was home to the Albany Committee of Correspondence (the political arm of the local revolutionary movement), which took over operation of city government in 1775 and eventually controlled all of Albany County (at that time the largest county in the colony, extending far past its current borders). Tories and prisoners of war were often held in the building with common criminals. Following the war, city hall was an occasional meeting place of the newly formed New York Legislature, in addition to being home to the city and county governments, jail, courts, and local registry. In 1797 Albany was declared capital of the state and the legislature made City Hall its home until the first state capitol was opened in 1809. In an effort to move public buildings away from the bustling and expanding waterfront, the new capitol was located atop the State Street hill, directly in front of where the current building stands. City surveyor Simeon De Witt, in his 1794 city plan, marks this land as a public square; it had been dedicated for public purposes since the late 17th century. Also included on DeWitt's map are depictions of City Hall and the new city jail, located at State and Eagle Streets. In 1809, Albany city government moved with the Legislature into the new capitol and remained there until a new city hall was opened in 1832. The old Stadt Huys was demolished after an 1836 fire. 1832 city hall In order to move city and county government out of the state capitol, in 1832 the city bought a plot of land to build on facing the public square opposite the capitol, on Eagle Street at the eastern end of Lion Street (later renamed Washington Avenue) from St. Peter's Church for $10,295.95 (). A design competition for the new City Hall was won by Albany architect Philip Hooker and Boston architect John Kutts. Hooker was charged with integrating components of both architect's proposals into one coherent design. The cornerstone was laid by Mayor John Townsend in a Masonic ceremony in 1829. Construction was completed three years later at a cost of about $92,000 (). The design combined neoclassical and Greek Revival detailing, and was built of white marble quarried by inmates at Sing Sing prison, with an entrance porch supported by six Ionic columns. A large belvedere supported a dome that was later gilded. The principal rooms of the