Portal:Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania (/ˌpɛnsɪlˈveɪniə/ ^ⓘ PEN-sil-VAY-nee-ə, lit. 'Penn's forest country'), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch: Pennsilfaani), is a U.S. 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 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 in Philadelphia, which formed the Continental Army and appointed George Washington as its commander in 1775, and unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (Full article...)

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The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg in April 2022

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg. The building was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative Renaissance themes throughout. The capitol houses the legislative chambers for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. It is also the main building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.

The seat of government for the state was initially in Philadelphia, then was relocated to Lancaster in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. The current capitol, known as the Huston Capitol, is the third state capitol building built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire. The second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding was discontinued in 1899. (Full article...)

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Downtown Scranton

Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the Wyoming Valley metropolitan area, which has a population of 562,037 as of 2020. It is the sixth-most populous city in Pennsylvania.

The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban core act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while Scranton is a mid-sized city, the larger Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area contains half a million residents in roughly 300 square miles (780 km²). Scranton is the cultural and economic center of Northeastern Pennsylvania, a region of the state with over 1.3 million residents. (Full article...)

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Credit: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Aerial view of Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie in Erie.

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... that the former factory and headquarters (pictured) of the Hamilton Watch Company, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was converted into an apartment and condominium complex?
... that after the Mill Creek flooded Erie, Pennsylvania in 1915, it was diverted to a tube that is large enough for a pickup truck to drive through?
... that Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania was to have become a national park before budget issues and World War II ended that plan?
... that Red Rock Job Corps Center is within Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania, uses the facilities of the former Benton Air Force Station, and is still home to an FAA radar?
... that the Francis Farm Petroglyphs are among Pennsylvania's leading petroglyph sites, even though the culture of their creators is unknown?

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Erie	Lehigh Valley	Pennsylvania Roads

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View from south in 1999

Three Rivers Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, from 1970 to 2000. It was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL).

Built to replace Forbes Field, which opened in 1909, the US$55 million ($457 million in 2024) multi-purpose facility was designed to maximize efficiency. Ground was broken in April 1968 and construction, often behind schedule, took 29 months. The stadium opened on July 16, 1970, with a Pirates game. In the 1971 World Series, it hosted the first World Series game played at night. The following year, the stadium was the site of the Immaculate Reception. The final game in the stadium was won by the Steelers on December 16, 2000. Three Rivers also hosted the Pittsburgh Maulers of the United States Football League and the University of Pittsburgh Panthers football team for a single season each. (Full article...)

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The cuisine of Philadelphia was shaped largely by the city's mixture of ethnicities, available foodstuffs and history. Certain foods have become associated with the city.

Invented in Philadelphia in the 1930s, the cheesesteak is the most well known, and soft pretzels have long been a major part of Philadelphia culture. (Full article...)

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Pennsylvania news

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): 12,281,054
Date admitted to the Union: December 12, 1787 (2^nd)

State symbols

Mountain laurel, Pennsylvania's state flower

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 1Autumn in North Branch Township in Wyoming County in October 2011 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 2Pittsburgh Steelers' fans waving the Terrible Towel, a tradition that dates back to 1975 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 3William Penn, a Quaker and son of a prominent admiral, founded the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 4The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg (from Pennsylvania)
Image 5Köppen climate types in Pennsylvania (from Pennsylvania)
Image 6Stephen Decatur, a 19th-century naval commander who served in the War of 1812 and other engagements (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 7The 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 8Philadelphia 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 9Dorney 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 10Shelter 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 11One 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 12The 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 13Amtrak's Pennsylvanian on Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township (from Pennsylvania)
Image 14Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were adopted in 1776 and 1787-88, respectively (from Pennsylvania)
Image 15Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the cheesesteak in 1933 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 16Lenape chief Lappawinsoe, depicted in a 1735 painting by Gustavus Hesselius (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 17A 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 18The 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 19Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from Pennsylvania)
Image 20Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (from Pennsylvania)
Image 21The 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 22South Philadelphia High School on Broad Street in South Philadelphia in February 2010 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 23
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 24Bethlehem 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 25Benjamin 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 26Pennsylvania population density map (from Pennsylvania)
Image 27Citizens 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 28Rivers Casino, located in the Chateau section of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, one of Pennsylvania's 16 casinos (from Pennsylvania)
Image 29On 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 30The Hershey Company in Hershey (from Pennsylvania)
Image 31The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 32The Philadelphia Eagles are presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LII on February 4, 2018 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 332024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 34A 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 35NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (from Pennsylvania)
Image 36Simon 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 37Frederick Winslow Taylor of Philadelphia, a late 19th and early 20th century pioneer in scientific management (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 38The 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 39An Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County; Pennsylvania has the largest Amish population of any state. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 40The 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)