That will soon change now that a historic renovation project is being planned for Independence Hall.
Downstairs is the historic room where the founders made the Constitution real. But if you head up into the tower, in an area restricted to the public, you can see a grand old lady showing her age.
"Over the years, driving rain has penetrated the wood siding of the tower," said Jane Cowley of the Independence National Historic Park.
Inside, that water has made wood warp and the iron pins used to hold the boards together have rusted, streaking the tower with rust and mold.
Outside there is decay too, leading to quite a to-do list for the $4.4 million, 14 month project.
Once it begins, much of Independence Hall is going to be covered in scaffolding, but the doors will remain open to welcome visitors inside.
"Thanks to the "Friends of Independence," we're going to have a decorative scrim covering the scaffold so people will still have that iconic image of the tower for their pictures," said Cowley.
And historical purists, take heart. Every brick and plank that can be saved will be, reconstructed in the same way they first appeared in 1828.
"Where we can repair them, we're going to repair them. Where we can't, they'll be replaced. We're going to put it all back exactly the way it is now, but with stainless steel rods to prevent the rust from happening in the next 100 years," Cowley said.
A place of great history, made new by holding on to the old.
