New York City served as the United States capital from 1789 to 1790, during America250's founding era.
The first federal government under the Constitution began in New York City in 1789. Federal Hall on Wall Street was the site where George Washington took the presidential oath of office on April 30, 1789, making the city the setting for the new constitutional government’s launch.
Congress later agreed to move the capital to Philadelphia for ten years while a permanent site on the Potomac River was developed. Philadelphia became the temporary capital in 1790, and the federal government moved to Washington, D.C., in 1800.
New York City was not the only important revolutionary-era seat of government. The Continental Congress met in several cities, including Philadelphia, Baltimore, Lancaster, York, Princeton, Annapolis, and Trenton. Those temporary wartime locations are why “first capital” can be misleading unless the question specifies the government established by the Constitution.