In which building did Congress adopt the United States Declaration of Independence?

Congress adopted the United States Declaration of Independence in Independence Hall.

The building was known in 1776 as the Pennsylvania State House. It stood in Philadelphia and hosted the Second Continental Congress during the debates over independence. The building was later renamed Independence Hall, the name by which it is internationally recognized today.

The Declaration was not the only major founding document associated with the site. The Continental Congress met there during the Revolutionary era, and the United States Constitution was drafted in the same building in 1787. Independence Hall is therefore linked to both the declaration of independence and the later creation of the federal government.

A frequent confusion concerns the document’s current home. The signed parchment Declaration is displayed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C., while Independence Hall is the historic location where Congress debated and adopted the Declaration. Philadelphia’s connection makes the building a central site for America250 commemorations.