{"product_id":"independence-hall-stabilized-wood-and-resin-hybrid-blanks","title":"Independence Hall – Stabilized Wood and Resin Hybrid Blanks","description":"\u003ch1\u003eIndependence Hall\u003cbr\u003eWood Blanks\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCraft a piece of American history with our exclusive Independence Hall Pen and Ring Blanks. Sourced from authentic wood removed during renovations of Independence Hall, the iconic birthplace of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, these blanks offer a unique opportunity to create heirloom-quality pens. Each blank is professionally stabilized to ease the turning process and comes with a 4\" x 6\" Certificate of Authenticity (COA) featuring a foil-embossed seal, ensuring the provenance of this historic material.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMaterial: Authentic Witness Wood®, salvaged from documented renovations of \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eIndependence Hall.\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eAvailable Configurations:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHybrid Black Resin \u0026amp; Stabilized Wood Blanks: \u003c\/strong\u003ecut offs of the stabilized wood left over from cutting full sized blanks and paired with solid black resin.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHybrid Patriotic Red, White, and Blue Resin \u0026amp; Stabilized Wood Blanks: \u003c\/strong\u003ecut offs of the stabilized wood left over from cutting full sized blanks and paired with solid black resin.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePen Blanks:\u003c\/strong\u003e minimum 3\/4\" sq\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRing Blanks:\u003c\/strong\u003e minimum 1.25\" sq x 3\/8\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eKnife Scales Pair: \u003c\/strong\u003eminimum 6\" x 1-1\/2\" x 3\/8\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCraftsmanship:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlanks are professionally stabilized with Cactus Juice \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e stabilizing resin.    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eCertificate of Authenticity:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach blank includes a COA detailing the historical significance of the Independence Hall wood, printed on premium card stock with a foil-embossed seal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eTurning Experience:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Independence Hall wood turns smoothly, yielding a rich, natural finish that highlights its unique grain. Stamp label cast blanks are vibrant and clear, adding a patriotic flair to your creations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003eHistory of the Material:\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"product-description rte\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndependence Hall is a historic civic building in Philadelphia, PA, where both the United States Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted by America's Founding Fathers. The structure forms the centerpiece of the Independence National Historical Park. Independence Hall was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966 and as a World Heritage Site in 1979.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe building was completed in 1753 as the Pennsylvania State House. It served as the first capitol of both the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It was the principal meeting place of the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1781, and was the site of the Constitutional Convention, at which the U.S. Constitution, the longest-standing written and codified national constitution in the world, was ratified on June 21, 1788.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA convention held in Independence Hall in 1915, presided over by former U.S. president William Howard Taft, marked the formal announcement of the formation of the League to Enforce Peace, which led to the League of Nations in 1920 and the United Nations in 1945, a quarter century later.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCompleted in 1735 as the Pennsylvania State House, it took two years to build Independence Hall home of the 1st Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence and where the Constitution was debated and put to paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the renovation of Independence Hall in 1897-98, 16 of the original beams holding up the floor on which the giants of the era debated the future of the 13 Colonies were replaced under the supervision of the project manager and superintendent of the Independence Hall, Samuel Reeves. Rather than discarding the beams, Reeves retained possession of the old timbers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cem\u003eProvenance - Independence Hall\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCompleted in 1735 it took two years to build Independence Hall, home of the 1st Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence and where the Constitution was debated and put to paper.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eDuring the renovation of Independence Hall in 1897-98, 16 of the original beams holding up the floor on which the giants of the era debated the future of the 13 Colonies were replaced under the supervision of the project manager and superintendent of the Independence Hall, Samuel Reeves. Rather than discarding the beams, Reeves retained possession of the old timbers.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn 1912 Reeves sold the beams and other materials including wood interior railings, outer iron railings, and other materials to John S. McQuade a builder and member of the Philadelphia City Council for the purposes of cutting them up and making “relics”, but McQuade stored the beams for 12 years and in 1924 sold them to two brothers Walter and Clarence Deisroth owners of a paper box company in Philadelphia.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Deisroth’s reduced some beams to 100,000 slivers and sold them as souvenirs during the Sesquicentennial Exposition of 1926.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn 1956 the Deisroth’s company went into bankruptcy and at auction Mr. Henry Gouse a retired sales engineer and the Mid-Atlantic Tennis Champion of the 1940s bought the wood at auction, along with what was left of the timbers, thousands of chips, and 20 gallons of sawdust, byproduct of producing the 100,000 slivers was included in the lot.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGrouse stored the beams and other materials in a barn on his property on the outskirts of Philadelphia where he made gavels out of some of the beams and presented them over the years to: President Eisenhower, President Nixon, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and other political leaders. Grouse also gave 4 of the beams to Independence Hall and the National Park Service, confirmed in a National Park Service letter acknowledging “the gift”.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIn 1975 Gouse was in his 80s and his ex-wife “reluctantly” sold the remaining woodpile to an artist and attorney from whose estate Bob DeMartino and History Salvaged was able to acquire the remaining Witness Wood®.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMrs. Grouse only sold the Witness Wood® because of the high cost of living and her economic situation, she simply could no longer afford to keep the timbers and sold the Witness Wood® with the understanding that it would not be desecrated.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe new owners subsequently cut up much of the wood again into slivers, producing thousands of history cards and memorabilia that were sold during the Bi-Centennial in 1976 all over the country and in many major department stores including Wannamaker’s Department Store of Philadelphia.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe remnant wood has dried out and has been deteriorating in storage since the 1970s until the History Salvaged acquisition and repurposing in 2010.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eWitness Wood® was later sold to Hardin Penworks, LLC in 2025 where it was stabilized and processed to make pens and knives from the historic material. Stadium Pen Blanks, a subsidiary of Hardin Penworks, LLC, has made the material available to their customers of historic relics.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stadium Pen Blanks","offers":[{"title":"Black Resin Hybrid \/ 5\" Long Blank","offer_id":51495115030761,"sku":null,"price":76.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black Resin Hybrid \/ 2.5\" Short Blank","offer_id":51495115063529,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black Resin Hybrid \/ Knife Scale Pair 6\" x 1-1\/2\" x 3\/8\"","offer_id":51495119519977,"sku":null,"price":177.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Black Resin Hybrid \/ Ring Blank - 1.25\" sq x 3\/8\"","offer_id":51495120011497,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Patriotic Resin Hybrid \/ 5\" Long Blank","offer_id":51495115161833,"sku":null,"price":76.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Patriotic Resin Hybrid \/ 2.5\" Short Blank","offer_id":51495115194601,"sku":null,"price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Patriotic Resin Hybrid \/ Knife Scale Pair 6\" x 1-1\/2\" x 3\/8\"","offer_id":51495119552745,"sku":null,"price":177.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Patriotic Resin Hybrid \/ Ring Blank - 1.25\" sq x 3\/8\"","offer_id":51495120044265,"sku":null,"price":35.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Extra COA \u0026 Provenance Card \/ Extra COA \u0026 Provenance Card","offer_id":51495120765161,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0351\/5256\/0259\/files\/Independence_Hall.png?v=1751593462","url":"https:\/\/stadiumpenblanks.com\/products\/independence-hall-stabilized-wood-and-resin-hybrid-blanks","provider":"Stadium Pen Blanks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}