Biography | George Washington — He Took the First Presidential Oath on This Federal Hall Lot

People picture the first inauguration under a dome in Washington.

It happened here, on a balcony facing Wall Street, when New York was still the temporary capital.

On 30 April 1789 George Washington took the presidential oath on the second-floor balcony of Federal Hall, then the meeting place of the First Congress.

Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of New York, administered the oath before a crowd in the street below.

John Adams had already taken the vice-presidential oath. The Senate and House had only reached a quorum on 6 April, which is why the ceremony came so late after the 4 March start of the term.

Washington wore a dark brown suit made in America, white silk stockings, silver buckles, and a steel-hilted sword.

The Bible used that morning came from St. John's Lodge No. 1. It was opened in haste to Genesis 49:13.

After the oath the party went inside to the Senate chamber, where Washington read the first inaugural address to a joint session of Congress.

The building that stood here was the old City Hall, remodeled in 1788 by Pierre L'Enfant and renamed Federal Hall. It was demolished in 1812.

What stands on the same lot at 26 Wall Street is the 1842 Custom House, later the U.S. Subtreasury, now Federal Hall National Memorial.

A fragment of the original balcony floor is displayed inside the rotunda. John Quincy Adams Ward's bronze of Washington marks the street front.

The pin is the right lot. The marble temple is not the hall where the oath was spoken.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Federal Hall National Memorial, public domain and CC-licensed views of the standing building