The Supreme Court first assembled on February 1, 1790, in the Merchants Exchange Building in New York City. Chief Justice John Jay was, however, forced to postpone the initial meeting of the Court until the next day since, due to transportation problems, some of the Justices were not able to reach New York until February 2.

The earliest sessions of the Court were devoted to organizational proceedings -- appointment of a court crier and a clerk, admission of lawyers to the bar, etc. The first cases reached the Supreme Court during its second year, and the Justices handed down their first opinion on August 3, 1791 in the case of West v. Barnes.

The first session of the Supreme Court met on the second floor of the Merchants Exchange Building (aka Royal Exchange Building). A brick arcade shaded the ground floor, an open-air market where Broad and Water Streets intersect today.

The New York Daily Advertiser described the scene at the Supreme Court's scheduled opening as "uncommonly crouded." The last paragraph of the article cites the new location of the Federal Court that moved out of the Exchange to make room for the Supreme Court.

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John Jay

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This page was last updated on January 31, 2017.