Carpenters' Hall

Carpenters’ Hall is a Georgian brick building at 320 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia’s historic district. Delegates from 12 colonies met here for the First Continental Congress in 1774. On the first floor, exhibits explain the hall’s history and the Carpenters’ Company, with a scale model and a LEGO replica to look for. Admission is free, and the surrounding garden offers a quiet pause between nearby historic sites. The visit is brief, so it fits easily into a walk around Old City.

Built for the Carpenters’ Company

The hall was built in 1770 as the headquarters of the Carpenters’ Company, a guild for the city’s carpenters. In the eighteenth century, these tradespeople worked as builders and architects. The company also supported its members’ families, and it still owns and operates the building.

The red-and-black brick exterior and Georgian design give the hall a different scale from some of the larger landmarks nearby. Its role began with a working guild, but the building soon became a meeting place for events that shaped the colonies’ relationship with Britain.

The First Continental Congress

In September 1774, delegates from 12 colonies gathered at Carpenters’ Hall for the First Continental Congress. They discussed rights and grievances against the British Crown and agreed to boycott British goods. Georgia did not send delegates. The meeting was an early instance of representatives from the colonies acting together, before the Declaration of Independence was drafted at nearby Independence Hall in 1776.

The hall later had other uses. It housed Benjamin Franklin’s Library Company and the First and Second Banks of the United States. During the Revolutionary War, it also served as a temporary field hospital. These chapters add context to the building beyond its most famous meeting.