A Place of Power, Ideals, and Promise

The row of buildings once housed the city, county, state, and national governments at the same time. Before the American Revolution, the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall, saw a young Benjamin Franklin serving as Clerk of the Pennsylvania legislature and Governor John Penn negotiating with Native Americans. In 1776, delegates to the Second Continental Congress met here, debating and signing the Declaration of Independence and grounding the American Revolution in the ideals of freedom, equality, and self-government. The buildings at either end of the block were city and county offices. When Philadelphia became the nation's capital in 1790, the House of Representatives and the Senate moved into the county courthouse on the right, now called Congress Hall, while the U.S. Supreme Court met in Philadelphia's Old City Hall on the left. These historic buildings stand as powerful reminders of the ideals proclaimed here and the ongoing efforts to achieve them.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · United States