Interactive Model of Carpenters' Hall and its Surroundings in the 18th Century
Carpenters' Hall appears much as it did in 1770. But the landscape around it is vastly different than it once was. Enter this interactive 3D model of the block surrounding Carpenters' Hall, with virtual recreations of buildings from the 18th century.
Changing the Face of the City and the Nation
Philadelphia’s built landscape owes its beauty, diversity of styles and practicality to the talented master builders and carpenters who made up the membership of the Carpenters Company of Philadelphia.
Formed in 1724 the company is the nation’s oldest building guild, modeled after that of the Carpenters' Company of London. By 1770 they built their imposing structure, a testament to their skills that would house some of the city’s most innovative organizations – the First Bank of the United States, the Library Company, and serve as the initial meeting place for so many others.
The Company’s members came together inside the Hall for meetings but also outside the Hall as they served together in the Pennsylvania Assembly, on Philadelphia’s city council, gathered in the city’s meeting houses and churches and founded many of the city’s charitable, service and fraternal organizations.
Artifacts and historic manuscript records from those early years document the significance of this organization which David McCullough described as the “acorn of our country.”