The Franklin Mint History Of The United States, 1776-1973
Manufacturer
The Franklin Mint
CultureAmerican
DateNo Date
MediumSilver
DimensionsOverall: 1 3/4 in. (45 mm.)
Credit LineGift of Dr. Eugene F. Poutasse
Object number76.81.25
Not on view
DescriptionOne of collection of 200 silver medals.The 1800 medal: Federal Government Moves to Washington D.C
The capital at Washington was to have been ready in ten years but most of the streets drawn by Major L'Enfant were still on paper. A frugal Congress, labor and material shortages had greatly delayed the "Federal City." Stone masons were still at work on the Capitol Building. Although George Washington had laid the cornerstone in 1793, only the North Wing (which now joins the center rotunda to the larger, present North Wing) was completed, and it housed both the Senate and the House of Representatives in addition to the Supreme Court. Fortunately, at that time, the Government had only about 140 men in all.
Houses were scattered over the District, in varying stages of completion. Pennsylvania Avenue, from the damp, unfinished President's House, to the Capitol, was still a causeway across an alder thicket and Tiber Creek. Congressmen and Senators lodged in nearby buildings that served as boarding houses.
The first President to occupy the White House, John Adams, and his wife, Abigail, much preferred the accommodations at their Quincy, Massachusetts home. Gouverneur Morris thought the new Federal City might be all right in the future but he didn't expect to live to see it.
In contrast to the muddled construction of the capital, the transfer of the Government was made in an orderly manner. President Adams advised officers to "make the most prudent and economical arrangements for the removal of the public offices, clerks, and papers...in such manner that the public offices may be opened in the city of Washington by the 15th of June." The President came by carriage from Philadelphia on June 3 to inspect the capital. The executive staff arrived on June 19 and during the following weeks. Philadelphia newspapers had already published their change of address.
