Wall and Nassau Sts., New York, New York. County/parish: New York.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places October 15, 1966. NRIS 66000095.
1 contributing building.Also known as:
Federal Hall was the first capitol building of the United States established under the Constitution. Serving as the meeting place of the First United States Congress and the site of George Washington's first presidential inauguration, the building was located at the intersection of Wall and Broad streets in Lower Manhattan, New York City, from 1703 to 1812. The site is occupied by the Federal Hall National Memorial, a Greek Revival–style building completed in 1842 as the Federal Custom House (subsequently known then as the U.S. Subtreasury), 26 Wall Street in the Financial District of Manhattan. The National Park Service now operates the building as a national memorial commemorating the historic events that occurred at Federal Hall.
The original structure on the site was built as New York's second city hall from 1699 to 1703. The building hosted the 1765 Stamp Act Congress before the American Revolution. After the United States became an independent nation, it served as the meeting place for the Congress of the Confederation, the nation's first central government under the Articles of Confederation, from 1785 to 1789, and the building was expanded and updated. With the establishment of the United States federal government in 1789, it hosted the 1st Congress and the inauguration of George Washington as the nation's first president. It was demolished in 1812.
The current structure, designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, was built as New York's U.S. Custom House, before serving as a Subtreasury building from 1862 to 1925. The memorial is constructed of Tuckahoe marble. Its architectural features include a colonnade of Doric columns, in addition to a domed rotunda designed by the sculptor John Frazee. Outside the building is a statue of George Washington by John Quincy Adams Ward. The facade and part of the interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the building is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319479