Signed in Philadelphia in 1776, the Declaration has had many homes. On December 12 of that year, it followed Congress to Baltimore, carried in a horse-drawn wagon. It remained there until its return to Philadelphia in March of 1777.
The NARA says that for the next eight years the Declaration made its way to such cities as Lancaster, PA, York, PA Princeton, NJ, Annapolis, MD, and Trenton, NJ. In 1785, when Congress met in New York, the Declaration was housed in the New York City Hall, where is believed to have remained until 1790.
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It was returned to Philadelphia when that city became the nation's capital in 1790, traveling by boat. It remained there until 1800 when it was sent again by boat to the new capital of Washington, D.C.
