{"id":4863,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1800ce-may-15--4863","name":"1800 CE, May 15","year":1800,"era":"CE","month":5,"day":15,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1800ce-may-15--4863","iso-date":"1800-05-15","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eJohn Adams, United States' second president, directs his cabinet on May 15, 1800, to relocate from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. and to have all federal offices in operation in the new capital city no later than June 15. \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/05/president-adams-orders-government-moved-to-washington-may-15-1800-106679\u0026text=President%20Adams%20moves%20government%20to%20Washington,%20May%2015,%201800\u0026via=politico\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"X (opens in a new window)\" data-track-link=\"share\" data-share-service=\"twitter\" data-cms-ai=\"0\" class=\"focus:outline-solid inline-block rounded-[50%] focus:outline focus:outline-2 focus:outline-black js-tealium-tracking\" data-v-528ff6ce=\"\" data-tracking=\"mpos=center\u0026mid=ar_body\u0026lindex=59\u0026lcol=\"\u003e\u003c/a\u003eThe order was issued right after Congress adjourned its last meeting in Philadelphia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eAt the time, the entire federal government consisted of about 125 employees. Philadelphia officially ceased to serve as the nation’s capital as of June 11. 1800. The nation’s new capital, Washington D.C., was still under construction, following French architect, Pierre Charles L’Enfant's grand city plan; so Adams and his wife, Abigail, took up temporary residence at Union Tavern in Georgetown. On Nov. 17, Congress convened for the first time at the U.S. Capitol, which had been designed by British-American neoclassical architect, Benjamin Latrobe.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/DAgvMujBQdav7i7RpXb3_John_Adams_%20Second%20US%20President%20-PDR2.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","photo_width":944,"photo_height":584,"created_at":"2026-05-16T12:41:37-07:00","updated_at":"2026-05-16T12:50:00-07:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"May History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"May 15","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-15"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1800ce-may-15--4863#eventK365","name":"1800 CE, May 15","headline":"John Adams, United States\u0026#39; second president, directs his cabinet on May 15, 1800, to relocate from... - 1800 CE","description":"John Adams, United States' second president, directs his cabinet on May 15, 1800, to relocate from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. and to have all federal...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1800ce-may-15--4863","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-05-16T12:41:37-07:00","dateModified":"2026-05-16T12:50:00-07:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://k365fs.imgix.net/DAgvMujBQdav7i7RpXb3_John_Adams_%20Second%20US%20President%20-PDR2.jpg?auto=format,compress\u0026fit=clip\u0026max-w=1600","width":944,"height":584},"temporalCoverage":"1800-05-15","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may","name":"What Happened in May History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/may-15#pageK365","name":"What Happened on May 15"}]}}