National Historic Landmark

Carpenters' Hall

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Listed
April 14, 1970
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
70000552

About this property

Carpenters' Hall, in Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the official birthplace of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and a key meeting place for colonial delegates during the early part of the American Revolution. Completed in 1775, the two-story brick meeting hall was built for and is still privately owned by the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, the country's oldest extant craft guild. The First Continental Congress met at the building in 1774 and passed and signed the Continental Association. In June 1776, it was where the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference officially declared the Province of Pennsylvania's independence from the British Empire and established the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, mobilized the Pennsylvania militia for the American Revolutionary War, set up the machinery for the Pennsylvania Provincial Convention from July 15 to September 28, 1776, which framed the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and enabled the Declaration of Independence to be written and ultimately adopted. It was briefly occupied in 1777 by the British Army during the war. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970. On November 30, 1982, the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission succeeded in passing Pennsylvania General Assembly 166(R) HR180 to recognize "Carpenters' Hall as the official birthplace of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania". The building is free to enter and receives 120,000 visitors per year. Numerous dignitaries have visited Carpenters' Hall, including Chief Justice of the United States Warren E. Burger, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Czech Republic president Václav Havel, Latvian president Guntis Ulmanis, Texas governor and future U.S. president George W. Bush, and Governor of Pennsylvania Tom Ridge.

Location

310 Chestnut St.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
39.94806, -75.14724

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

First Bank of the United States
Industrial
0 mi
Independence National Historical Park
Listed
0.1 mi
Second Bank of the United States
Industrial
0.1 mi
Merchants' Exchange Building
Civil War
0.1 mi
Philadelphia Contributionship
Industrial
0.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Germantown Oct 4 1777
1777Revolutionary War
3.9 mi
Battle of Gloucester (NJ) 1777
1777Revolutionary War
4.1 mi
Fort Mercer siege Oct-Nov 1777
1777Revolutionary War
4.8 mi

Questions about this property

When was Carpenters' Hall listed on the National Register?

Carpenters' Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 14, 1970.

What type of historic resource is Carpenters' Hall?

Carpenters' Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

Is Carpenters' Hall a National Historic Landmark?

Yes. Carpenters' Hall has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.

What is the period of significance for Carpenters' Hall?

The period of significance for Carpenters' Hall is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Carpenters' Hall?

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