When Independence Hall Was Almost Demolished

Few buildings played a greater role in the founding of the United States than Independence Hall in Philadelphia. As the location where the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and where the U.S. Constitution was drafted and signed in 1787, Independence Hall is considered the birthplace of America. Today, it welcomes between 3 million and 5 million visitors each year.

But less than 50 years after its hallowed halls hosted the founders of the nation, Independence Hall came close to being demolished. Here’s how the building narrowly escaped destruction and was ultimately saved by the city of Philadelphia.

Before it was known as Independence Hall, the Georgian-style building located on Chestnut Street, between Fifth and Sixth Streets, was the Pennsylvania State House. Built between 1732 and 1747—with a tower added in 1753—the building was designed to house colonial Pennsylvania’s government, including its legislative, judicial and executive offices. Beginning in 1775, the Pennsylvania State House served as the meeting place for the Second Continental Congress. 

“The Pennsylvania State House was chosen because it was the largest and most suitable public building available in Philadelphia for the meetings of the Second Continental Congress,” says Karie Diethorn, chief curator at Independence National Historical Park. “As the seat of Pennsylvania’s colonial government, it already contained an assembly chamber designed for legislative use, making it a practical and ready-made space for conducting official deliberations among the delegates.”

On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed a committee to draft a declaration of independence for the colonies. While John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman all served on the committee, Thomas Jefferson was tasked with writing the initial draft. He wrote what would become the Declaration of Independence between June 11 and 28. After debate and revisions, Congress adopted it on the afternoon of July 4 in the Assembly Room of the Pennsylvania State House. The Declaration was signed by most delegates in the same room on August 2.

The Pennsylvania State House continued to house the state’s government throughout the remainder of the 18th century, until Pennsylvania’s capital moved from Philadelphia to Lancaster in 1799. (The capital moved again to Harrisburg in 1812.)

After that, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania turned management of the State House and the surrounding buildings on State House Square over to the City of Philadelphia, which rented out some of the buildings and installed municipal offices in others. “Demolition of the State House was not the plan at the beginning of the 19th century,” Diethorn explains. 

When the city of Philadelphia’s municipal offices outgrew the buildings they had occupied since the state government left, the City Council began looking for a solution. It developed and implemented a plan to replace some of the existing buildings—including portions of the Pennsylvania State House—with new ones.

“While this may seem surprising today, it reflects a broader pattern in which older public buildings were often seen as functionally outdated rather than historically significant,” Diethorn says.

In 1812, the original wing buildings on either side of the State House were torn down and replaced with larger ones. Renovations to the main building also began. The State House interior was repainted, and the original woodwork in the Assembly Room was removed. The original front door was replaced with a more ornate entrance.

Around the same time, the state of Pennsylvania sought to divide up State House Square into smaller lots and sell them to developers to generate revenue—especially as the value of urban land had risen dramatically with population growth, says Tony Williams, a historian, educator and senior fellow at the Bill of Rights Institute. However, Philadelphia’s City Council convinced the state to preserve the square as an open and airy spot in an otherwise congested city.

In 1816, the state again floated the idea of selling State House Square. As part of the proposal, officials planned to add new roadways through the square to make the land more attractive to buyers—a change that would have required demolishing the State House.

Again, the City of Philadelphia challenged the state’s intent to sell State House Square and its buildings for two reasons. “One was a property rights issue: Why should the City give up valuable land to the State?,” Diethorn says. “The other reason was the State House’s historical significance.” Many prominent Philadelphians and local newspapers urged its preservation for its civic purpose and historical value, Williams says.

So the city of Philadelphia passed an ordinance authorizing the purchase of State House Square, the Pennsylvania State House and the four buildings on either side from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Two years later, in 1818, the transfer of ownership took place, and the city has owned the property ever since. 

Today, the site is part of Independence National Historical Park, which Congress established in 1948 and the National Park Service administers under an agreement with the city.

In 1824, the elderly Marquis de Lafayette returned to the United States on a farewell tour of the nation he had fought for as a young man during the American Revolution. Cities and towns across the country organized celebrations in his honor. Philadelphia marked the occasion with an elaborate parade that led Lafayette to the Pennsylvania State House for a public ceremony.

By that time, people had begun referring to the Assembly Room as the “Hall of Independence.” The welcome ceremony for Lafayette was held in the same room, further cementing its connection with the Declaration of Independence and the nation’s fight for independence.

“By the early 1830s, the term ‘Hall of Independence’ was often used to refer to the entire State House,” Diethorn says. “Eventually, the name ‘Independence Hall’ completely replaced the State House’s original name.”

During the early 19th century, people visited Independence Hall to see Charles Willson Peale’s museum of natural history, curiosities and art on the building’s second floor. By the 1840s, Peale’s Museum had been replaced by municipal offices.

In 1854, the Assembly Room was renovated and decorated with historical paintings and period furniture as a public attraction celebrating the American Revolution, often referred to as the “National Museum.” For the nation’s centennial in 1876, the remaining first-floor rooms of Independence Hall were incorporated into the museum. It wasn’t until Philadelphia’s municipal offices relocated to the new City Hall in 1898, however, that the entire building became a historical museum, according to Diethorn.

Congress returned to Independence Hall for a ceremonial session in 1976 to commemorate the country’s bicentennial. It will host lawmakers once more on July 2, 2026.