New York City was the first U.S. capital under the Constitution, before the federal government moved to Washington, D.C.
The new federal government began operating in New York City in 1789. George Washington was inaugurated as the first president at Federal Hall on Wall Street on April 30 of that year. Congress and the first Supreme Court also conducted their early constitutional business there.
The capital moved temporarily to Philadelphia in 1790 under the Residence Act. Philadelphia served as the national capital for a decade while the permanent federal district on the Potomac River was planned and developed.
Washington, D.C., became the permanent capital in 1800. The sequence is sometimes confused with the earlier Continental Congress, which used several meeting places before the Constitution. New York City’s importance here specifically concerns the government created under the Constitution, making it part of the broader founding story connected with America250.