Declaration House

When bricklayer Jacob Graff Jr. decided to rent out rooms in the modest home he built in 1775, he never could have anticipated what would happen under his roof. Thomas Jefferson—a Virginia delegate to the Continental Congress and future president of the United States—was his boarder, and it was in these rooms that he drafted the Declaration of Independence.

The small exhibit on the 1st floor contains rough drafts of the Declaration and a small theater for viewing the short film The Extraordinary Creation. The film reveals important details—like the fact that Jefferson’s original version called for the abolishment of slavery, but it was eliminated because the committee, including Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, didn’t feel people were ready for it.

Upstairs, you can see Jefferson’s bedroom and parlor, which include reproduction furnishings of his desk and his swivel chair.