Last updated: June 3, 2024
Place
Declaration House
![A color photo of a three story brick row house on the corner of a modern street](/common/uploads/cropped_image/primary/30DD7492-9412-8706-490915618F3BAB30.jpg?width=1600&quality=90&mode=crop)
NPS Photo
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information - Ranger/Staff Member Present, Restroom, Wheelchair Accessible
The Declaration House is currently closed. However, the wayside signage on the fence provides an interesting glimpse into the development of the property over time, as well as its most-famous occupants, Thomas Jefferson and Robert Hemmings.
Thomas Jefferson resided here with his enslaved servant, Robert Hemmings, while drafting the Declaration of Independence. Working in rooms rented from bricklayer Jacob Graff, Jefferson drafted a declaration espousing the political ideas of enlightenment philosophers. In little more than two weeks, Jefferson finished his timeless defense of, "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Demolished in 1883, the house was reconstructed by the National Park Service in 1975.