The City Hall, commenced in 1803 and completed in 1811, was for many years the finest edifice in America. It is 216 feet long and 105 wide. The front and ends are of white marble and the rear of New York free-stone. The Mayor, clerk of the common council, and many other officials occupy its rooms. On the second floor is the Governor's room, 52 by 20 feet, used for the reception of distinguished visitors. It contains General Washington's writing-desk, on which he penned his first message to Congress, and is decorated with many fine portraits of the Governors of New York, and other distinguished Americans. The building is surmounted by a tower containing a bell weighing over 9,000 pounds, and a cupola in which is a four-dial clock of superior workmanship, and is otherwise ornamented with a figure of Justice. The building cost over half a million, a large sum for those days.