4. Federal Hall

The murder trial of Levi Weeks, who was defended by Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton and which is mentioned in “Non-Stop,” was held in the original City Hall, now the site of Federal Hall. It was also the first U.S. Capitol Building and would have been the location for debates regarding Hamilton’s debt plan in Cabinet Battle #1, and the initial meeting between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison when Jefferson first arrived in New York in “What’d I Miss” could have happened here.

The original building was built in 1700 as New York’s City Hall and housed the Continental Congress following the American Revolution (1785-1789). The building was enlarged and renamed Federal Hall when it became the nation’s first Capitol under the new Constitution in 1789, and Congress held their initial meeting there on March 4, 1789. George Washington took his oath as the first U.S. president on the building’s balcony on April 30, 1789.  After the government moved to Philadelphia in 1790, the building again housed the New York City government until it was razed in 1812.

The current structure was built in 1842 as the first Customs House. It was designated as Federal Hall National Memorial in 1939. Congress convened in the building in September 2002 (the first time since 1790) to show support for New York following 9/11.

Continue on for more locations and get the book Where Was the Room Where It Happened? The Unofficial Hamilton: An American Musical Location Guide for even more. Get tickets to Hamilton here.