Jacob Graff purchased the property at the SW corner of 7th and Market Streets from Edmund and Abigail Physick on June 1, 1775, and built a three-and-a-half story house on the lot. Jacob and Maria Graff, and their infant son Frederick, moved into their new home in April 1776. One month after the Graffs moved in, they rented their second floor to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson lived and worked in a parlor and bedchamber. Bob Hemings, Jefferson's enslaved servant, most likely slept in the garrett, a habitable attic or storage space at the top of the house.
Jefferson rented the rooms from May 23 until September 3, 1776, while he was attending the meetings of the Second Continental Congress. It was during this time that he drafted the Declaration of Independence.
The Graffs owned the property for about two years. On July 28, 1777, Graff sold the house to his neighbor, Jacob Hiltzheimer. After his death from Yellow Fever, Hiltzheimer's estate sold the house to Simon and Hyman Gratz in 1801.
The Gratz family owned the building through much of the 1800s, using it for their wholesale grocery & export business. In 1881, the Gratz family sold the building to Penn National Bank. The Graff House was still standing, but in very poor condition, and in 1883, the building was torn down.
Noted architect Frank Furness designed a granite bank building for Penn National, which only lasted to the 1930's. Penn National had to merge with another bank due to losses during the Great Depression. The building fell into disrepair and was torn down. A popular lunch spot called Tom Thumb stood on this busy site from the 1940s thru the 60's.
In 1975, the National Park Service reconstructed the home to its 1776 appearance for the Bicentennial. The architects were the firm H2L2. Today, the home contains exhibits on the first floor. On the second floor, the bedroom and parlor that Jefferson occupied have been recreated and contain period furnishings.
1854 1855 Penn Natl. Bank, early 1930's
1937, Tom Thumb at site of 1963 Current
Graff House
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