The Pennsylvania Supreme Court met in this room periodically from 1743 to 1799. Later, the room housed other courts before becoming a museum about the Revolution. Although the chamber underwent several architectural changes through the years, park staff later restored the room to its 1776-1787 appearance. Look carefully and you will “see" the rights of English Common Law - trial by jury of your peers, the right to a public trial, and more - reflected in the physical layout of the room.
While the Pennsylvania Supreme Court heard cases here, members of the Pennsylvania legislature made laws for the colony in the Assembly Room across the hall. The colonial governors and Supreme Executive Council met with visitors and advisors on the second floor of the building. Although we know the building today as Independence Hall, it was originally the Pennsylvania State House, the center of the colony’s colonial government and early statehood.
Imagine watching a trial here or witnessing the British occupation of this courtroom in 1777-1778 or strolling through the National Museum - a memorial of the American Revolution - that once occupied this space. Take a deeper dive into the layers of time.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
