Graff House

In June of 1776, Thomas Jefferson was part of a Virginia delegation that planned to ask the Second Continental Congress to sever its ties from Great Britain. Jefferson decided to rent a room in the three-story, Georgian home of well-known bricklayer Jacob Graff, where he drafted The Declaration of Independence in three weeks. Unfortunately the original Graff House structure was torn down in 1883. It was recreated by the National Park Service in 1975. The only authentic item known to have survived is a key to a desk in the bedroom.