New York City was the first capital of the United States under the Constitution, serving from 1789 to 1790.
The new federal government began operating in New York City after the Constitution took effect. George Washington was inaugurated as president at Federal Hall on Wall Street on April 30, 1789. Congress also met there, and the first federal departments began organizing in the city.
New York’s status was temporary. In 1790, the federal government moved to Philadelphia under a compromise connected to the location of a permanent capital on the Potomac River. Philadelphia remained the national capital until 1800, when the government moved to Washington, D.C.
This history can cause confusion because Philadelphia had served as a revolutionary and Confederation-era capital before the Constitution. New York City was specifically the first capital of the constitutional United States. Federal Hall’s site in Lower Manhattan is now commemorated as a national memorial.