Celebrate PA Independence at Hidden Philadelphia Site

This year is a big year for America as our nation celebrates its 250th anniversary of independence. But before America's Founding Fathers declared independence from Great Britain, Pennsylvania made the first move.

According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, in June 1776, days before the Declaration of Independence was signed, a group of leaders from Philadelphia and its surrounding 10 PA counties — Bedford, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Cumberland, Lancaster, Northampton, Northumberland, Westmoreland, and York — convened in Carpenters Hall for the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference. There, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania came into existence.

Carpenters Hall, a lesser-known landmark only two blocks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia's Old City, is the birthplace of Pennsylvania. This year, the privately owned historic site is celebrating Pennsylvania's 250th birthday — which aligns with America's semiquincentennial — by hosting commemorative events across the state.

The events will include an interactive town hall series hosted in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, and Erie to explore the significance of the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference in the United States' founding. The group will also hold several events at Carpenters Hall, including the installation of a blue Pennsylvania historical marker outside the hall on June 18. A three-part virtual lecture series on Pennsylvania's constitution will also take place.

“To me, 250 is about reflection and engagement,” said Michael Norris, the executive director of Carpenters Hall, in an Inquirer report. “It's not about parties and buildings. It's really a moment to reflect and say, ‘What are we doing here? Do we still want this democracy, and how do we protect it and keep it going?'”

According to the Inquirer, the Carpenters' Company is the country's oldest craft guild. It built and still owns Carpenters Hall. The guild plans to conduct polling on how Pennsylvania's constitution, as well as the U.S. Constitution, should be adapted to better represent citizens in modern times, Norris said. The poll results will be released at an in-person event in Philadelphia on Sept. 28, the 250th anniversary of Pennsylvania's constitution's ratification.