206 articles
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina: city of about 33,800 in Aiken County, near Augusta, Georgia. Known for the Winter Colony resort era, equestrian sports and polo since 1882, Hitchcock Woods, and the nearby Savannah River Site.
Albany, Georgia
Albany, Georgia, is a city in southwest Georgia and the county seat of Dougherty County, founded by Nelson Tift in 1836 as a Flint River cotton port.
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia: independent city in Northern Virginia on the Potomac across from Washington, D.C. Founded 1749 as a tobacco port; part of D.C. 1801-1847; Union supply center in the Civil War; population about 159,467.
Alpharetta, Georgia
Alpharetta, Georgia: a Fulton County city in metro Atlanta, incorporated 1858 as seat of old Milton County, population 65,818 (2020), now a major Southeast technology hub with about 700 tech firms.
Anderson, South Carolina
Anderson, South Carolina: county seat of Anderson County in the state's northwest, on the I-85 corridor between Atlanta and Charlotte. Known as the Electric City for early unlimited electric power; 2020 population 28,106, 2025 estimate 31,323.
Apalachicola
Apalachicola, Florida: Franklin County seat on Apalachicola Bay, once the Gulf's third-largest cotton port and source of 90% of Florida's oysters; bay closed 2020, reopening 2026.
Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville, North Carolina: county seat of Buncombe County, founded 1797 and named for Governor Samuel Ashe, at the French Broad-Swannanoa confluence. Known for Art Deco downtown, Biltmore Estate, healthcare-led economy, and Hurricane Helene recovery since 2024.
Athens, Georgia
Athens, Georgia: consolidated city-county (Athens-Clarke County) in northeast Georgia, home of the University of Georgia (chartered 1785) and the B-52s/R.E.M. music scene; population about 128,600.
Atlanta
Atlanta, capital and largest city of Georgia and seat of Fulton County, founded 1837 as the railroad Terminus. 2020 population 498,715; metro over 6 million; rebuilt after 1864 burning; major Southeast hub facing slowing growth and sprawl limits.
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta, Georgia: consolidated city-county seat of Richmond County on the Savannah River, founded 1736 by Oglethorpe, Georgia's second-largest city (201,999), home of the Masters Tournament and Fort Gordon.
Beaufort, South Carolina
Beaufort, South Carolina: second oldest city in the state, founded 1711 on Port Royal Island; home to a 304-acre National Historic Landmark District, Reconstruction Era National Historical Park, and the Port Royal Experiment; population 13,607 (2020).
Beckley, West Virginia
Beckley, West Virginia: county seat of Raleigh County, founded 1838 by Alfred Beckley, coal-boom commercial hub at I-64/I-77; 17,286 residents in 2020, home of WVU Tech and the Exhibition Coal Mine.
Bessemer, Alabama
Bessemer, Alabama: Jefferson County city southwest of Birmingham, founded 1887 by Henry F. DeBardeleben and named for steel pioneer Sir Henry Bessemer; iron and coal boom town, now about 25,000 residents and site of the $14 billion Project Marvel data center.
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham, Alabama: largest Alabama city regionally, founded 1871 as an iron and steel center, population about 200,000, major civil rights history site, UAB medical and banking hub.
Blacksburg, Virginia
Blacksburg, Virginia: Montgomery County town founded 1798 by William Black on 38 acres, home of Virginia Tech (founded 1872 as a land-grant college); population 44,826 in 2020.
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton, Florida: coastal Palm Beach County city of about 101,600, shaped by architect Addison Mizner's 1920s resort project, the Arvida development era, and Florida Atlantic University.
Boone, North Carolina
Boone, North Carolina: Blue Ridge mountain town, county seat of Watauga County, incorporated 1872, home of Appalachian State University and a fall-leaf tourism economy hit by Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, on the Atlantic coast between West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. Named for Major Nathan S. Boynton, platted by the Deweys in 1898; 2020 population 80,380.
Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton, Florida: county seat of Manatee County on the Manatee River, about 40 miles south of Tampa. Population 55,698 (2020 census), 58,014 (2025 estimate); founded from the 1843 Braden brothers' settlement, incorporated as Bradentown in 1903.
Bristol, Virginia
Bristol, Virginia is an independent city paired with Bristol, Tennessee across a state line running down State Street. Founded as Goodson in 1856, renamed Bristol in 1890, it is the Birthplace of Country Music, site of the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the Smithsonian-affiliated museum.
Brunswick, Georgia
Brunswick, Georgia: coastal city and Glynn County seat, founded 1771, population 15,210 (2020). Home to the Port of Brunswick, the busiest U.S. automobile seaport in 2024 and 2025, and gateway to the Golden Isles.
Cape Coral, Florida
Cape Coral, Florida: a Lee County city founded in 1957 by Jack and Leonard Rosen's Gulf American Land Corporation, incorporated in 1970, with over 400 miles of canals, about 236,000 residents (2025 est.), and heavy flood exposure from Hurricane Ian.
Cartersville, Georgia
Cartersville, Georgia: county seat of Bartow County, about 45 miles northwest of Atlanta on I-75, named for Farish Carter, incorporated 1850, population 23,187 (2020), council-manager government since 1917 with city-owned utilities.
Cary, North Carolina
Cary, North Carolina: a Wake County town southwest of Raleigh, incorporated 1871, population about 192,000, known for Research Triangle proximity, high incomes, greenways, and a 2026 town manager audit.
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Orange County town (partly Durham County), incorporated 1819, population about 63,600, built around the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the first US public university, chartered 1789, opened 1795.
Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is a port city in coastal South Carolina, founded in 1670 as Charles Town and renamed in 1783, where the Civil War's first shots were fired.
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston, West Virginia: state capital and largest city, on the Kanawha River at the Elk River mouth, seat of Kanawha County. Capital since 1870 (except 1875-1885); population 48,864 in 2020.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina (Queen City), largest city in North Carolina and 14th largest in the U.S. with 964,784 residents in 2025; Piedmont commercial hub founded 1768, named for Queen Charlotte, with council-manager government since 1929.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia: independent city and Albemarle County seat founded 1762, named for Queen Charlotte, home of the University of Virginia (1819), population 46,553 in 2020.
Chesapeake, Virginia
Chesapeake, Virginia: independent city in South Hampton Roads formed January 1, 1963 from Norfolk County and South Norfolk; Virginia's second-largest city (255,332 in 2025), 338 sq mi of land, home to much of the Great Dismal Swamp.