What city was the capital of the U.S. for only one day?
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Baltimore, Maryland
York, Pennsylvania
Princeton, New Jersey
If you’ve ever visited Lancaster, Pennsylvania, you probably recall it as a pleasant mid-sized city in the heart of Amish country. What you might not know is that the city served as the capital of the United States for a single day. As British troops advanced on Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress was forced to flee the city. They packed their bags and headed sixty miles west to Lancaster. On September 27th, 1777, the Continental Congress met at Lancaster’s courthouse, and just like that, Lancaster became the nation’s third capital. The next day, the delegates moved on to York, which served as the nation’s capital for the next nine months.
The correct answer is Lancaster, Pennsylvania.