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July 16, 1790: How Washington, D.C. Was Founded
Washington, D.C. is not a state, and it has no admission date the way the fifty states do. Its founding traces instead to July 16, 1790, when President George Washington signed the Residence Act, authorizing a permanent federal capital on the Potomac River.
Establishing the District
The Constitution, ratified the year before, called for a federal district under the exclusive control of Congress, separate from any state. The Residence Act put that into practice: Maryland and Virginia ceded land a
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Sep 17th 2026