Portal:Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania Portal

Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryland to its south, forming the Mason-Dixon Line, West Virginia to its southwest, Ohio to its west, the Canadian province of Ontario to its northwest via Lake Erie, New York to its north, and the Delaware River and New Jersey to its east. Pennsylvania's most populous city is Philadelphia, and the state capital is Harrisburg. Among all US states, Pennsylvania is the fifth-most populous with over 13 million residents as of the 2020 United States census, the ninth-highest by population density, and the 33rd-largest by land area. The largest metropolitan statistical area is the Philadelphia metropolitan area in southeastern Pennsylvania, also known as the Delaware Valley and centered on Philadelphia, the sixth-most populous U.S. city. Pennsylvania's second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh, is centered in and around Pittsburgh, the commonwealth's second-largest city.

Pennsylvania was founded in 1681 through a royal land grant to William Penn, the son of the commonwealth'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 British 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, the latter of which formed the Continental Army commanded by George Washington in 1775, during the American Revolutionary War, unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence the following year. On December 12, 1787, Pennsylvania was the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution after Delaware.

The Battle of Gettysburg, fought in July 1863 around Gettysburg, was the bloodiest battle of the American Civil War with over 51,000 Union and Confederate casualties, and resulted in a repulsion of the Confederacy's invasion of the North. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, the state's steel production and 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. In the 21st century, Pennsylvania has garnered the nickname "Cellicon State" for the central role of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh in the development of immunotherapies to treat different cancers. (Full article...)

Featured article -

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

CCC-built overlook looking south into Pine Creek Gorge

Colton Point State Park is a 368-acre (149 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is on the west side of the Pine Creek Gorge, also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, which is 800 feet (240 m) deep and nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 m) across at this location. The park extends from the creek in the bottom of the gorge up to the rim and across part of the plateau to the west. Colton Point State Park is known for its views of the Pine Creek Gorge, and offers opportunities for picnicking, hiking, fishing and hunting, whitewater boating, and camping. Colton Point is surrounded by Tioga State Forest and its sister park, Leonard Harrison State Park, on the east rim. The park is on a state forest road in Shippen Township 5 miles (8 km) south of U.S. Route 6.

Pine Creek flows through the park and has carved the gorge through five major rock formations from the Devonian and Carboniferous periods. Native Americans once used the Pine Creek Path along the creek. The path was later used by lumbermen, and then became the course of a railroad from 1883 to 1988. Since 1996, the 62-mile (100 km) Pine Creek Rail Trail has followed the creek through the gorge. The Pine Creek Gorge was named a National Natural Landmark in 1968 and is also protected as a Pennsylvania State Natural Area and Important Bird Area, while Pine Creek is a Pennsylvania Scenic and Wild River. The gorge is home to many species of plants and animals, some of which have been reintroduced to the area. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles

Selected geography article -

Lancaster skyline

Lancaster is a city in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 58,039 at the 2020 census, it is the eighth-most populous city in the state. It is a core city within South Central Pennsylvania, with 552,984 residents in the Lancaster metropolitan area.

Settled in the 1720s, Lancaster is one of the oldest inland cities in the US. It served as the capital of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1812. The city's primary industries include healthcare, tourism, public administration, manufacturing, and both professional and semi-professional services. Lancaster is located 59 miles (95 km) southwest of Allentown and 61 miles (98 km) west of Philadelphia and is a hub of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. (Full article...)

List of geography articles

Selected image -

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

Did you know -

... that Worlds End State Park (pictured) in Pennsylvania is sometimes erroneously known as "Whirls End State Park", its official name for seven years?
... that the Native American Sheshequin Path along Lycoming Creek, Pennsylvania was prone to such bad weather that an evil spirit was believed to reside there?
... that Tussey Mountain in Pennsylvania has been designated as an Important Bird Area, as it is home to several raptor species during their spring migration?
... that the summer stock theater at Caledonia State Park in Pennsylvania regularly featured actress Jean Stapleton, well-known for her role as Edith Bunker on the 70's TV classic All in the Family?
... that Cowans Gap State Park in Pennsylvania was the site of a key road in the French and Indian War, a pioneer farm, a charcoal operation, and a CCC Camp?

Related portals

Wikiprojects


Pennsylvania	Philadelphia	Pittsburgh

Erie	Lehigh Valley	Pennsylvania Roads

Good article -

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

Henry Adams Thompson (March 23, 1837 – July 8, 1920) was an American prohibitionist and professor who was the vice-presidential nominee of the Prohibition Party in 1880.

Thompson was a native of Pennsylvania, but he spent much of his career in Ohio. He became a member of the United Brethren church and taught mathematics at several United Brethren colleges in the Midwest. Thompson served as president of Otterbein University from 1872 to 1886. Much of his time as college president was devoted to improving the financial standing of the school during the economic depression that followed the Panic of 1873. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Selected article -

Griffey with the Seattle Mariners in 2009

George Kenneth Griffey Jr. (born November 21, 1969), nicknamed "Junior" and "the Kid", is an American former professional baseball outfielder who played 22 years in Major League Baseball (MLB). He spent most of his career with the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds, along with a short stint with the Chicago White Sox. The first overall pick in the 1987 draft and a 13-time All-Star, Griffey is widely considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time. His 630 home runs rank as the seventh-most in MLB history. Griffey was also an exceptional defender and won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field. He is tied for the record of most consecutive games with a home run (eight, with Don Mattingly and Dale Long).

Griffey signed lucrative deals with companies of international prominence like Nike and Nintendo; his popularity reflected well upon MLB and is credited by some with helping restore its image after the 1994 labor dispute. Griffey is one of only 31 players in baseball history to have appeared in major league games in four different calendar decades. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

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 1South Philadelphia High School on Broad Street in South Philadelphia in February 2010 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 2
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 3Pittsburgh Steelers' fans waving the Terrible Towel, a tradition that dates back to 1975 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 4Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and United States Constitution were adopted in 1776 and 1787–88, respectively (from Pennsylvania)
Image 5Shelter 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 6Autumn in North Branch Township in Wyoming County in October 2011 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 7The 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 8On 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 9The 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 10The 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 11The Hershey Company in Hershey (from Pennsylvania)
Image 12The 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 13One 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 14The 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 15The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg (from Pennsylvania)
Image 16Map of counties in Pennsylvania by racial and ethnic plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census (from 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 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 19Benjamin 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 20The Köppen climate types of Pennsylvania based on 1991–2020 climate normals (from Pennsylvania)
Image 21An 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 22Philadelphia 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 23Pennsylvania Municipalities (from Pennsylvania)
Image 24Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (from Pennsylvania)
Image 25The Battle of Gettysburg, an 1887 portrait by Thure de Thulstrup depicting the Battle of Gettysburg, fought over three days from July 1 to 3, 1863, in Gettysburg. It was the deadliest battle ever fought on American soil and the bloodiest battle in all of American military history. But 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 26Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 20th century. In 1982, however, it discontinued most of its operations, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 27Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from Pennsylvania)
Image 28Dorney 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 29Stephen Decatur, a 19th-century naval commander who served in the War of 1812 and other engagements (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 302024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 31NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (from Pennsylvania)
Image 32Amtrak's Pennsylvanian on Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township (from Pennsylvania)
Image 33Frederick Winslow Taylor of Philadelphia, a late 19th and early 20th century pioneer in scientific management (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 34Rivers Casino, located in the Chateau section of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, one of Pennsylvania's 16 casinos (from Pennsylvania)
Image 35Citizens 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 36Pennsylvania population density map (from Pennsylvania)
Image 37The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 38Lenape chief Lappawinsoe, depicted in a 1735 painting by Gustavus Hesselius (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 39A 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 40Simon 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 41Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the cheesesteak in 1933. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 42William Penn, a Quaker and son of a prominent admiral, founded the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. (from Pennsylvania)

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Commons
Free media repository
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals
Wikidata
Free knowledge base
Wikinews
Free-content news
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations
Wikisource
Free-content library
Wikiversity
Free learning tools
Wikivoyage
Free travel guide
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus

Discover Wikipedia using portals