All INHP sites (unless otherwise specified) are open 365 days a year and admission is free; hours are usually 9am to 5pm, sometimes longer in summer. The visitor center at 6th and Market streets (daily 8:30am-5pm, closed Christmas, Thanksgiving & Easter; tel 215/965-7676 or 1-800/537-7676, ) has maps and shows a short, somewhat ghostly film, Independence , directed by John Huston. Free tours set off from the rear of the east wing of Independence Hall, the single most important site, as well as from the visitor center itself - call to check schedules. Throughout the day, costumed actors perform patchy but informative skits in various locations across the site - pick up a copy of the Historic Philadelphia Gazette pamphlet for listings.
It's best to reach Independence Hall early, to avoid the hordes of tourists and school parties. Built in 1732 as the Pennsylvania State House, this was where the Declaration of Independence was prepared and signed and, after the pealing of the Liberty Bell, given its first public reading on July 8, 1776. Today, in the room in which Jefferson et al drafted and signed the United States Constitution, you can see George Washington's high-backed chair with the half-sun on the back - Franklin, in optimistic spirit, called it "the rising sun."
The Liberty Bell itself hung in Independence Hall from 1753, ringing to herald vital announcements such as victories and defeats in the Revolutionary War. Stories as to how it received its famous crack vary; one tells that it occurred while tolling the funeral of Chief Justice Marshall in 1835. Whatever the truth, it rang publicly for the very last time on George Washington's birthday in 1846.
Later in the century, the bell's inscription from Leviticus, advocating liberty "throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants," made it an anti-slavery symbol for the New England abolitionists - the first to call it the Liberty Bell. After the Civil War the silent bell was adopted as a symbol of reconciliation and embarked on a national rail tour. The well-traveled and somewhat lumpen icon now rests at eye level in a purpose-built concrete-and-glass pavilion on Market Street between 5th and 6th streets. After endless complaints about the pavilion's architecture, it's due to move in late 2002 to a neocolonial style home not far away that's been designed to better blend in with the rest of INHP.
Next door to Independence Hall on 6th and Chestnut streets, Congress Hall , built in 1787 as Philadelphia County Courthouse, is where members of the new United States Congress first took their places, and where all the patterns for today's government were established. The First Bank of the United States at 3rd and Chestnut streets was established in 1797 to formalize the new union's currency - a vital task given that even Rhode Island, the smallest state, had three different types of currency in use.
In 1774, delegates of the first Continental Congress - predecessor of the US Congress - chose defiantly to meet at Carpenter's Hall , 320 Chestnut St, rather than the more commodious State House, to air their grievances against the English king. Today the building exhibits early tools and furniture (Tues-Sun 10am-4pm). Directly north, Franklin Court , 313 Market St, is a tribute, on the site of his home, to Benjamin Franklin. The house no longer stands, but steel frames outline the original structure. An underground museum has dial-a-quote recordings of his pithy sayings and the musings of his contemporaries, and there's a working printshop. The B Free Franklin Post Office , 316 Market St, sells stamps and includes a small postal museum. Other buildings in the park include the original Free Quaker Meeting House , two blocks north of Market at 5th and Arch, built in 1783 by the small group of Quakers who actually fought in the Revolutionary War. There's also the Philosophical Hall , 104 S 5th St, still used today by the nation's first philosophical debating society (founded by Franklin). The building is closed to the public, but features a statue of Ben in intellectual mode, garbed in a fetching toga.
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