It is apparent that the plans from which the State House was constructed were drawn by Edmund Woolley, master carpenter, who was also the principal builder under the direction of Andrew Hamilton. To these two men go the major credit for the design and erection of one of the most beautiful administrative buildings of the Colonial period.
Building the State House was a slow process. The Assembly was not able to meet in the new building until September 1735. Even at that time the walls had not been paneled, nor had all of the window panes been installed. Difficulties of various kinds, especially the scarcity of skilled workmen, kept the building in an unfinished state. Finally, in the summer of 1741, the impatient Assembly ordered that the walls and windows of their chamber be finished at once and the remainder of the building completed without undue delay. Despite this order, plans for completing the Supreme Court chamber were not submitted until November 1743. The Council Chamber on the upper floor was not ready for occupancy until February 1748. It appears probable that the building was completed about this date.
During construction of the State House the old custom of “raising feasts” was followed. When the main timbers in a building were raised, a sumptuous feast was given for the workmen in celebration of the event. As the building of the State House progressed, there were a number of such feasts, the cost of them borne by the Provincial government.
Shortly after the construction of the State House was started, the Assembly ordered that office buildings be erected as wings to the main building, for the safekeeping of the public papers of the Province. Early in 1736 the wings on each side of the State House were practically completed, but public officials objected strenuously to moving into them. Despite objections, however, it is obvious that the wings were soon occupied by various county and provincial officials. Others also used these small buildings, for in 1739 the Library Company of Philadelphia was granted permission to deposit its books in the upper floor of the west wing. The Library remained there until 1773 when it was moved to Carpenters’ Hall. Throughout the Colonial period the doorkeeper of the Assembly and his family also lived in the west wing. Furthermore, during the early years, Indian delegations visiting Philadelphia were sometimes lodged in one of the wings.
These exotic tenants proved a source of worry to the Assembly. Their carelessness with fire posed such a serious threat to public records that, in 1759, the Assembly ordered the erection of a separate building for the use of the Indians. It is thought that one of the two wooden sheds built before the Revolution at the corners of Fifth and Sixth Streets on Chestnut Street was used for this purpose.
Account of Edmund Woolley with Governor John Penn for floor plans and elevation drawings of the State House, 1735-36. Penn Manuscripts, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
1735 The Honourable John Penn, Esquier Pr To drawing the Elevation of the Frount one End the Roof Balconey Chimney and Gorret of the State House With the fronts and Plans of the Two offiscis And Piazzas allso the Plans of the first and Second floors of the State House
per Edmond Woolley 5″0″0
Reced the 22d of July 1736 of James Steel the above mentioned five Pounds.
per me Edmond Woolley
Very early floor plan of the State House (first floor above, second floor right), apparently drawn prior to erection of tower, showing the interior stairway in south end of hallway. In Penn Manuscripts, Warrants and Surveys, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.