On July 27, 1789, President George Washington signed legislation establishing the first federal executive agency under the new Constitution: the Department of Foreign Affairs, quickly renamed the United States Department of State. Thomas Jefferson was appointed as its first secretary, tasking the small agency with managing both international relations and domestic administrative duties.
Operating on a shoestring budget, the department originally set up shop in Philadelphia. However, in 1800, the capital relocated, and the State Department moved its files and small staff to Washington, D.C., cementing its place at the center of American global diplomacy.
Image: U.S. State Department building in Washington D.C. in 1835 via Wikimedia Commons, public domain
