Declaration House - Jefferson's Rented Lodgings
This illustration depicts the house owned by Jacob Graff, Jr. - on Market Street, in Philadelphia - where Thomas Jefferson lived while writing the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson rented two rooms on the home's second floor.
Later, the house (by then located at the corner of Market and Seventh) was remodeled, making it almost unrecognizable from the weeks when Jefferson lived there (in 1776).
Among many other changes, a new floor was added which raised the house another level. (That is the reason why the "Declaration House" looks so different in subsequent drawings, like this one from the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery.)
To celebrate America's bicentennial, in 1976, the National Park Service rebuilt the "Declaration House." It now appears more like it did when Jefferson used it.
Click on the image for a much-larger view.
Media Credits
"The House in which the Declaration of Independence was Written," by Robert Shaw, c. 1906. The remarque (small insert) may be of Jefferson's birthplace. Image online, courtesy Library of Congress.
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