Philadelphia served as the temporary U.S. capital from 1790 to 1800 during America’s founding era.
The federal government moved there from New York City under the Residence Act of 1790. Philadelphia remained the national capital for a decade while Washington, D.C., was being planned and developed on the Potomac River.
Philadelphia had already played a central role in the Revolution. The Second Continental Congress met there, the Declaration of Independence was adopted at the Pennsylvania State House, and the Constitutional Convention assembled there in 1787.
Washington, D.C., became the permanent capital in 1800. Philadelphia is therefore sometimes called an early or temporary capital, while New York City was the first capital under the Constitution from 1789 to 1790.