This handsome building was constructed between 1800 and 1804 in what is known as the Adamesque style, serving as a branch of The First Bank of the United States (the original brick walls were covered with Italian marble stucco in 1882). The property became City Hall in 1818, and, remarkably, the council chamber on the second floor remains the center of city government. On the lower level, view the short audiovisual presentation on the history of the building before proceeding through security and heading up to the council chamber itself. Assuming a meeting is not in session, docents will point out rare artifacts and paintings in the gallery here, including one of George Washington by John Trumbull (1791) and a portrait of President James Monroe by Samuel F. B. Morse.