New York City served as the first U.S. capital under the Constitution, a place associated with the nation’s America250 story.
The new federal government began operating in New York City in 1789. George Washington was inaugurated as the first president at Federal Hall on April 30 of that year. Congress and the Supreme Court also met there during the first years of the constitutional government.
The capital later moved to Philadelphia in 1790 under a political compromise connected with federal assumption of state debts. Philadelphia remained the national capital until 1800, when the government moved to Washington, D.C.
New York City is sometimes mistaken for the capital throughout the early republic because it hosted the first presidential inauguration. The city was the first constitutional capital, but Washington, D.C., became the permanent national capital after construction of the federal district and government buildings.