New York City served as the first U.S. capital under the Constitution.
The new federal government began operating there on March 4, 1789, under the Constitution. Congress met in Federal Hall on Wall Street, where George Washington took the presidential oath of office on April 30, 1789. The city had already been the temporary capital under the Confederation Congress.
New York’s period as the national capital was brief. The federal government moved to Philadelphia in 1790 under the Residence Act, which selected a permanent capital on the Potomac River. Washington, D.C., became the capital in 1800, after government offices moved into the newly built federal district.
New York’s Federal Hall was later demolished, but the site remains a national memorial. The building is often confused with Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were debated and adopted.