The coat of arms of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic , Northeastern , Appalachian , and Great Lakes regions of the United States . It 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 via Lake Erie . Pennsylvania's most populous city is Philadelphia .
Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn , the son of the state's namesake . Before that, between 1638 and 1655, a southeast portion of the state was part of New Sweden , a Swedish 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 later 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 in Philadelphia, which formed the Continental Army and elected George Washington as its commander in 1775 during the American Revolutionary War , and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. In 1787, following the establishment of the nation's independence, the Constitution of the United States , now the world's oldest and longest-standing written and codified national constitution, was written at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and was ratified in Philadelphia the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (Full article...
This is a Featured article , which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia.. One of only two confirmed photos of
Lincoln (seated in center facing camera) at
Gettysburg , taken about noon on November 19, 1863; some three hours later, Lincoln delivered the famed address. To Lincoln's right is
Ward Hill Lamon , Lincoln's bodyguard.
The Gettysburg Address speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln , the 16th U.S. president , following the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War . The speech has come to be viewed as one of the most famous, enduring, and historically significant speeches in American history .
Lincoln delivered the speech on the afternoon of November 19, 1863, during a formal dedication of Soldiers' National Cemetery, now known as Gettysburg National Cemetery , on the grounds where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought four and a half months earlier, between July 1 and July 3, 1863, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania . In the battle, Union army soldiers successfully repelled and defeated Confederate forces in what proved to be the Civil War's deadliest and most decisive battle, resulting in more than 50,000 Confederate and Union army casualties in a Union victory that altered the war's course in the Union 's favor. (Full article...
Quehanna Wild Area protected area within parts of Cameron , Clearfield and Elk counties in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania ; with a total area of 50,000 acres (78 sq mi; 202 km2 ), it covers parts of Elk and Moshannon State Forests . Founded in the 1950s as a nuclear research center, Quehanna has a legacy of radioactive and toxic waste contamination, while also being the largest state forest wild area in Pennsylvania, with herds of elk . The wild area is bisected by the Quehanna Highway and is home to second growth forest with mixed hardwoods and evergreens . Quehanna has two state forest natural areas: the 1,215-acre (492 ha) M.K. Goddard/Wykoff Run Natural Area , and the 917-acre (371 ha) Marion Brooks Natural Area . The latter has the largest stand of white birch in Pennsylvania and the eastern United States.
The land that became Quehanna Wild Area was home to Native Americans , including the Susquehannock and Iroquois , before it was purchased by the United States in 1784. Settlers soon moved into the region and, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the logging industry cut the virgin forests ; clearcutting and forest fires transformed the once verdant land into the "Pennsylvania Desert". Pennsylvania bought this land for its state forests , and in the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps worked to improve them. In 1955 the Curtiss-Wright Corporation bought 80 square miles (210 km2 ) of state forest to focus on developing nuclear-powered jet engines . They named their facility Quehanna for the nearby West Branch Susquehanna River , itself named for the Susquehannocks. (Full article...
Johnstown, Pennsylvania Scranton, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Philadelphia Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Allentown, 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 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Levittown, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Turnpike Pocono Mountains Altoona, Pennsylvania
This is a Good article , an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards. Emily Sartain mezzotint engraving, and the only woman to win a gold medal at the 1876 World Fair in Philadelphia . Sartain became a nationally recognized art educator and was the director of the Philadelphia School of Design for Women from 1866 to 1920. Her father, John Sartain , and three of her brothers, William , Henry and Samuel were artists. Before she entered the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and studied abroad, her father took her on a Grand Tour of Europe. She helped found the New Century Club for working and professional women, and the professional women's art clubs, The Plastic Club and The Three Arts Club. (Full article...
Hawk Mountain Blue Mountain Ridge in the Appalachian Mountain chain , located in central-eastern Pennsylvania near Reading and Allentown . The area includes 13,000 acres (5,300 ha) of protected private and public land, including the 2,600-acre (1,100 ha) Hawk Mountain Sanctuary .
The River of Rocks is visible and accessible from the Sanctuary. The boulders were formed by periglacial processes in the Pleistocene epoch, or "ice age". (Full article...
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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 1 On November 19, 1863,
President Abraham Lincoln (center, facing camera) traveled to present-day
Gettysburg National Cemetery and delivered the
Gettysburg Address , a 271-word address considered one of the most famous speeches in American history. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 2 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 3 Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 4 The
Köppen climate types of Pennsylvania based on 1991–2020
climate normals (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 6 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 7 Pat's King of Steaks in
South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the
cheesesteak in 1933. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 11 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 12 Stephen Decatur , a 19th-century
naval commander who served in the
War of 1812 and other engagements (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 14 The
Statue of Benjamin Franklin on the campus of the
University of Pennsylvania in
West Philadelphia , which pays tribute to
Benjamin Franklin , a
Founding Father who founded the university, now an
Ivy League institution and one of the world's top universities, in 1740 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 15 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 17 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). Founded in 1884, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom is the fifth-oldest amusement park in the nation. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 19 The locomotive
Tioga in
Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from
History of Pennsylvania )
Image 20 The
Battle of Gettysburg , an 1887 portrait by
Thure de Thulstrup depicting the
Battle of Gettysburg , fought over three days from July 1 to July 3, 1863, in
Gettysburg , which was the
deadliest battle in both the Civil War and all of American military history. The
Union army 's victory at Gettysburg proved the
Civil War's turning point , paving the way for the
Union 's ultimate victory two years later and the nation's preservation. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 22 Pennsylvania population density map (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 23 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 24 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 26 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 27 An
Amish family riding in a traditional
Amish buggy in
Lancaster County . As of 2024, Pennsylvania has an Amish population of 92,660, the
largest of any state in the nation. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 30 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 32 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 33 Philadelphia International Airport , the busiest airport in the state and the
21st-busiest airport in the nation with over 13 million passengers in 2023 (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 35 The
Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the
Vince Lombardi Trophy on February 4, 2018, after winning
Super Bowl LII , in which they defeated the
New England Patriots 41–33. (from
Pennsylvania )
Image 37 Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from
Pennsylvania )
Image 38 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 40 2024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from
Pennsylvania )
Image 41 Pittsburgh Steelers ' fans waving the
Terrible Towel , a tradition that dates back to
1975 (from
Pennsylvania )
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