"Sacrilegious Outrage"

While the legal arrangements for the transfer were in process, the legislature vested control of the building in the Philadelphia County Commissioners, who in 1816 embarked on an elaborate program of alterations to Independence Hall. Decorative plasterwork was added to the interior; on the exterior the original simple front doorway was replaced by one with a more elaborate Corinthian surround, and the marble trim was painted. The change that aroused public sentiment, however, was a wanton act of destruction, the motives for which have never been ascertained. The paneling and other architectural woodwork of the Assembly Room were stripped from the walls, dismantled, and sold. The outrage expressed at this act reveals the aura of veneration that already clung to that space, if not to the entire building, and the desire to preserve the room's appearance for future generations. Almost forty years later John Binns still described the commissioners' action as a "sacrilegious outrage."

In the next decade two events caused the city to attempt to rectify the commissioners' mistake: the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 and the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration in 1826. Having redecorated the Assembly Room, by then referred to as the Hall of Independence, for Lafayette's use as a levee room, the city decided to restore it to its original appearance. Another part of the building, however, claimed attention first. This was the tower, the wooden steeple of which had been removed in 1781. In 1828 the city councils commissioned William Strickland to design a replacement. Although the new steeple was of the same size and general form as the original, it differed considerably in detail. It was designed to accommodate a four-faced clock and was adorned with a free interpretation of classical ornament in the early nineteenth-century taste. Nevertheless, the councilmen clearly viewed the steeple as a restoration.

Three years later, in 1831, the English-born architect John Haviland was commissioned to study the Assembly Room. His report of March 29, 1831, made it clear that restoration was the aim, stating, "In compliance with your request, I have examined 'the Hall of the Declaration of Independence,' with a view of reinstating it with its original architectural embellishments." Surprisingly enough, although only fifteen years had elapsed since the destruction of its original finishes, the fact that Haviland's work was inaccurate in many particulars elicited no known comment from the many Philadelphians who must have been familiar with the room before it was denuded.

As Philadelphia grew, its government required expanded offices. In 1854 the Common Council and Select Council of the expanded city moved into the second floor of Independence Hall. By this time, despite the need for space, the Assembly Room had clearly become a shrine. The Liberty Bell, removed from the tower in 1852, stood there, surmounted by the stuffed bald eagle from Peale's museum. A life-size statue of Washington by William Rush presided over the scene, and the walls were lined with portraits of distinguished figures of the revolutionary and federal eras, purchased from Peale's estate.