Located just blocks from Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Betsy Ross House is generally recognized as the place where Betsy Ross resided when she may have made the first American Flag. The front part of the house was built around 1740, with the stair hall and the rear section added 10 to 20 years later. Ross is believed to have lived here with her first husband from 1773 to about 1785. Today, the historic house is furnished in the period in which Betsy Ross’ descendants said she lived there. Visitors can view seven rooms that are furnished with period antiques, 18th-century reproductions and other objects that belonged to Betsy Ross and her [...]

Carpenters’ Hall is a two-story brick building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that was a key meeting place in the early history of the United States and is now a part of Independence National Historical Park. Completed in 1773, the meeting hall was built for and is still owned by the Carpenters’ Company of the City and County of Philadelphia. The First Continental Congress of the United Colonies of North America met there in 1774. Carpenters’ Hall served as a hospital for both British and American troops during the Revolutionary War. Philadelphia institutions that held meetings in Carpenters’ Hall included Franklin’s Library Company of Philadelphia, the American Philosophical Society and the First and Second Banks of the United [...]