Safeguarding the Declaration of Independence State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(1776)
Constructed as the State House for the Province of Pennsylvania between 1732 and 1756, the tall, two-and-one-half story red brick structure is an exceptional example of Georgian architecture. Known today as Independence Hall, it served as the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress in 1775. That body adopted the Declaration of Independence in the Assembly Room on July 4, 1776. After the official signing ceremony on August 2, 1776, the Declaration probably was filed in the Philadelphia office of Charles Thomson, Secretary of the Continental Congress.