What building hosted the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774?

The First Continental Congress met at Carpenters' Hall in Philadelphia in 1774.

Delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies gathered there from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates, largely because Loyalist sentiment remained influential there. The meeting was organized in response to Britain’s punitive Intolerable Acts after the Boston Tea Party.

Carpenters' Hall was chosen because it was a substantial meeting place owned by the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia. The building stood near Independence Hall, but the Congress did not meet in Independence Hall itself. That distinction is a common source of confusion.

The First Continental Congress petitioned King George III, organized a colonial boycott of British goods, and agreed to reconvene if its grievances were not addressed. The Second Continental Congress met the following year, after fighting had begun, and eventually directed the Revolutionary War and approved independence.