Editing Federal Hall (section)

== First structure ==

In the 17th century, the area north of Wall Street was occupied by John Damen's farm. Damen sold the land in 1685 to captain John Knight, an officer of [[Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick|Thomas Dongan]]'s administration. Knight resold the land to Dongan, and Dongan resold it in 1689 to [[Abraham de Peyster]] and Nicholas Bayard. Both de Peyster and Bayard served as [[List of mayors of New York City|Mayors of New York]].<ref name="nyt19100410">{{cite news|date=April 10, 1910|title=New Bankers' Trust Company Tower Sets Building and Realty Records|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/04/10/102037556.pdf|access-date=April 21, 2020|issn=0362-4331|ref={{harvid|''The New York Times'' April 10, 1910}}|archive-date=March 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328223039/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/04/10/102037556.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

===City Hall===
[[File:The magazine of American history with notes and queries (1877) (14779713662) (cropped).jpg|thumb|Old City Hall with court and jail|left]]
The original structure on the site was built as New York's second City Hall from 1699 to 1703, on [[Wall Street]], in what is today the [[Financial District, Manhattan|Financial District]] of [[Lower Manhattan]].<ref name="Federal Hall National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service) 2015">{{cite web|date=May 30, 2015|title=History & Culture|url=https://www.nps.gov/feha/learn/hc.htm|access-date=February 5, 2021|website=Federal Hall National Memorial (U.S. National Park Service)|archive-date=July 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710112803/https://www.nps.gov/feha/learn/hc.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kobbe p. 100">{{harvnb|Kobbe|1891|ps=.|p=100}}</ref> This structure had been designed by [[James Evetts]] to replace [[Stadt Huys Site|Stadt Huys]], the city's first administrative center.<ref name="Reynolds p. 48">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=48}}</ref> It measured two stories high, with wings extending west and east.<ref name="p1114744928">{{cite news |date=August 28, 1932 |title=Sub-Treasury Site Is Sought For Postoffice: J.J. Kiely, Postmaster Here, Suggests Building Copying Design of Federal Hall |page=A1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1114744928}}}}</ref> The stones from Wall Street's old fortifications were used for City Hall.<ref name="Kobbe p. 100" /> Also housed at City Hall was a public library (which had 1,642 volumes by the year 1730), as well as a firehouse with two fire engines imported from London.<ref name="nyt-1924-07-20">{{Cite news |last=Bent |first=Silas |date=July 20, 1924 |title=Landmark of Wall Street History May Be Razed; Subtreasury Building's End as Home of Money – Exciting Scenes of Which It Was a Centre Are Recalled |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/07/20/archives/landmark-of-wall-street-history-may-be-razed-subtreasury-buildings.html |access-date=May 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220504162448/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/07/20/archives/landmark-of-wall-street-history-may-be-razed-subtreasury-buildings.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The upper stories were used as a [[debtors' prison]].<ref name="p1114744928" />

In 1735, [[John Peter Zenger]], an American newspaper publisher, was arrested for committing libel against the British royal governor and was imprisoned and tried there.<ref name="Kobbe p. 100" /><ref name="Reynolds p. 48" /> His acquittal on the grounds that the material he had printed was true established [[freedom of the press]] as it was later defined in the [[United States Bill of Rights|Bill of Rights]].<ref name="Kobbe p. 100" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/feha/historyculture/the-trial-of-john-peter-zenger.htm|title=The Trial of John Peter Zenger|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=June 7, 2012|archive-date=July 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714223957/http://www.nps.gov/feha/historyculture/the-trial-of-john-peter-zenger.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

City Hall was first remodeled in 1765, when a third story was added.<ref name="p1114744928" /> That October, delegates from nine of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] met as the [[Stamp Act Congress]] in response to the levying of the [[Stamp Act 1765|Stamp Act]] by the [[Parliament of Great Britain]]. Drawn together for the first time in organized opposition to British policy, the attendees drafted a message to [[George III of the United Kingdom|King George III]], the [[House of Lords]], and the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]], claiming entitlement to the same rights as the residents of Britain and protesting the colonies' "[[taxation without representation]]".<ref name="Kobbe p. 100" /><ref name="Reynolds p. 48" /> The [[Sons of Liberty]] took over the building from the British during the [[American Revolutionary War]] in 1775. Afterward, City Hall served as the meeting place for the [[Continental Congress]].<ref name="Reynolds p. 48" />

===Federal Hall===
[[File:Federal Hall, N.Y. 1789 ppmsca.15703.jpg|thumb|right|''Federal Hall, Seat of Congress'', 1790 hand-colored engraving by [[Amos Doolittle]], depicting [[First inauguration of George Washington|Washington's April 30, 1789, inauguration]]]]
After the [[American Revolution]], City Hall was home to the [[Congress of the Confederation]] of the United States under the [[Articles of Confederation]].<ref name="nyt-1924-07-20" /><ref name="Magazine 2020 p. 48">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mwjODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |title=The Encyclopedia of New York |publisher=Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-5011-6696-9 |page=48 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503191243/https://books.google.com/books?id=mwjODwAAQBAJ&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first meeting of the Confederation Congress took place at City Hall on April 13, 1784.<ref name="nyt-1924-07-20" />

==== Design and construction ====
The Congress of the Confederation still needed a permanent structure, and the New York City Council and mayor [[James Duane]] wished for the city to be the United States capital. Private citizens and the government of New York City contributed $65,000 toward the renovation of the old City Hall.<ref name="History in the House 1985 p. 19">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EI9NAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP19 |title=History in the House |publisher=Office for the Bicentennial |year=1985 |pages=19–20 |issue=v. 1 |access-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503191244/https://books.google.com/books?id=EI9NAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP19 |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Patriots]] felt that the building should be remodeled in a distinctively American architectural style while also preserving the pre-colonial structure.<ref name="Reynolds p. 48" /> [[Pierre Charles L'Enfant]], a French architect who had helped the Americans during the Revolutionary War, was selected to remodel the structure.<ref name="Reynolds p. 48" /><ref name="History in the House 1985 p. 19" />

L'Enfant's expansion was characteristic of [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]-style designs, although he used larger proportions, and added American motifs.<ref name="Reynolds p. 51">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=51}}</ref> An arched promenade was built through the street-level basement, with four heavy Tuscan columns supporting a balcony. On balcony level, four high Doric columns were installed, supporting a pediment that depicted an American eagle with thirteen arrows (one for each of the original [[Thirteen Colonies]]).<ref name="History in the House 1985 p. 19" /><ref name="Reynolds p. 51" /><ref name="Kobbe p. 101">{{harvnb|Kobbe|1891|ps=.|p=101}}</ref> L'Enfant also created a recessed [[Long gallery|gallery]] behind the columns, and he placed decorative [[Festoon|swags]] above the second-story windows.<ref name="Reynolds p. 51" /> The ground-story room for the [[United States House of Representatives]] measured {{convert|60|by|60|ft}} across and about two stories high. A smaller room for the [[United States Senate]] was on the second floor.<ref name="History in the House 1985 p. 19" /> L'Enfant's design influenced the development of what later became the [[Federal architecture|Federal style]].<ref name="Reynolds p. 52">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=52}}</ref>

==== Usage ====
[[File:Archibald Robertson - View up Wall Street.jpg|thumb|Archibald Robertson's ''View up Wall Street'' with City Hall (Federal Hall) and [[Trinity Church (Manhattan)|Trinity Church]], New York City, from around 1798|alt=|right]]
The city moved all of its municipal offices out of the building in late 1788, but the [[New York Society Library]]'s 3,500-volume library remained in the building for the time being. Work progressed quickly between September 1788 and March 1789.<ref name="History in the House 1985 p. 19" /> The building was renamed Federal Hall in 1789 when New York was chosen as the nation's first [[seat of government]] under the [[United States Constitution|Constitution]]. The [[1st United States Congress|1st Congress]] met there beginning on March 4, 1789.<ref name="Smith 1889 p. 48">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=T.E.V.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Qn0aC9ZiI4C&pg=PA48|title=The City of New York in the Year of Washington's Inauguration, 1789|publisher=A. D. F. Randolph|year=1889|page=48|access-date=May 2, 2022|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022609/https://books.google.com/books?id=6Qn0aC9ZiI4C&pg=PA48%C2%A0|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[first inauguration of George Washington]], the first-ever inauguration of a [[President of the United States]], occurred on the balcony of the building on April 30, 1789.<ref name="George Washington the President: 1789-1797 1931 p. 9">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HTHfqh2jRQYC&pg=PA9|title=George Washington the President: 1789–1797|publisher=United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission|year=1931|page=9|issue=т. 627, № 14|access-date=February 10, 2021|archive-date=April 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430114124/https://books.google.com/books?id=HTHfqh2jRQYC&pg=PA9|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="United States. Congress 1964 p. 21451">{{cite book|author=United States. Congress|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VPgRPTKrOlwC&pg=PA21451|title=Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|year=1964|page=21451|issue=т. 110, ч. 16|access-date=February 10, 2021|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022609/https://books.google.com/books?id=VPgRPTKrOlwC&pg=PA21451|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Kobbe|1891|ps=.|pp=101, 103}}</ref> Many of the most important legislative actions in the United States occurred with the 1st Congress at Federal Hall. For example, on September 25, 1789, the [[United States Bill of Rights]] was proposed in Federal Hall, establishing the freedoms claimed by the 1765 Stamp Act Congress.<ref name="United States. Congress 1964 p. 21451" /><ref name="Schwartz 1980 p.">{{cite book|last=Schwartz|first=Bernard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JT4oAQAAMAAJ|title=Roots of the Bill of Rights|publisher=Chelsea House|year=1980|isbn=978-0-87754-207-0|page=894|issue=т. 4|access-date=February 10, 2021|archive-date=May 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022609/https://books.google.com/books?id=JT4oAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Judiciary Act of 1789]] was also enacted in the building, setting up the [[United States federal court system]].<ref name="United States. Congress 1964 p. 21451" />

In 1790, the United States capital moved to [[Philadelphia]].<ref name="ABA Journal p. 469">{{cite book |last=Seymour | first=Whitney North Jr. |title=ABA Journal |date=May 1964 |publisher=American Bar Association |isbn= |location= |page=469 |chapter=Dedication of the Bill of Rights Memorial |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pvh0Yfu3fh0C&pg=PA469 |access-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-date=May 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220502022610/https://books.google.com/books?id=pvh0Yfu3fh0C&pg=PA469%C2%A0 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Reynolds p. 53">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=53}}</ref> What had been Federal Hall was turned into quarters for the state assembly and courts.<ref>{{harvnb|Kobbe|1891|ps=.|pp=103–104}}</ref> The Federal Hall building was one of the few structures in the area to survive an 1804 fire that caused $2 million in damage (equivalent to ${{inflation|index=US-GDP|value=2|start_year=1804|fmt=c}} million in {{inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref name="nyt-1924-07-20" /> With the opening of the current [[New York City Hall]] in 1812, the New York City government no longer needed Federal Hall, and the building was demolished.<ref name="Reynolds p. 53" /><ref name="CNN">{{cite web|date=September 5, 2002|title=Inside Politics: Symbolic Site for Congress to Meet|url=http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/05/federal.hall/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171120042511/http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/09/05/federal.hall/index.html|archive-date=November 20, 2017|access-date=August 27, 2019|website=cnn.com}}</ref><ref name="Carmody 1972">{{Cite news|last=Carmody|first=Deirdre|date=October 21, 1972|title=Federal Hall Memorial Is Reopened as Museum|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/21/archives/federal-hall-memorial-is-reopened-as-museum.html|url-status=live|access-date=February 6, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=April 30, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220430114120/https://www.nytimes.com/1972/10/21/archives/federal-hall-memorial-is-reopened-as-museum.html}}</ref> Part of the original railing and balcony floor, where Washington had been inaugurated, is on display in the memorial<ref>{{cite web|title=Inaugural Balcony|url=http://www.nps.gov/feha/historyculture/inaugural-balcony.htm|publisher=[[National Park Service]]|access-date=June 7, 2012|archive-date=July 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120714224009/http://www.nps.gov/feha/historyculture/inaugural-balcony.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and was at one point held by the [[New-York Historical Society]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 20, 1938 |title=Relic of 1789 Used in Honoring Skill; Federal Hall Railing From the First Inaugural Is Background for Building Awards |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/20/archives/relic-of-1789-used-in-honoring-skill-federal-hall-railing-from-the.html |access-date=May 2, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503195536/https://www.nytimes.com/1938/04/20/archives/relic-of-1789-used-in-honoring-skill-federal-hall-railing-from-the.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nassau Street had originally curved around the building to the west, while Broad Street had run to the east.<ref name="nyt-1924-07-20" /><ref name="p129487975">{{cite news |date=September 28, 1914 |title=New York Real Estate in the Financial District: History of the "Streete That Runs by the Pye-woman's" and of the Jog Around Federal Hall |page=8 |work=Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|129487975}}}}</ref> Nassau Street was straightened after the building was demolished, and it runs to the west of the modern Federal Hall National Memorial.<ref name="nyt19100410" />