Restoring the Assembly Room

"The best break Independence Hall and the NPS ever had was to benefit from the research and scholarship of its best historical, archeological, and architectural investigators. [Preservationists] Lee Nelson and Penelope Hartshorne are tops in their field."

-John Cotter, National Park Service Archeologist

The restored Assembly Room.

NPS photo

In an enormous undertaking, teams of historians, architects, archeologists, carpenters, and painters combined their efforts to try and return the room where the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution were debated and signed to its historic appearance. The restoration of this iconic room was the most complex project undertaken by the National Park Service in Philadelphia and established current standards of historic preservation.

The Assembly Room in the 1856, by Max Rosenthal.

NPS photo

Early Changes in the Assembly Room

By the 1850s, the Assembly Room bore little resemblance to what Benjamin Franklin or George Washington would have seen. Each succeeding generation of Americans seemed to have a different idea about what the room should look like. The furnishings, wood paneling, and paint colors were all changed. City officials decorated the walls with portraits of the Founding generation and filled the room with relics of the nation's Revolutionary past—including the cracked Liberty Bell. Additional changes in the 1870s and 1890s altered the space even further.

Detail of Congress Voting Independence by Robert Edge Pine and Edward Savage.

NPS photo

Furnishing the Room

When Independence National Historical Park was established in 1948, one of the first goals of the National Park Service was to restore the Assembly Room to its appearance during the American Revolution. What items were in the room during the Second Continental Congress? What would delegates to the Constitutional Convention have seen?

Historians relied on primary sources—letters, diaries, receipts, and books—to furnish the room. These resources, along with the 1780s painting "Congress Voting Independence" revealed key details of items used in the Assembly Room. By the summer of 1955, the preliminary furnishing of the Assembly Room was completed, but the architectural work had just begun.

Original cockleshell frieze carving from the Assembly Room.

NPS photo

Uncovering the Details

Preservationists painstakingly investigated every detail of the architecture of the Assembly Room. They scraped away decades of paint to determine the original colors and reveal architectural details. They examined nails (wrought iron nails indicated 18th century work). Eventually they stripped the room of all its wooden paneling, exposing the original 1730s brick walls. This diligent work allowed the preservationists to ascertain critical information and uncover hidden details such as:

• the original cockleshell frieze carving—this was the last remaining piece of original woodwork on the walls of the Assembly Room. Fragments of paint from the carving revealed the original paint color of the east wall of the room.
• The original ceiling structure (minus the plaster).
• The original location, shapes, and dimensions of the window, door, and fireplace openings.
• The discovery of nailing blocks on the original brick walls helped determine the original width of the wood paneling.
• The discovery of three original floor joists. Nail patterns on the joists revealed the original width of the floorboards.
• The discovery of a single wooden dentil from the original cornice, which provided the dimensions needed to restore the cornice and its original appearance.

Carpenters recreating wood paneling in the Assembly Room, circa 1964-1965.

NPS photo

Panel, Plaster, and Paint

As more and more details were revealed, a team of carpenters, painters, and plasterers went to work putting the room back together. The crew recreated and installed wood paneling, applied decorative plaster, and painted the wall in the original color. As much as possible, the Assembly Room remained open to the public during this process, so visitors could see the restoration work as it unfolded. Workers completed the restoration of the Assembly Room in the summer of 1965.

A Standard for Preservation

Visitors today enjoy the work completed decades ago. The restoration has stood the test of time and is considered one of the most accurate historic restorations in the United States.