Why visit
Federal Hall National Memorial occupies the Wall Street site of New York's colonial city hall and the first federal capitol under the Constitution. George Washington took the oath as the first president on its balcony on April 30, 1789, while the new Congress met inside and established machinery for the national government.
What to see
The original Federal Hall was demolished in 1812. The present Greek Revival structure opened in 1842 as the United States Custom House, later serving as the Sub-Treasury, whose vaults held gold and silver until that system ended in 1920. Its broad steps, Doric columns and domed rotunda express a different era from the lost capitol.
Plan your visit
Exhibits interpret both buildings and the political events associated with the site. A preserved fragment of Washington's inaugural balcony stands in the rotunda, and displays address the oath, the first Congress and later financial uses, placing the monument between constitutional history and the institutions of modern Wall Street.
