New York City was the first capital of the United States under the Constitution.
Congress made New York the national capital in January 1785, while the country still operated under the Articles of Confederation. After the Constitution took effect in 1789, the city continued in that role. Federal Hall on Wall Street hosted George Washington’s first presidential inauguration on April 30, 1789, and the first United States Congress met there.
New York’s time as the federal capital was brief. The Residence Act of 1790 selected a permanent capital on the Potomac River and designated Philadelphia as the temporary national capital. The federal government moved from New York to Philadelphia in 1790, then to Washington, D.C., in 1800.
A common mix-up is calling Philadelphia the first constitutional capital. Philadelphia was an important revolutionary and early federal meeting place, but New York City was the first capital under the new Constitution.