Learn more about the Declaration of Independence and read a transcript and see a scanned copy of the original at the NATIONAL ARCHIVES website.

DECLARATION HOUSE
a.k.a. Graff House
700 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Google Maps location

CURRENTLY CLOSED

This site is part of INDEPENDENCE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK. Check their website for the most up-to-date information.

When I visited Philadelphia in 2012, the Declaration House was free and open to the public, as you can see in the below photographs. Seems odd to me that it would be closed now, in light of the fact that 2026 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of our country, as manifested in the Declaration of Independence.

In any event, this building is a replica of the original, which unfortunately was demolished in 1883, to make way for commercial development. Much later, the National Park Service bought the property and built this replica, based on original plans and photographs, which opened in 1975, in time for the Bicentennial in 1976.

It was here on this spot, in June 1776, that Thomas Jefferson resided while he wrote the Declaration of Independence. Next to Independence Hall, where the Declaration was adopted and signed, this is one of the most hallowed places in American history.

Courtesy Library of Congress.

Jefferson reading the Declaration to Franklin
Courtesy Library of Congress.