Date of Visit: February 25, 2026
Before I even knew there were America 250 stamps to collect at the National Parks this year, we had decided to visit Independence Hall during the year of the Semiquincentennial. We decided to visit in February because we figured it would be close enough that they would be celebrating already, but not too many tourists. Crowd-wise it turned out to be a perfect time to go as we really got to experience a lot of things by ourselves, but they are still preparing for the 250 with some renovations and things closed. We knew the Congress Hall was closed, but were disappointed to discover the current renovations included the post office and we couldn't mail our postcards with the special postmark we heard they already had if you mailed from there.
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| Independence Hall - Assembly Room |
We had tickets for the first tour, but since we got there early we spent some time before our tour taking pictures and talking to the rangers during the Open House hours they do from 9am until 10:30am.
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| Independence Hall - Court Room |
After our tour, we had lunch at
Madis Coffee nearby. During lunch, I did a quick sketch of Independence Hall on the page with my stamps for Independence Hall (the 250 one was a piece of paper they gave out as the original was stolen last year). On our way to the B. Free Franklin Post Office, I took a picture of Ranger Dan with the page in front of Indpendence Hall.
Unfortunately, the B Free Post Office was not open despite no notice saying it wasn't. A passerby said it was currently under renovation. We did find the marker for Franklin's privy nearby, though...
At the Liberty Bell, we pretty much had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed being able to take our time and do photos with no other people in them. We were also able to get a ranger to take a photo of all of us. The ranger here also gave us the tip to go over to the Constitution Center for 250 souvenirs including hoodies, which is exactly what Mik had asked us to try to find him. At the Constitution Center, we also found a miniature Independence Hall, which was the other souvenir he wanted if we could find.
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| Liberty Bell |
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| Crack Side w/ Independence Hall in Behind |
Before heading to the Constitution Center and then back to the car, we explored the President's House Site.
See full list of Ranger Dan's National Parks Visited here.