Portal:Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania (/ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪniə/ ^ⓘ, lit. 'Penn's forest country'), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch: Pennsylvanie), is a 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...)

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Hobart Amory Hare "Hobey" Baker (January 15, 1892 – December 21, 1918) was an American amateur athlete of the early twentieth century. Considered the first American star in ice hockey by the Hockey Hall of Fame, he was also an accomplished American football player. Born into a prominent family from the Philadelphia area, he enrolled at Princeton University in 1910. Baker excelled on the university's hockey and football teams, and became a noted amateur hockey player for the St. Nicholas Hockey Club in New York City. He was a member of three national championship teams, for football in 1911 and hockey in 1912 and 1914, and helped the St. Nicholas Club win a national amateur championship in 1915. Baker graduated from Princeton in 1914 and worked for J.P. Morgan Bank until he enlisted in the United States Army Air Service. During World War I he served with the 103rd and the 13th Aero Squadrons before being promoted to captain and named commander of the 141st Aero Squadron. Baker died in December 1918 after a plane he was test-piloting crashed, hours before he was due to leave France and return to America.

Baker was widely regarded by his contemporaries as one of the best athletes of his time and is considered one of the best early American hockey players. When the Hockey Hall of Fame was founded in 1945, Baker was named one of the first nine inductees, the only American among them. In 1973, he became one of the initial inductees in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975, and is the only person to be in both the hockey and college football halls of fame. (Full article...)

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Mahoning Creek

Mahoning Creek is a tributary of the Susquehanna River in Columbia County and Montour County, in Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is approximately 10.6 miles (17.1 km) long and flows through Madison Township in Columbia County and West Hemlock Township, Derry Township, Valley Township, Mahoning Township, and Danville in Montour County. The watershed of the creek has an area of 39.6 square miles (103 km²). Its tributaries include Kase Run, Mauses Creek, and Sechler Run. Mahoning Creek is designated as a Trout-Stocking Fishery and a Migratory Fishery for part of its length and as a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery for the remainder.

Mahoning Creek is considered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to be impaired by siltation. The main rock formations in the watershed include the Trimmers Rock Formation, the Clinton Group, the Catskill Formation, the Hamilton Group, the Bloomsburg and Mifflintown Formation, the Onondaga and Old Port Formation, and the Wills Creek Formation. The main soils include the Berks-Weikert-Alvira series, the Chenango-Pope-Holly series, the Clymer-Buchanan-Norwich series, and the Leck Kill-Meckesville-Calvin series. Most of the watershed is forested or agricultural land, but there is some developed land. (Full article...)

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Credit: surplusparts
The Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a scenic avenue that runs through the cultural heart of Philadelphia.

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... that the Merrill Lock No. 6 (pictured), located on the Ohio River in Pennsylvania, was converted from a lock complex to a restaurant?
... that before becoming Governor of Pennsylvania, John K. Tener was a Major League Baseball player who once explained the game to the future King Edward VII?
... that John Fetterman, the mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania, lives in a warehouse he purchased for $2,000?
... that the only surviving structure from the Coudersport and Port Allegany Railroad is a train station that is now the town hall of Coudersport, Pennsylvania?
... that the 85-mile (137 km) Susquehannock Trail System hiking trail passes through the 30,253-acre (12,243 ha) Hammersley Wild Area, the largest area in Pennsylvania without a road?

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Erie	Lehigh Valley	Pennsylvania Roads

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Scott during his time at Maryland

Da'Rel Scott (born May 26, 1988) is a former American football running back. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He played college football for the University of Maryland, where he was a starting running back. During the 2008 season, he was the second-leading rusher in the Atlantic Coast Conference, behind Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech.

Scott played interscholastic football as a running back and free safety at Plymouth-Whitemarsh High School. He was moderately recruited, but Scout.com thought he was more suited to the position of wide receiver or cornerback at the intercollegiate level. In 2006, he enrolled at the University of Maryland, where he was moved to wide receiver, but he spent the entire season on redshirt status. The following season, he saw limited action as a reserve running back behind starters Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore. He also played on special teams as a kickoff returner, which was the coaching staff's attempt to get him on the field in some capacity because of his speed (4.31 seconds in the 40-yard dash and sub 10.5 seconds in the 100 meters) (Full article...)

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Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand Crayola and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Since 1984, Crayola has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards.

Originally an industrial pigment supply company, Crayola soon shifted its focus to art products for home and school use, beginning with chalk, then crayons, followed later by colored pencils, markers, paints, modeling clay, and other related goods. All Crayola-branded products are marketed as nontoxic and safe for use by children. Most Crayola crayons are manufactured in the United States. (Full article...)

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Pennsylvania news

State facts

State Facts

Nickname: The Keystone State
Capital: Harrisburg
Largest city: Philadelphia
Total area: 119,283 square kilometers (46,055 square miles)
Population (2000 census): 12,281,054
Date admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2^nd)

State symbols

Bird: Ruffed grouse
Fish: Brook trout
Floral emblem: Mistletoe
Flower: Mountain laurel
Insect: Pennsylvania firefly
Mammal: White-tailed deer
Tree: Eastern Hemlock
Fossil: Trilobite
Soil: Hazleton
Song: Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania topics

General images

The following are images from various Pennsylvania-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Pittsburgh Steelers' fans waving the Terrible Towel, a tradition that dates back to 1975 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 2Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from Pennsylvania)
Image 3Citizens 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 4Benjamin Franklin, a Founding Father of the United States and Pennsylvania delegate to the Second Continental Congress, which created the Continental Army in 1775 and unanimously adopted and issued the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776 (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 5On 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 6William Penn, a Quaker and son of a prominent admiral, founded the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 7The Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 8The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg (from Pennsylvania)
Image 9Bethlehem 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 10Dorney 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 11A woodcut illustration of the crowd at the first Republican National Convention in 1856 at Musical Fund Hall at 808 Locust Street in Philadelphia (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 12The Hershey Company in Hershey (from Pennsylvania)
Image 13The 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 14Amtrak's Pennsylvanian on Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township (from Pennsylvania)
Image 15Rivers Casino, located in the Chateau section of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, one of Pennsylvania's 16 casinos (from Pennsylvania)
Image 16South Philadelphia High School on Broad Street in South Philadelphia in February 2010 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 17One 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 18Stephen Decatur, a 19th-century naval commander who served in the War of 1812 and other engagements (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 19Simon 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 20The 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 21
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 22Autumn in North Branch Township in Wyoming County in October 2011 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 23An Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County; Pennsylvania has the largest Amish population of any state. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 24A 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 25Shelter 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 26Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were adopted in 1776 and 1787-88, respectively (from Pennsylvania)
Image 27The 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 28Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (from Pennsylvania)
Image 29Philadelphia 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 30NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (from Pennsylvania)
Image 31Köppen climate types in Pennsylvania (from Pennsylvania)
Image 32Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the cheesesteak in 1933 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 33Frederick Winslow Taylor of Philadelphia, a late 19th and early 20th century pioneer in scientific management (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 34The 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 35Lenape chief Lappawinsoe, depicted in a 1735 painting by Gustavus Hesselius (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 36The 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 37The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 38The 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 392020 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from Pennsylvania)