Contents
[THE PROVINCIAL STATE HOUSE] 2 [TWO CENTURIES OF INDEPENDENCE HALL] 7 [THE STATE HOUSE AND INDEPENDENCE] 11 [“TO FORM A MORE PERFECT UNION”] 20 [AFTER 1800] 31 [INDEPENDENCE SQUARE] 37 [EVOLUTION OF A SHRINE] 41 [STORY OF A SYMBOL] 52 [GUIDE TO THE AREA] 61 [HOW TO REACH THE PARK] 67 [SERVICE TO THE PUBLIC] 67 [ADMINISTRATION] 67 [RELATED AREAS] 68
Independence Hall. Photo by R. G. Magill.
“The United States was created in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, when the Continental Congress voted the final form of the Declaration of Independence. The United States was perpetuated on September 17, 1787, when the Federal Convention completed its work on the Constitution and referred it, through Congress, to the individual states for ratification. Both these great decisions were made in the same chamber in what is now called Independence Hall, but was then the Pennsylvania State House. It would still be merely the old State House if independence had not been achieved and if the Constitution had not been ratified and put into effect. The noble building, so venerable to later ages, might not even have survived, but might have been swept away in the surging growth of a modern city. In that case, a few students of history would sometimes remember the site as the stage of those lost causes. Instead, Pennsylvania’s State House has become Independence Hall for the entire United States. Nor is that all. On account of the Declaration of Independence, it is a shrine honored wherever the rights of men are honored. On account of the Constitution, it is a shrine cherished wherever the principles of self-government on a federal scale are cherished.”—Carl van Doren.
The Provincial State House
Independence Hall was originally the State House of Pennsylvania. For a half century after the establishment of the Province, the government had no official building. The Assembly, a small legislative body, was compelled to meet in private dwellings rented annually for the purpose or in the old City Hall at Second and High (now Market) Streets.
In order to meet the needs of the Province, funds were appropriated for the construction of the State House in 1729. At the same time a committee, consisting of Speaker of the Assembly Andrew Hamilton, Assemblyman Dr. John Kearsley, and Councilman Thomas Lawrence, was named to supervise the job. Strong disagreement arose between Hamilton and Kearsley, with each supporting a different location and plan. This disagreement delayed actually beginning work on the building until 1732. In that year the Assembly approved the plan Hamilton advocated and selected the south side of Chestnut Street between Fifth and Sixth Streets as the site. This was then on the outskirts of the city.
In the 1730’s, Philadelphia had a population of almost 11,500 people. Only Boston, with 13,000, was larger; while New York was third, with 8,500. The area of what was to become Independence Square contained only a few small houses. The uneven ground was covered on the north with whortleberry bushes; to the south, across Walnut Street, stood a peach orchard.