Under the Residence Act of 1790 (which established the District of Columbia), the Commissioners of the District of Columbia were given the power to oversee the establishment and operation of all public lands within the new federal reservation.
Numerous locations were offered by the states to serve as the nation's capital, including: Kingston, New York; Nottingham Township in New Jersey; Annapolis; Williamsburg, Virginia; Wilmington, Delaware; Reading, Pennsylvania; Germantown, Pennsylvania; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; New York City; Philadelphia; and Princeton; among others.
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The 1st United States Congress agreed to the compromise, which narrowly passed as the Residence Act.
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The Residence Act of 1790 required that the capital's territory would be located along the Potomac River within an area that Maryland and Virginia would cede to the federal government, but permitted the nation's first president, George Washington to select the territory's precise location.