Header image from National Park Service, Appalachian National Scenic Trail, Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the Constitution and was admitted to the Union on December 12, 1787.
Ruffed Grouse
Often incorrectly referred to as a “partridge”, pheasant, or prairie chicken. Other nicknames for ruffed grouse include drummer or thunder-chicken. The ruffed grouse differs from other grouse species in its courtship display. Unlike other grouse species, the ruffed grouse relies entirely on a non-vocal acoustic display, known as drumming. The drumming itself is a rapid, wing-beating display that creates a low frequency sound, starting slow and speeding up (thump … thump … thump..thump-thump-thump-thump). State bird of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania – Mountain Laurel
Also called the calico-bush, or spoonwood (native Americans used to make spoons from the wood), it is a broadleaved evergreen shrub in the heather family. All parts of the plant are poisonous.
Pennsylvania – Eastern Hemlock
The lumber is used for general construction and crates. Because of its unusual power of holding spikes, it is also used for railroad ties. What the questioner has in mind, of course, is the fact that the Athenian philosopher Socrates is said to have committed suicide by ingesting a drink made from poison hemlock. Insofar as I am aware, however, hemlock trees aren’t toxic — and they don’t grow in Greece.
The poison hemlock associated with Socrates is an herbaceous plant (Conium maculatum) in the carrot family. Mentioned in the Bible, it’s a native of Eurasia that has been naturalized in the Western Hemisphere since colonial times. The Hemlock produces some of the smallest cones in the pine family.
State Quarter
From theus50.com
The Pennsylvania quarter depicts the statue “Commonwealth,” an outline of the state, the state motto, and a keystone. This design was chosen to further help educate people about the origins of our second state, founded on December 12, 1787.
The statue “Commonwealth,” designed by New York sculptor Roland Hinton Perry, is a bronze-gilded 14′ 6″ high female form that has topped Pennsylvania’s state capitol dome in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania since May 25, 1905. Her right arm extends in kindness and her left arm grasps a ribbon mace to symbolize justice. The image of the keystone honors the states nickname, “The Keystone State.” At a Jefferson Republican victory rally in October 1802, Pennsylvania was toasted as “the keystone in the federal union.” The modern persistence of this designation is justified in view of the key position of Pennsylvania in the economic, social, and political development of the United States.
Capital: Harrisburg, Pa
Nickname: Keystone state
Motto: Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Pennsylvania Facts and Trivia
Europeans began to explore the region around Pennsylvania in the early 1600s. English explorer Captain John Smith sailed up the Susquehanna River and met with some of the Native Americans in the area in 1608. Henry Hudson also explored the area on behalf of the Dutch in 1609. Although both England and the Netherlands laid claim to the land, it was several years before people began to settle Pennsylvania.
The first settlers in the region were the Dutch and the Swedish. However, the British defeated the Dutch in 1664 and took control over the area. In 1681, William Penn, was given a large area of land by King Charles II of England to pay off a debt owed by the crown to his father, Sir William Penn.
Penn wanted the land to be named “Sylvania” which means “forest land” in Latin. Charles II insisted on the name “Pennsylvania”.
Penn wanted his colony to be a place of religious freedom. Some of the first settlers were Welsh Quakers looking for a place where they could practice their religion without persecution.
Pennsylvania is the only original colony not bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
Border disputes were common in colonial America. To resolve a conflict regarding the borders separating Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, a survey was done between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, henceforth to be known as the Mason-Dixon line. It still forms the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia. It would later be considered the border between the North and the South.
Named by Governor William Penn after his arrival in the New World in 1682, Philadelphia combined the Greek words for love (phileo) and brother (adelphos), engendering its nickname of “the city of brotherly love.”
Pennsylvania’s capital, Philadelphia, was the site of the first and second Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775, the latter of which produced the Declaration of Independence, sparking the American Revolution.
In Philadelphia in 1775 Johann Behrent built the first piano in America calling it under the name “Piano Forte.”
The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776.
Tourists are drawn to Pennsylvania by its monuments to America’s revolutionary history, including Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.
During the winter of 1777, General George Washington and the Continental Army stayed at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, not too far outside Philadelphia.
In June 1778, a 700 wagon caravan escorted the Liberty Bell on its return to Philadelphia from Allentown along Towamencin’s Allentown Road. Nine months earlier, when British troops threatened to capture the city, the bell had been whisked into hiding via the same route.
The first daily newspaper was published in Philadelphia on Sept. 21, 1784.
After the war, Pennsylvania became the second state, after Delaware, to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
Philadelphia was the United States capital city from 1790-1800. Philadelphia is the site of the first presidential mansion. Washington’s second inauguration in 1793 and John Adams’ in 1797 were held at Congress Hall, Philadelphia.
James Buchanan, the 15th President of the U. S. was born in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania on April 23, 1791.
October 1812 – Harrisburg was named as the capital city of Pennsylvania.
Nazareth is the home of Martin guitars, the world’s leading acoustic instrument makers since 1833.
Drake Well Museum in Titusville is on the site where Edwin L. Drake drilled the world’s first oil well in 1859 and launched the modern petroleum industry.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Pennsylvania remained loyal to the Union and played a vital role in the war. The state provided over 360,000 troops as well as supplies for the Union army. Since Pennsylvania was near the border between the North and the South, southern Pennsylvania was raided by the Confederate Army. The largest battle to take place in the state was the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863 in which Union General George Meade defeated Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Gettysburg was also the site of Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address.
Philadelphia opened the first Zoological garden in July 1874.
Punxsutawney citizens are proud to be over shadowed by their town’s most famous resident the world-renowned weather forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Punxsutawney is billed as the weather capital of the world. Groundhog day has been an annual event since 1887.
In 1903, the Boston Americans and Pittsburgh Pirates competed against each other in the first official World Series of Major League Baseball at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh. In the best-of-nine series, Boston won five games to three.
In 1909 the first baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh.
In 1913 the first automobile service station opened in Pittsburgh.
George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing of Bradford in late 1932. He started with a simple idea: create a product that answers a real need, design it to work, and guarantee it to last.
Hershey is considered the Chocolate Capital of the United States.
Indiana County is the Christmas Tree capital of the world.
The Borough of Kane is known as the Black Cherry Capital of the World.
Kennett Square, PA is the mushroom capital of the world. It produces one million pounds of mushrooms per year and has an annual mushroom festival.
Philadelphia is home to the cheesesteak sandwich, water ice, soft pretzels, and TastyKakes.
The Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg is the longest stone arch bridge in the world.
Each year on Christmas day the “Crossing of the Delaware” is reenacted at Washington Crossing.
Actor Jimmy Stewart was born and raised in the town of Indiana. Each year at Christmas the downtown area is decorated in the theme of the film “It’s a Wonderful Life”.
Pittsburgh is famous for manufacturing steel. Its professional football team is named the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Originally Bellefonte, a town now with a population of 5,000, was once considered to be Pennsylvania’s capital. But Harrisburg was chosen because of the easy navigation on the Susquehanna River.
Ringing Hill in Lower Pottsgrove Township is named after the “ringing rocks” which were known for the unique ringing sound they made when struck by a hammer.
Located in the Grape Coast region of Pennsylvania the city of North East has four thriving wineries and is home to the largest Welch’s grape processing plant in the country.
Pennsylvania has its share of weird laws:
It is illegal to discharge a firearm at a wedding or to sing in the bathtub or to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors.
No more than 16 women may live together under one roof.
In Pittsburgh, you may not bring your mule or donkey onto a trolley car with you.
In Hazleton, there is a law on the books that prohibits a person from sipping a carbonated drink while lecturing students in a school auditorium.
One weird Pennsylvania law forbids singing in the bathtub.
Another forbids the sweeping of dirt underneath a rug.
People:
- Show Business
- John Barrymore, actor
- Bill Cosby, actor
- Jimmy Dorsey, band leader
- Tommy Dorsey, band leader
- W. C. Fields, comedian
- Martha Graham, choreographer
Gene Kelly, dancer, actor- Mario Lanza, actor, singer
- Tom Mix, actor
- James Stewart, actor
- Fred Waring, band leader
- Other
- Edward Goodrich Acheson, inventor
- Louisa May Alcott, author
- Maxwell Anderson, playwright
- Stephen Vincent Benet, poet, story writer
- Daniel Boone, frontiersman
- James Buchanan, U.S. president
- Rachel Carson, biologist, author
- Mary Cassatt, painter
- Stephen Foster, composer
- Robert Fulton, inventor
- Lee Iacocca, auto executive
- Reggie Jackson, baseball player
- Jim Kelly, football player
- S. S. Kresge, merchant
- Tara Lipinski, figure skater
- George C. Marshall, five-star general
- George McClellan, general
- Margaret Mead, anthropologist
- Arnold Palmer, golfer
- Robert E. Peary, explorer
- Betsy Griscom Ross, flagmaker
- B. F. Skinner, psychologist
- Gertrude Stein, author
- John Updike, author
- Honus Wagner, baseball player
Music
Pennsylvania (state song)
Sweet Home, Pennsylvania by the Wackjobs
Allentown by Billy Joel
Philadelphia Freedom by Elton John
Fall in Philadelphia by Hall and Oates
Pittsburgh by The Lemonheads
Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen
Credits
See 50 states.com
See Ducksters.com
See History.com
See Mental Floss
See Only In Your State is a terrific website for those who may be planning a trip to or through Pennsylvania!