C)		West Virginia	20 June 1863
36		Silver State		Las Vegas		Nevada	31 October 1864
37		Cornhusker State		Omaha		Nebraska	1 March 1867
38		Centennial State		Denver (C)		Colorado	1 August 1876
39		Peace Garden State		Fargo		North Dakota	2 November 1889
40		Mount Rushmore State		Sioux Falls		South Dakota	2 November 1889
41		Treasure State		Billings		Montana	8 November 1889
42		Evergreen State		Seattle		Washington	11 November 1889
43		Gem State		Boise (C)		Idaho	3 July 1890
44		Equality State		Cheyenne (C)		Wyoming	10 July 1890
45		Beehive State		Salt Lake City (C)		Utah	4 January 1896

Twentieth century

46		Sooner State		Oklahoma City (C)		Oklahoma	16 November 1907
47		Land of Enchantment		Albuquerque		New Mexico	6 January 1912
48		Grand Canyon State		Phoenix (C)		Arizona	14 February 1912
49		The Last Frontier		Anchorage		Alaska	3 January 1959
50		Aloha State		Honolulu (C)		Hawaii	21 August 1959

© Haydn Thompson 2021