Carpenters’ Hall hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774.
Delegates from 12 of the 13 American colonies met in Philadelphia from September 5 to October 26, 1774. Georgia did not send delegates. They gathered in Carpenters’ Hall because the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall, was being used by the Pennsylvania Assembly.
The congress responded to the Coercive Acts, which Britain imposed after the Boston Tea Party. It issued the Continental Association, called for a boycott of British goods, and sent a petition to King George III. The delegates also agreed to meet again if their grievances were not resolved.
The Second Continental Congress met the following year, beginning in the Pennsylvania State House. This difference explains a frequent error: Independence Hall is strongly associated with the Revolution, but the First Continental Congress met at Carpenters’ Hall. That distinction makes the building a useful America250-era historical detail.