Details
Creator Taylor, Frank H. (Frank Hamilton), 1846-1927
Title Where Thomas Jefferson Wrote the Declaration of American Independence
Date ca. 1922
Description Large four-story building where businesses are housed. Identified as being the place where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
Notes For many years local historians were at odds concerning the location of the house in which he maintained his lodging in 1776 and where he penned the immortal document which is the basis of our national freedom from foreign control. Nearly half a century after the signing of this Declaration by those assembled at Philadelphia upon behalf of the thirteen States then existent, Jefferson wrote from his home at Monticello stating that his rooms, in 1776, were in a house owned by a young married man named Graff. This property, at the southwest corner of High and Seventh streets, was purchased in the following year by Jacob Hiltzheimer, the diarist, who kept store here until his death, of yellow fever, in 1801. The building was then bought by Simon Gratz. An examination of the records cleared the doubt and, although the old structure housed many small industries in later times, it stood high among the historical assets of the city and nation. The drawing herewith was made from a photograph, taken in 1859, just prior to the removal of the market houses. The old relic was torn down in 1882, being replaced by the present modern building of the Penn National Bank, upon the front of which a bronze tablet is affixed, testifying to the historical connection of the site with the genesis of our National Independence.
Taylor Catalog Number: 61
Is part of Frank H. Taylor Collection
Identifier Taylor - Case 7-11 [2717.F]