In 1779 some of the members of Congress talked of buying a few square miles near Princeton, New Jersey, as a site for the government's permanent home. Four years later, the trustees of Kingston, New York, sought to interest Congress in that location. In 1783 Annapolis, Maryland, offered the State House and public circle to "the Honorable Congress" for their use. Burlington, New Jersey, also entered the lists, while in June, 1783, Virginia offered the town of Williamsburg to Congress and proposed to "present the palace, the capitol, and all the public buildings and 300 acres of land adjoining the said city, together with a sum of money not exceeding 100,000 pounds, this state currency to be expended in erecting thirteen hotels for the use of the delegates in Congress."
In October, 1784, Congress decided to place the capital near Trenton, New Jersey. Later it was decided to have a second capital on the Potomac, Congress to alternate between the two locations.
Neither Congress nor the country was satisfied with this solution of the difficulty. After years of discussion, in September, 1789, one house of Congress fixed on the Falls of the Susquehanna in Pennsylvania as the permanent site. The Senate amended their proposal by suggesting Germantown, Pennsylvania.
This action was reconsidered and a long dispute followed. Finally, in 1790, the site on the Potomac was selected, and Congress was ready to provide for the building of "a palace in the woods."
President Washington and Vice-President Adams disagreed as to the location of the Capitol building. John Adams wished to see it the centre of a quadrangle of other public buildings, but Washington urged that Congress should meet in a building at a distance from the President's house and all other public buildings, that the lawmakers might not be annoyed by the executive officers.
The invitation to architects to present plans for the Capitol was made in March, 1792, five hundred dollars being promised for the best plan. None of the sixteen designs submitted were approved. Later two men, Stephen L. Hallet and Dr. William Thornton, offered such good plans that it was not easy to decide between them. The difficulty was solved by acceptance of Thornton's design and the engagement of Hallet as supervising architect at a salary of two thousand dollars a year. This arrangement was not satisfactory; it became necessary to replace Hallet first by George Hadfield, then by James Hoban, the architect of the White House. Under his charge the north wing was completed in 1800.
The proceeds from the sale of lots in the new city proved woefully inadequate for the expenses of the building. Congress authorized a loan of eight hundred thousand dollars, but this loan could not be disposed of until Maryland agreed to take two-thirds of the amount, on condition that the commissioners in charge of the work add their personal guarantee to the government's promise to pay.
Congress was called to hold its first meeting in the Capitol north wing on November 17, 1800. A few months earlier the government archives had been moved from New York. These were packed in ten or twelve boxes, and were shipped on a packet boat, by sea. The arrival of the vessel was greeted by the three thousand citizens of Washington, who rang bells, cheered, and fired an old cannon in celebration of the event.
At that time the foundation for the dome had been laid, and the walls of the south wing had been begun. Later a temporary brick building was erected for the House, on a portion of the site of the south wing. The legislators called the building "The Oven."
The south wing was completed under the guidance of Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who also reconstructed the north wing and connected the two wings by a wooden bridge. That the building was far from satisfactory is evident from an article in the National Intelligencer of December 2, 1813, which spoke with disgust of the wooden passageway as well as of the piles of débris on every hand.