Declaration of Independence -
List of locations it was stored

The Declaration of Independence has been stored in many places over the years. For its first few years of existence, it was quickly gathered up by the Continental Congress as they fled from town to town to escape the British army. The Declaration probably received some pretty rough treatment in those days. In later years it was stored in the offices of different government agencies. Today the original of this important document is held by the National Archives in Washington D.C.


  • Philadelphia: August-December 1776
  • Baltimore: December 1776-March 1777
  • Philadelphia: March-September 1777
  • Lancaster, PA: September 27, 1777
  • York, PA: September 30, 1777-June 1778
  • Philadelphia: July 1778-June 1783
  • Princeton, NJ: June-November 1783
  • Annapolis, MD: November 1783-October 1784
  • Trenton, NJ: November-December 1784
  • New York: 1785-1790
  • Philadelphia: 1790-1800
  • Washington, DC (three locations): 1800-1814
  • Leesburg, VA: August-September 1814
  • Washington, DC (three locations): 1814-1841
  • Washington, DC (Patent Office Building): 1841-1876
  • Philadelphia: May-November 1876
  • Washington, DC (State, War, and Navy Building): 1877-1921
  • Washington, DC (Library of Congress): 1921-1941
  • Fort Knox*: 1941-1944
  • Washington, DC (Library of Congress): 1944-1952
  • Washington, DC (National Archives): 1952-present

*Except that the document was displayed on April 13, 1943, at the dedication of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, DC.

You can learn more about the Declaration of Independence here.

Red, white & blue bar

Return to Pictures of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of Independence

American Historical Documents

Revolutionary War and Beyond Home

Like This Page?

Facebook Comments

people have commented on this page. Share your thoughts about what you just read! Leave a comment in the box below.
Enjoy this page? Here's the link to add it to your own page

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

© 2008 - 2022 Revolutionary-War-and-Beyond.com  Dan & Jax Bubis