The Declaration of Independence was first read publicly in the State House Yard in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
The reading took place outside the Pennsylvania State House, the building now called Independence Hall. Colonel John Nixon is traditionally identified as the person who read the document aloud to a crowd gathered in the yard.
The public reading followed Congress’s adoption of the Declaration on July 4. It helped turn a document produced by delegates into a public announcement for residents of Philadelphia and nearby communities. Church bells and celebrations accompanied the occasion.
The first reading is sometimes confused with later famous readings, including the 1776 reading at the Maryland State House in Annapolis and public readings in other colonies. For America250, Philadelphia’s State House Yard is especially significant because it connects the document’s adoption with its first public announcement.