Congressional Capitols Videos

 

Carpenters’ Hall 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
September 5, 1774 – October 24, 1774

Carpenters’ Hall, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a four-story Georgian Colonial brick building constructed between 1770 and 1773 by the Carpenters’ Company. Designed by architect Robert Smith (1722–1777), this historic structure was designated a United States National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Pennsylvania State House 
May 10, 1775 to July 1, 1776

The Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, is located on Chestnut Street between 5th and 6th Streets in Philadelphia. Constructed between 1732 and 1753 as the colonial government seat for the Province of Pennsylvania, this iconic red brick building was designed by builder Edmund Woolley alongside Andrew Hamilton in the classic Georgian style. The site includes two additional structures: City Hall to the east and Congress Hall to the west. It was here, on May 10, 1775, that the Continental Congress of the United Colonies first convened, marking a crucial moment in the journey toward American independence.

Henry Fite House

Old Congress Hall
December 20, 1776 to February 27, 1777

In mid-December 1776, as British forces threatened a winter advance on Philadelphia, the Second Continental Congress took swift action to avoid capture, fleeing south to Baltimore. Although the local county courthouse was made available as a meeting site, the delegates opted instead to convene in a private residence near the waterfront. They chose the Henry Fite House, the largest building in Baltimore Town at the time, known for its spacious and well-situated accommodations.

Pennsylvania State House 

March 4, 1777 to September 18, 1777

Following General Washington’s pivotal victories at Trenton and Princeton, the British forces strengthened their defensive lines in New Jersey and abandoned their plans to occupy Philadelphia. With the immediate threat lifted, a travel-weary Continental Congress made its return to the Pennsylvania State House on March 4, 1777, resuming its sessions in the familiar setting of Philadelphia.

Lancaster Court House

Lancaster, Pennsylvania
September 27, 1777

Lancaster Court House, built in 1730, was a modest brick structure measuring approximately 30 by 30 feet with a simple brick-paved floor. The building featured a small spire topped with a two-faced clock, visible from both the north and south sides. Although the original courthouse burned down in 1781 and was replaced by a larger structure in 1785, this new building is often mistakenly identified as the one used by the Continental Congress.

York-Town Court House

York, Pennsylvania
September 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778

The Continental Congress relocated from Lancaster to York, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 1777, just days after briefly convening in Lancaster. Their move was necessitated by Pennsylvania state officials who also had fled Philadelphia and required the Lancaster Court House for their own governmental operations. Seeking a stable, safe location for the critical decisions facing the young nation, Congress selected York, a town further west and beyond immediate British reach.

College Hall 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
July 2, 1778 to July 20, 1778

College Hall -- On June 20, 1778 the news that the British had evacuated Philadelphia on the 18th reached Congress.  The city was in complete celebration with barn fires, the lighting of the courthouse and fireworks.  On Wednesday June 25^th the Continental Congress would adjourn on the 28 and reconvene “From this place to meet at Philadelphia, on Thursday, the second of July next.”[1] 

The Continental Congress was unable to form a quorum at the Philadelphia State House on July 2.  The Journals report, “According to adjournment, the president and a number of members met at the State House in Philadelphia on Thursday the 2d of July, and adjourned from day to day, to the present.”[3] Congress finally achieved a quorum on July 7 not at the State House but at the College of Philadelphia 

 

Pennsylvania State House
July 19, 1778 to February 28, 1781

By July 19, 1778 the Pennsylvania State House was put into good repair enabling both the United States Continental Congress and the Pennsylvania Supreme Council to meet as their members mandated.

Pennsylvania State House
March 1, 1781 to June 21, 1783

On March 1^st, 1781 in the Pennsylvania State House, the “Perpetual Union,” known as the United States of America, became a Constitution of 1777 governmental reality.  The last entry in the old Continental Congress Journals recorded a full printing of the Articles of Confederation, ending with signers John Walton, Edward Telfair, and Edward Langworthy of Georgia, that began: 

Articles of Confederation and perpetual Union between the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts-bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia."  I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be The United States of America.

This date marked the birth of the Third United America Republic: The United States of America, A Not Quite Perpetual Union. 

Nassau Hall 
Princeton, New Jersey
June 30th, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783

The Nassau Hall structure was built in 1756 at a cost of £2,900 for the College of New Jersey.  Originally the brick-paved halls extended one hundred and seventy-five feet of what was the largest stone structure in the Colonies. In November, 1776, the British took possession of the building and used it as barracks and hospital but were briefly ejected by George Washington during the Battle of Princeton. After the war Nassau Hall, was found to be in great disrepair with “mostly bare partition walls and heaps of fallen plaster."[1] An Article in the New American Magazine of 1760 reported on the building:

Maryland State House 
Annapolis, Maryland
November 26, 1783 to August 19, 1784

The Maryland State House was designed by Joseph Horatio Anderson in 1771. Its construction began in 1772 but was not completed until 1779 due to the struggle for Independence. The building was constructed in red brick Georgian style with a small portico projecting out from the center crowned by a pediment. The State House entrance is accented with two high arched windows that complement the large rectangular windows on both stories lining the façade. A cornice above the windows is topped by another pediment, and the sloping roof gives way for a central octagonal drum atop which rests a distinctive dome. The great dome is topped by a balustrade balcony, another octagonal drum, and a lantern. The interior of the dome, from floor to ceiling, is 113 feet, with the building itself encompassing 120,900 square feet under roof. It is the oldest American State Capitol still in continuous legislative use.

French Arms Tavern
Trenton, New Jersey
November 1, 1784 to December 24, 1784

The USCA assembled in the French Arms Tavern that was erected in 1730 as a private residence of stone and stucco.  The building was two stories high, with a gabled roof that measuring 45 feet in width and 43 feet in depth plus a narrower extension in the rear.   The house stood on the southwest corner of King (now Warren) Street and Second (now State) Street in Trenton, New Jersey.  The rear extension on the Second Street side served as kitchen and servant's quarters. The building was owned by John Dagworthy until his death in 1756. For two years during this period, from 1740 to 1742, it was the official residence of Governor Lewis Morris. In 1760 it was sold to Samuel Henry, an iron manufacturer, who made it his residence until he leased the property to Jacob G. Bergen in 1780 for use as a tavern. 

Old New York City Hall
New York City, New York
January 11, 1785 to November 13, 1788

Old New York City Hall,  the capitol building that housed the USCA was eighty-five years old in 1785.  The USCA conducted their meetings on the second floor which was once the room of the NY Supreme Court.  A room adjoining the meeting room was still occupied “and the noise of the scholars in their recitations was so annoying as to disturb the debates. Complaint being made of this, the school was discontinued.” [4]  This building would be the site where both the Northwest Ordinance and the Constitution of 1787 would be hotly debated with the former being enacted and the latter being sent on to the states, unchanged, for ratification.