Safeguarding the Declaration of Independence State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
State House, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(July 1778 - June 1783)
The British Army evacuated Philadelphia in the early summer of 1778, and again Congress returned to its home city. The State House was found "in a most filthy and sordid situation" from enemy occupation, so the delegates assembled in College Hall. For about five years, Congress and the Declaration of Independence remained here.