For America250, which city hosted the first session of the U.S. Congress in 1789?

New York City hosted the first session of the United States Congress in 1789.

The First Congress met at Federal Hall in Lower Manhattan beginning on March 4, 1789. This was the first Congress operating under the Constitution, and George Washington was inaugurated nearby on April 30.

Congress later moved to Philadelphia in 1790, following the Compromise of 1790, and eventually settled in Washington, D.C. The capital's location is therefore often confused with the location of the first federal government under the Constitution.

Federal Hall was demolished in 1812, but the Federal Hall National Memorial now marks the site. The building's location connects the early republic's legislative, executive, and financial history in one place.