Carpenters' Hall

Infobox_nrhp | name =Carpenters' Hall
nrhp_type =nhl


caption =Carpenters' Hall north (front) façade
location= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
lat_degrees = 39 | lat_minutes = 56 | lat_seconds = 52.27 | lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 75 | long_minutes = 8 | long_seconds = 52.67 | long_direction = W
area =
built =1770
architect= Smith, Robert
architecture= Georgian
designated= April 15, 1970cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=969&ResourceType=Building
title=Carpenters' Hall |accessdate=2008-01-04|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service]
added = April 15, 1970cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2006-03-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]
governing_body = Private
refnum=70000552

Carpenters' Hall is a four-story brick building in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which played a significant part in the early history of the United States. Set back from Chestnut Street, the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia has owned and operated the meeting hall since 1770. This organization was founded in 1724 and remains the oldest extant trade guild in the United States. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 15 April 1970 (# 70000552) [ [http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceID=969&resourceType=Building Statement of Significance] ] and part of Independence National Historical Park.

History

Carpenters' Hall was designed by architect Robert Smith (1722-1777) in the Georgian style [ [http://www.nps.gov/archive/inde/Franklin_Court/Pages/archelements.html "Architectural elements"] ] and built as a four-story brick building between 1770 and 1773 by the Carpenters' Company. It would be first used as a meeting site by the guild on January 21, 1771, and would continue to hold annual meetings there until 1777 when the British would capture Philadelphia.cite web|url= http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/history/timeline.htm|title=Timeline of Carpenters' Hall|accessdate=2007-01-29] On April 23, 1773 (St. George's Day), it would be used by the Society of Englishmen and Sons of Englishmen.

The First Continental Congress of the United Colonies of North America met here from September 5 to October 26, 1774, since the Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall) was being used by the moderate Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania. It was here that Congress resolved to ban further imports of slaves and to discontinue the slave trade within the colonies, a step toward phasing out slavery in British North America. [ [http://www.nps.gov/archive/inde/archeology/NRamend.htm National Register Amendment "Underground Railroad and Anti-Slavery Movement"] (September 2000) Prepared by Anna Coxe Toogood, Historian, INDE] The building has a long history as an assembly place and has been the home to numerous tenants in the arts, sciences and commerce. The meeting hall served as a hospital for both British and American troops in the Revolutionary War, and other institutions in Philadelphia have held meetings in Carpenters' Hall, including Franklin's Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society, the First and Second Banks of the United States.

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/70000552.pdf National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Carpenters' Hall] |410 KiB |date=August 30, 1974 |author=Patricia Heintzelman and Charles Snell |publisher=National Park Service and PDFlink| [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/70000552.pdf "Accompanying 7 photos, exterior and interior, from 1967 and 1974."] |830 KiB ]

Numerous dignitaries have visited Carpenters' Hall, including United States Supreme Court Chief Justice Burger, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, President Vaclav Havel of the Czech Republic, President Guntis Ulmanis of Latvia, and Texas Governor (later U.S. President) George W. Bush with Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

Today, Carpenters' Hall is free to the public, with over 150,000 tourists from around the world who come each year to visit, [cite web|url=http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/|title=Carpenters' Hall|accessdate=2007-01-29] while the structure still serves the same purpose for which it was built—as a meeting place for the Carpenters' Company.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ushistory.org/carpentershall/ Carpenters’ Hall visitors information and history]
** Between 320 and 322 Chestnut Street at Carpenters' Court (between Third and Fourth Street) Philadelphia, PA
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@1(HABS+PA+1398+D)) Carpenters' Company, Rule Book (carpentry manual)] -