On July 16, 1790, Congress passed the Residence Act, establishing a permanent capital for the nation at the intersection of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers. Ten square miles of land previously belonging to Maryland and Virginia were named the site for a new city called Washington.
President George Washington appointed Pierre L’Enfant, a French architect, to design the new seat of the United States government. L’Enfant set aside land for the construction of the Capitol Building (home to Congress) and the White House (the President’s residency). Connecting the two important sites is a long, wide avenue named after one of the original thirteen colonies: Pennsylvania. Nowadays, D.C. has a street named after all fifty states and Puerto Rico.
While Washington was founded in 1790, it took time for the construction of the new capital city. It was not until 1800 that Congress moved from their previous location in Philadelphia to their new home on Capitol Hill. Even then, the building was mostly unfinished, as only the north wing was completed. The President’s residency also took time to complete. In fact, George Washington never got to occupy the White House during his presidency, instead living in Manhattan. It was ultimately Washington’s successor, John Adams, who would be the first President to occupy the iconic estate.
Over 230 years after it was established, Washington, D.C. is the seat of American government and the heart of our nation’s politics. Each year, over twenty million Americans travel to the historic city to see monuments, tour government buildings, protest their elected officials, and more.
