What was the Philadelphia building called when Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence?

The Philadelphia building was called the Pennsylvania State House when Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

The Pennsylvania State House was completed in 1753 and served as the meeting place of Pennsylvania’s colonial legislature. During the American Revolution, the Second Continental Congress used its Assembly Room for major decisions, including approval of the Declaration on July 4, 1776.

The building was later renamed Independence Hall because of its association with the Declaration and the independence movement. That later name is much more familiar, but it was not the building’s official name in 1776.

Independence Hall also hosted the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Its connection with both the Declaration and the Constitution made it one of the central historic sites associated with the United States’ founding and the America250 commemoration.