Independence National Historical Park is the home of two famous icons of the United States of America:
Independence Hall and the
Liberty Bell. It also encompasses some other historic buildings in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The star of the park is Independence Hall.
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Independence Hall |
The building was originally the State House for Pennsylvania and construction was completed in 1753. The view above is actually the back of the building, though that side faces a long grassy mall so it gets a lot more photographic attention. The front has the clock tower where the Liberty Bell originally hung.
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Front entrance |
The building is mostly original, but they are always doing work on some part to spruce it up.
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Didn't go there |
Inside on the main floor, visitors see two rooms. The first is the Court Room of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Like courts today, there's an elevated area for the judge to sit, tables for the defense and the prosecution, and a court recorder's table.
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Court room |
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Some details |
Above the judge is a statue of justice and the seal of the colony.
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Signs of authority |
Across the hall is the Assembly Room where the Second Continental Congress approved the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the United States Constitution was hammered out in 1787. The Parks Department has left it decorated like it was in the 18th century.
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Assembly Room |
The head table is where George Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention. The chair is his original chair.
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Head table for the head man |
Ben Franklin saw the detail of a sun looking over a horizon and wondered if it was a setting sun or a rising sun. When the Constitution was finalized, he said it was definitely a sun rising on a new country.
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George Washington's chair |
The upstairs exhibits were closed.
Philosophical Hall, just outside the main building, is a museum now but it was not open when we visited (curse you, Covid!).
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Philosophical Hall |
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Wing of Independence Hall |
Congress Hall was where the House and Senate met while the federal government was in Philadelphia. It has copies of the Declaration and the Constitution, but like Philosophical Hall, was closed to visitors.
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Religious Liberty statue |
Ben Franklin's original American Philosophical Society met in a building just across from Philosophical Hall. This building was constructed in the 1950s following the 1789 original and featured prominently in
our ghost tour.
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The other Philosophical Hall! |
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