Chapter II: Establishment of the Temporary and Permanent Seats of Government

The House of Representatives had proposed a bill naming Baltimore as the site, but the Senate struck out this provision, and on July 1, 1790, voted 14 to 12 for the Potomac River site between the mouth of the Eastern Branch and the Connogochegue, a tributary of the Potomac, 20 miles south of the Pennsylvania State line. The bill which became a law July 16, 1790, reads as follows:

An Act for establishing the temporary and permanent seat of the
Government of the United States