Independence Hall in Philadelphia hosted the main 1776 signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.
The building was known in 1776 as the Pennsylvania State House. It stood on Chestnut Street and served as the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress. The building was later renamed Independence Hall because of its connection with the Declaration and the United States Constitution.
Most historians place the principal signing of the engrossed Declaration on August 2, 1776. Congress had approved the Declaration’s text on July 4, and it ordered the document engrossed on parchment on July 19. These separate steps explain why the approval date and signing date are not identical.
Independence Hall later hosted the Constitutional Convention of 1787, making it central to both the country’s declaration of independence and the creation of its federal government. It is part of Independence National Historical Park and is recognized as a major American historic site.