Independence Hall
By the Spring of 1729 the citizens of Philadelphia were petitioning to be allowed to erect a state house. A sum of two thousand pounds was raised for the proposal. Andrew Hamilton, along with Thomas Lawrence and John Kearsley, were appointed to a committee to decide upon plans for the building, select a site for construction, and hire contractors. Hamilton, in company with his son-in-law, William Allen, purchased the ground now lying within Independence Square, whereon to erect “a suitable building” to be used as a legislative hall. Prior to 1729, the assembly met in a private residence.
Andrew Hamilton is often credited for the design of Independence Hall (then known as the Pennsylvania State House). It is more likely that his designs were only for initial planning and he was not the creator of the final plans. Beginning in 1732, Edmund Woolley was responsible for the finalized design and construction of the Pennsylvania State House, a project that employed Woolley and his apprentices well into the 1750s. The statehouse was not completed until after Hamilton's death, and the conveyance of the land to the province was made by his son and son-in-law.
Read more about this topic: Andrew Hamilton (lawyer)
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