The Maiden Lane Dinner That Moved the Capital (1790)
Jefferson's house · 57 Maiden Lane
In Hamilton's day
Congress was deadlocked over Hamilton's plan for the federal government to assume state debts. At a dinner at Jefferson's rented house, Hamilton, Jefferson and Madison reached a bargain: assumption would pass, and the permanent capital would go south to the Potomac.
The government moved to Philadelphia at the end of 1790. Hamilton served there until January 1795, then returned to New York and the law.
Visiting today
57 Maiden Lane is an office block. A plaque-hunter's stop only, but it puts you in the middle of the Financial District walk.
Nearby in Hamilton's day
- Battle of Golden Hill1770
January 1770 street fight between British soldiers and Sons of Liberty over the Liberty Pole.
- Livingston Sugar House prison1776
A sugar warehouse on Liberty Street where the British held captured American soldiers.
- Madison's boardinghouse1787
James Madison lodged here on Maiden Lane while writing The Federalist with Hamilton and John Jay.
- John Street Theatre1767
The city's main playhouse in Hamilton's day. President Washington attended performances here.
- Hercules Mulligan's shop1772
Tailor and Son of Liberty. Hamilton lodged with Mulligan when he first arrived; Mulligan later spied for Washington.
- New-York Evening Post1801
Hamilton raised the money to found the Evening Post in 1801 as a Federalist newspaper. It still publishes today as the New York Post.