The Syng inkstand became the property of the State of Pennsylvania and was moved to the state capital in Harrisburg soon after the Constitutional Convention ended. It was returned to the City of Philadelphia in 1876, on the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, where it became famous. It was displayed in Independence Hall on a desk in front of George Washington's chair. Cracks appeared in the plaster ceiling of Independence Hall in 1922 and stoked fears that the building would collapse, and the inkstand was considered such an important artifact that it was removed at the same time that the first floor was cleared of visitors.