The coat of arms of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lit. ' Penn's forest country ' ), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch : Pennsylvanie state spanning the Mid-Atlantic , Northeastern , Appalachian , and Great Lakes regions of the United States . Pennsylvania borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio and the Ohio River to its west, Lake Erie and New York to its north, the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east, and the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest.
Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn , the son of the state's namesake . Prior to that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden , a Swedish Empire colony. Established as a haven for religious and political tolerance, the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania was known for its relatively peaceful relations with native tribes, innovative government system , and religious pluralism . Pennsylvania played a vital and historic role in the American Revolution and the ultimately successful quest for independence from the British Empire , hosting the First and Second Continental Congress leading to the adoption of the Declaration of Independence . On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution . The bloodiest battle of the American Civil War , at Gettysburg over three days in July 1863, proved the war's turning point, leading to the Union's preservation . Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, the state's manufacturing-based economy contributed to the development of much of the nation's early infrastructure, including key bridges, skyscrapers , and military hardware used in U.S.-led victories in World War I , World War II , and the Cold War .
Pennsylvania's geography is highly diverse. The Appalachian Mountains run through the center of the state; the Allegheny and Pocono mountains span much of Northeastern Pennsylvania ; close to 60% of the state is forested . While it has only 140 miles (225 km) of waterfront along Lake Erie and the Delaware River, Pennsylvania has the most navigable rivers of any state in the nation, including the Allegheny , Delaware, Genesee , Ohio , Schuylkill , Susquehanna , and others. (Full article...
This is a Featured article , which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.. Idlewild and Soak Zone Idlewild Park or simply Idlewild , is an amusement park in the Laurel Highlands near Ligonier, Pennsylvania , United States, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Pittsburgh , along US Route 30 . Founded in 1878 as a campground along the Ligonier Valley Railroad by Thomas Mellon , Idlewild is the oldest amusement park in Pennsylvania and the third oldest operating amusement park in the United States behind Lake Compounce and Cedar Point . The park has won several awards, including from industry publication Amusement Today
The prominent
Mellon family established the park in 1878, and it remained family-owned for over 100 years. It expanded greatly throughout the first half of the 20th century, adding rides including a
Philadelphia Toboggan Company Rollo Coaster in 1938, one of the company's earliest. The park is home to the Ligonier Highland Games, a Scottish athletic and cultural festival that has annually drawn over 10,000 spectators. In 1983, the park was purchased by
Kennywood Entertainment Company , which oversaw additional expansion, including an attraction designed and voiced by
Fred Rogers based on his television show
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood . Since 2008, the park, as well as others formerly under Kennywood Entertainment, have been owned by
Spanish company
Parques Reunidos and operated by their American subsidiary
Palace Entertainment . (
Full article... )
List of Featured articles
Allentown Pennsylvania Dutch : Allenschteddel , Allenschtadt , or Ellsdaun ) is a city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania , United States. It is the third-most-populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.
Founded in 1762, Allentown is located on the
Lehigh River , a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the
Delaware River . It is the largest of three adjacent cities, including
Bethlehem and
Easton in Lehigh and
Northampton counties, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Allentown is located 48 miles (77 km) north of
Philadelphia and 78 miles (126 km) west of
New York City . (
Full article... )
List of geography articles
Johnstown, Pennsylvania Scranton, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Philadelphia Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Lancaster, Pennsylvania State College, Pennsylvania Warren, Pennsylvania DuBois, Pennsylvania Erie, Pennsylvania Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Juniata County, Pennsylvania Pithole, Pennsylvania Lock Haven, Pennsylvania Larrys Creek State Route 1002 (Lehigh County, Pennsylvania) Pennsylvania Route 563 Hull Creek (Lackawanna River tributary) Little Fishing Creek Ganoga Lake Mahoning Creek (Susquehanna River tributary) Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania Roaring Brook (Lackawanna River tributary) Pennsylvania Route 463 Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania) Spanish Hill West Branch Fishing Creek West Creek (Pennsylvania) Plunketts Creek Bridge No. 3 White Deer Hole Creek Plunketts Creek (Loyalsock Creek tributary) Horseshoe Curve (Pennsylvania) Kinzua Bridge Quehanna Wild Area Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Levittown, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike Pocono Mountains Altoona, Pennsylvania
Map of the original Mason–Dixon line (in red) The Mason–Dixon line Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line , is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states , constituting parts of the borders of Pennsylvania , Maryland , Delaware , and West Virginia (part of Virginia until 1863). It was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon as part of the resolution of a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware in the colonial United States . The dispute had its origins almost a century earlier in the somewhat confusing proprietary grants by King Charles I to Lord Baltimore (Maryland), and by his son King Charles II to William Penn (Pennsylvania and Delaware).
The largest portion of the Mason–Dixon line, along the southern Pennsylvania border, later became informally known as the boundary between the
Southern slave states and Northern free states . This usage came to prominence during the debate around the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, when drawing boundaries between slave and free territory was an issue, and resurfaced during the
American Civil War , with
border states also coming into play. The
Confederate States of America claimed the Virginia portion of the line as part of its northern border, although it never exercised meaningful control that far north – especially after West Virginia separated from Virginia and joined the Union as a separate state in 1863. It is still used today in the figurative sense of a line that separates the
Northeast and
South culturally, politically, and socially
(see Dixie ) . (
Full article... )
List of selected articles
Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories
State Facts Pennsylvania's largest city Philadelphia Nickname: The Keystone State Capital: Harrisburg Largest city: Philadelphia Total area: 119,283 square kilometers (46,055 square miles)Population (2000 census): 12,281,054Date admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2nd )State symbols Mountain laurel, Pennsylvania's state flower
The following are images from various Pennsylvania-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 2 Citizens Bank Park in
South Philadelphia , home of the
Philadelphia Phillies , the oldest continuous same-name, same-city franchise in American professional sports (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 3 One of only two confirmed photos of
Abraham Lincoln (sitting in center, facing camera, without his traditional top hat) at
Gettysburg a few hours prior to giving the
Gettysburg Address at
Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. The address, which was only 271 words in length, ranks among the most famed speeches in American history. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 4 The
Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the
Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning
Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 5 On November 19, 1863,
President Abraham Lincoln (center, facing camera) arrived in
Gettysburg and delivered the
Gettysburg Address , considered one of the best-known speeches in American history. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 7 Pat's King of Steaks in
South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the
cheesesteak in 1933 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 8 Pittsburgh Steelers ' fans waving the
Terrible Towel , a tradition that dates back to
1975 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 9 Shelter House in
Emmaus , constructed in 1734 by
Pennsylvania German settlers, is the oldest continuously occupied building structure in the
Lehigh Valley and one of the oldest in Pennsylvania (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 13 Köppen climate types in Pennsylvania (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 14 The
colonial possessions of
Britain (in pink),
France (in blue), and
Spain (in orange) as of 1750. The French later lost their possessions in
North America to Britain following its defeat in the
French and Indian War , fought from 1754 to 1763 (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 15 Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom 's
Steel Force and
Thunderhawk roller coasters in
Allentown ; Steel Force is the eighth-longest
steel roller coaster in the world with a first drop of 205 feet (62 m) and a top speed of 75 miles per hour (121 km/h). (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 16 2020 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from
Pennsylvania )
Image 17 The
Gettysburg campaign , which culminated in the
Battle of Gettysburg , was a major turning point in the
American Civil War and the war's bloodiest battle with an estimated 46,000 to 51,000 casualties (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 18 Simon Cameron of
Maytown was
Secretary of War and head of Pennsylvania's
Republican Party , whose party machine controlled Pennsylvania into the 20th century. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 21 The
Battle of Gettysburg , fought July 1–3, 1863 in
Gettysburg , was the Civil War's
deadliest battle but also is widely considered the
war's turning point in the
Union's ultimate victory. The battle is depicted in this 1887
Thure de Thulstrup painting,
Battle of Gettysburg . (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 22 The
statue of
Benjamin Franklin on the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania , an
Ivy League institution in
Philadelphia ranked one of world's top universities (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 23 Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 28 The locomotive
Tioga in
Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 29 Philadelphia International Airport , the busiest airport in the state and the
21st-busiest airport in the nation with nearly 10 million passengers annually as of 2021 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 30 Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from
Pennsylvania )
Image 31 Stephen Decatur , a 19th-century
naval commander who served in the
War of 1812 and other engagements (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 33 The Birth of Pennsylvania , a portrait of
William Penn (standing with document in hand), who founded the
Province of Pennsylvania in 1681 as a refuge for
Quakers after receiving a royal deed to it from
King Charles II (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 34 The
Stonycreek Township crash site of
Flight 93 , one of four planes hijacked in the
September 11 attacks ; the site is now a
national memorial . Flight 93 passengers wrestled with
al-Qaeda terrorist hijackers for control of the plane, preventing it from being flown into the
White House or
U.S. Capitol . (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 35 A map of
New Netherland (in magenta) and
New Sweden (in blue) in the 17th century; New Sweden was later absorbed by New Netherland and then the
British in the
Second Anglo-Dutch War . (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 36 Bethlehem Steel in
Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 19th and 20th century. In 1982, however, it discontinued most of its operations, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 39 An
Amish family riding in a traditional
Amish buggy in
Lancaster County ; Pennsylvania has the largest
Amish population of any state. (from
Pennsylvania )
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
