George Washington took the presidential oath at Federal Hall in New York City during America’s first inauguration.
The ceremony took place on April 30, 1789, on the building’s second-floor balcony, where Chancellor of New York Robert Livingston administered the oath. Crowds gathered in the streets to watch Washington become the first president under the Constitution.
Federal Hall was then the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the nation’s first seat of government under the Constitution. Congress had begun meeting there on March 4, although administrative delays meant that Washington’s inauguration occurred nearly two months into the presidential term.
The original Federal Hall was demolished in 1812. The present Federal Hall National Memorial stands on the site at Wall Street and commemorates Washington’s inauguration and other early federal events. The White House did not yet exist, and Washington lived in New York before the capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790.