This is a list of U.S. states
by date of statehood. It has the date when each U.S. state joined the Union.
However, Virginia's peoples' convention in May-June 1776 prepared the first
Constitution for a State Government, plus a Declaration of Rights. Other Colonies
became States in late 1776 and into 1777 and used Virginia's Declaration of
Rights as a pattern for their own Declaration. In the 1778 Articles of
Confederation, which formed the first national government, it specified the
name of the country as "The United States of America", stating
"Each State retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every
power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly
delegated." It also stated "Articles of Confederation and perpetual
Union between the States or a Union of State Legislatures. The first 13 States
thus were in this Union from 1778 to 1789, when the second national government
was established by a Constitution, which, in list of purposes, "in order
to form a more perfect Union". This does not make the States enter the
Union only when it ratified the U.S. Constitution.
# State Date joined Colony Founded/What it was called before becoming a state
1 Delaware Friday, December 7, 1787 ‡ Founded 1638 by New Sweden Company /
Province of Delaware
2 Pennsylvania Wednesday,
December 12, 1787 ‡ Founded 1682 by
William Penn / Lower Counties on Pensylvania
3 New Jersey Tuesday, December 18, 1787 ‡ Founded 1664 by Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret / Province
of New Jersey
4 Georgia Wednesday,
January 2, 1788 ‡ Founded 1732 by
James Oglethorpe / Province of Georgia
5 Connecticut Wednesday,
January 9, 1788 ‡ Founded 1636 by
Thomas Hooker / Connecticut Colony
6 Massachusetts Wednesday, February 6, 1788 ‡ Founded 1620 by Puritans / Province of Massachusetts Bay
7 Maryland Monday,
April 28, 1788 ‡ Founded
1633 by Lord Baltimore / Province of Maryland
8 South Carolina Friday, May 23, 1788 ‡ Founded
1663 by Nobles with Royal Carhter / Province of South Carolina
9 New Hampshire Saturday, June 21, 1788 ‡ Founded 1638 by John Mason / Province
of New Hampshire
10 Virginia Wednesday,
June 25, 1788 ‡ Founded 1697 by
London Company / Virginia Colony
11 New York Saturday,
July 26, 1788 ‡ Founded
1626 by Duke of York / Province of New York
12 North Carolina Saturday, November 21, 1789 ‡ Founded 1653 by Virginians / Province of North Carolina
13 Rhode Island Saturday, May 29, 1790 ‡ Founded 1636 by Roger Williams /
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations
14 Vermont Friday,
March 4, 1791 Province of
New York & New Hampshire Grants (ownership disputed), Vermont Republic
15 Kentucky Friday,
June 1, 1792 Virginia
Colony
16 Tennessee Wednesday,
June 1, 1796 Province of North
Carolina, Southwest Territory
17 Ohio Tuesday,
March 1, 1803* Northwest
Territory
18 Louisiana Thursday,
April 30, 1813 Orleans
Territory
19 Indiana Wednesday,
December 11, 1816 Indiana Territory
20 Mississippi Wednesday,
December 10, 1817 Mississippi Territory
21 Illinois Thursday,
December 3, 1818 Illinois Territory
22 Alabama Tuesday,
December 14, 1819 Alabama Territory
23 Maine Wednesday,
March 15, 1820 Massachusetts
24 Missouri Friday,
August 10, 1821 Missouri
Territory
25 Arkansas Wednesday,
June 15, 1836 Arkansas Territory
26 Michigan Thursday,
January 26, 1837 Michigan Territory
27 Florida Monday,
March 3, 1845 Florida Territory
28 Texas Monday,
December 29, 1845 Republic of Texas
29 Iowa Monday,
December 28, 1846 Iowa Territory
30 Wisconsin Monday,
May 29, 1848 Wisconsin
Territory
31 California Monday,
September 9, 1850 California
Republic, Mexican Cession, Alta California
32 Minnesota Tuesday,
May 11, 1858 Minnesota
Territory
33 Oregon Monday,
February 14, 1859 Oregon Territory
34 Kansas Tuesday,
January 29, 1861 Kansas Territory
35 West Virginia Saturday,
June 20, 1863 Virginia
36 Nevada Monday,
October 31, 1864 Nevada Territory
37 Nebraska Friday,
March 1, 1867 Nebraska
Territory
38 Colorado Tuesday,
August 1, 1876 Colorado
Territory
39 † North Dakota Saturday,
November 2, 1889 Dakota Territory
40 † South Dakota Saturday,
November 2, 1889 Dakota Territory
41 Montana Friday,
November 8, 1889 Montana
Territory
42 Washington Monday, November 11, 1889 Part of Oregon Territory, became Washington
Territory on March 2, 1853
43 Idaho Thursday,
July 3, 1890 Idaho
Territory
44 Wyoming Thursday,
July 10, 1890 Wyoming
Territory
45 Utah Saturday,
January 4, 1896 Utah Territory
46 Oklahoma Saturday,
November 16, 1907 Oklahoma Territory
& Indian Territory
47 New Mexico Saturday,
January 6, 1912 New Mexico
Territory
48 Arizona Wednesday,
February 14, 1912 Arizona Territory
49 Alaska Saturday,
January 3, 1959 Alaska Territory
50 Hawaii Friday,
August 21, 1959 Kingdom of
Hawaii
Legend
‡ Date ratified United States
Constitution.
*Congress extended federal
laws to Ohio on February 19, 1803, but no formal date of statehood was set by
the act of admission or a later resolution, as occurred with all other new
states. On August 7, 1953, Congress passed a law retroactively making Ohio a
state as of March 1, 1803, the date when Ohio's first legislature convened.
† The actual statehood
proclamations for North and South Dakota were intentionally shuffled so that no
one actually knows which was admitted first. However, North Dakota's was
published first in the Statutes at Large (since it is first in the alphabet);
hence, it is considered admitted first by most sources (including the US Mint
50 State Quarters program).
State Date
of Statehood
Alabama December 14, 1819
Alaska January 03, 1959
Arizona February 14, 1912
Arkansas June 15, 1836
California September 09, 1850
Colorado August 01, 1876
Connecticut January 09, 1788
Delaware December 07, 1787
Florida March 03, 1845
Georgia January 02, 1788
Hawaii August 21, 1959
Idaho July 03, 1890
Illinois December 03, 1818
Indiana December 11, 1816
Iowa December 28, 1846
Kansas January 29, 1861
Kentucky June 01, 1792
Louisiana April 30, 1812
Maine March 15, 1820
Maryland April 28, 1788
Massachusetts February 06, 1788
Michigan January 26, 1837
Minnesota May 11, 1858
Mississippi December 10, 1817
Missouri August 10, 1821
Montana November 08, 1889
Nebraska March 01, 1867
Nevada October 31, 1864
New Hampshire June 21, 1788
New Jersey December 18, 1787
New Mexico January 06, 1912
New York July 26, 1788
North Carolina November 21, 1789
North Dakota November 02, 1889
Ohio March 01, 1803
Oklahoma November 16, 1907
Oregon February 14, 1859
Pennsylvania December 12, 1787
Rhode Island May 29, 1790
South Carolina May 23, 1788
South Dakota November 02, 1889
Tennessee June 01, 1796
Texas December 29, 1845
Utah January 04, 1896
Vermont March 04, 1791
Virginia June 25, 1788
Washington November 11, 1889
West Virginia June 20, 1863
Wisconsin May 29, 1848
Wyoming July 10, 1890
(Family Roots & Branches)
