Adams Moves to the White House
- When
- 1797–1801
- Where
- White House (Executive Mansion), Washington, D.C.; President's House, Philadelphia; White House, Washington, D.C.
- Episodes
- 3
On Saturday, November 1, 1800, President John Adams became the first president to occupy the White House, moving from the President's House in Philadelphia after the national capital relocated to Washington, D.C. He lived there only briefly before Thomas Jefferson took up residence in 1801.
Episodes
- Adams leaves the Philadelphia President's House
Adams had occupied the High Street mansion in Philadelphia from March 1797 to May 1800 before moving to the new capital.
- Adams becomes first president to occupy the White House
On Saturday, November 1, 1800, John Adams became the first president to take residence in the White House, arriving from Philadelphia.
- Jefferson moves into the White House in 1801
Adams lived in the house only briefly before Thomas Jefferson moved into the 'pleasant country residence' in 1801.
Background and detail
Background. After his inauguration in 1789, George Washington occupied private houses in New York City, then moved to Philadelphia in 1790, where the national capital remained through 1800. Washington occupied the Robert Morris mansion on High Street from November 1790 to March 1797, and Adams continued there from March 1797 to May 1800.
The Move-In. Although not yet completed, the White House was ready for occupancy circa November 1, 1800. On that Saturday, Adams, who had been residing at the President's House in Philadelphia, became the first president to take residence in the building, which has housed every president since.
Aftermath. Adams lived in the house only briefly. Thomas Jefferson moved into what he called the "pleasant country residence" in 1801, and he and architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe later added low colonnades on each wing to conceal stables and storage.
People involved
- John Adams · Second president of the United States; first president to occupy the White House
- Thomas Jefferson · Successor president who moved into the White House in 1801
- George Washington · Predecessor president who never lived in the White House; occupied executive mansions in New York and Philadelphia
Sources
- White House Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.