Federal Hall National Memorial

This was the site of New York City's 18th-century City Hall. The original building was constructed between 1699 and 1703 on the site of the current Federal Hall National Memorial (26 Wall Street, at the junction of Wall, Broad and Nassau streets). The land was donated by Abraham de Peyster, New York mayor. The building was the seat of the British government of the City of New York.

After the Independence War (1775–83), New York was established as the capital of the United States of America. The Constitution was ratified in 1788, New York was the national capital and the City Hall was remodeled in 1789-1790 by Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, for the new Federal Hall, the first Capitol of the United States. On April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated here as the first President of the U.S.A.

In 1790, the country's capital was transferred to Philadelphia and the building became the city government until 1812, when the new City Hall was opened. The old City Hall building on Wall Street was sold at auction on May 13, 1812. It was in dilapidated condition and was demolished by August, the same year.

A new building, three stories high, was erected on the site in 1813-1814 as a book store and literary room for the Eastburn, Kirk & Co., a publishing company, which sold the property to the United States government for a custom house on December 2, 1816.

The current building at 26 Wall Street was erected, between 1834 and 1841 (opened in 1842), for the Custom House. Its design was inspired by the Parthenon of Athens. In 1863, the building housed the US Sub-Treasury. In 1883, the life-size bronze statue of George Washington, by the sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward, was unveiled on its steps. In 1939, the building was designated as the Federal Hall Memorial.