Congress Hall, seat of the U.S. Congress from 1790 until 1800.
The graves and tombs of seven signers are also located in the park. Five (Franklin, Hewes, Hopkinson, Ross, and Rush) are in Christ Church Burial Ground, at the southeast corner of Fifth and Arch Streets; and two (Wilson and Robert Morris) in the yard of Christ Church, on Second Street between Church and Filbert Streets. The graves of Hewes and Ross are unmarked. A rose garden, dedicated in January 1971 to the memory of the signers of the Declaration by the Daughters of the American Revolution, is situated in a plot in the area between Walnut and Locust and Fourth and Fifth Streets.
Carpenters’ Hall, meetingplace in 1774–75 of the First Continental Congress.
Buildings and sites in the park that are mainly of interest in other themes of history than that treated in this volume include: the First Bank of the United States; the Second Bank of the United States (Old Custom House); New Hall (Marine Corps Museum); the Pemberton House (Army-Navy Museum); the Philadelphia (Merchants’) Exchange; the Bishop White House; the Deshler-Morris House, in Germantown; the Todd House; St. George’s Church; St. Joseph’s Church; St. Mary’s Church; Mikveh Israel Cemetery; and Gloria Dei (Old Swede’s) Church National Historic Site.
The Graff House about 1855. By this time, alterations had rendered it almost completely unrecognizable from its original appearance. Among other changes, it had been joined to an adjacent building and raised a story higher, more than doubling its size.
The structures and properties in 22-acre Independence National Historical Park, most of which are open to the public, include those owned by the city of Philadelphia, but administered by the National Park Service. These consist of Independence Hall, Congress Hall, City Hall, and Independence Square. In recent years, to enhance the setting of the area, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has created Independence Mall in the three blocks directly north of Independence Hall. Federally owned buildings include the First and Second Banks of the United States; the Deshler-Morris House, administered by the Germantown Historical Society; Todd House; Bishop White House; New Hall; Pemberton House; and the Philadelphia Exchange.
Among those privately owned buildings whose owners have cooperative agreements with the National Park Service are Carpenters’ Hall and Christ Church, both National Historic Landmarks. The American Philosophical Society owns Philosophical Hall, another Landmark and the only privately owned building on the square, but also operates Library Hall, on federally owned land.