Portal:Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania, officially the 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, 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. The state capital is Harrisburg. Among all 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 southeastern Philadelphia metropolitan area, centered on Philadelphia, the state's most populous and nation's sixth-most populous city. The second-largest metropolitan area, Greater Pittsburgh, is centered in and around Pittsburgh, the state's second-largest city.

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 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, right 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. (Full article...)

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1861 portrait

George Brinton McClellan (December 3, 1826 – October 29, 1885) was an American military officer, politician, and engineer who served as the 24th governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881 and as Commanding General of the United States Army from November 1861 to March 1862. He was also chief engineer and vice president of the Illinois Central Railroad, and later president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad in 1860.

A West Point graduate, McClellan served with distinction during the Mexican–American War. He was a railway executive and engineer until the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861. Early in the conflict, McClellan was appointed to the rank of major general and played an important role in raising the Army of the Potomac, which served in the Eastern Theater. (Full article...)

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View of Johnstown from the Inclined Plane

Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 census. Located 57 miles (92 km) east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Johnstown metropolitan area, which had 133,472 residents in 2020. It is also part of the Johnstown–Somerset combined statistical area, which includes both Cambria and Somerset Counties. Once a bustling industrial center, like many cities in the Rust Belt Johnstown was severely affected by the loss of jobs due to globalization and the movement of American manufacturing to overseas markets. (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 Sideling Hill Tunnel (pictured) is one of the two tunnels that make up the Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike?
... that John Sutton Hall at Indiana University of Pennsylvania was set for demolition until its listing on the National Register of Historic Places?
... that Josh Gibson Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is named for Negro League star Josh Gibson, who has been called the "black Babe Ruth?"
... that the Carnegie Library of Homestead in Munhall, Pennsylvania, trained four Olympic swimmers and sponsored both one of the 1890s' best football clubs and a baseball team with Hall of Famer Rube Waddell?
... that there were more than 20 arsons in the Coatesville, Pennsylvania, area since January 1, 2009, and 15 reported arsons there in 2008?

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Commerce Square in February 2014

Commerce Square is a Class-A, high-rise office building complex in Center City Pennsylvania. Commerce Square consists of One and Two Commerce Square, two identical 41-story office towers 565 feet (172 m) high that surround a paved courtyard of 30,000 square feet (2,800 m²).

Architecturally, the granite-clad towers feature setbacks on the north and south sides of the building and are topped with a pair of stone diamonds with cutout squares in the center. The towers were built as part an office-building boom Philadelphia was experiencing on West Market Street in the late 1980s. Designed by IM Pei & Partners (now called Pei Cobb Freed & Partners), the towers were developed in a joint venture between Maguire Thomas Partners and IBM. (Full article...)

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The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of founder and first president Benjamin Franklin, who had advocated for an educational institution that trained leaders in academia, commerce, and public service.

The university has four undergraduate schools and 12 graduate and professional schools. Schools enrolling undergraduates include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Engineering and Applied Science, the Wharton School, and the School of Nursing. Among its graduate schools are its law school, whose first professor, James Wilson, helped write the U.S. Constitution; and its medical school, the first in North America. (Full article...)

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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 1Ethnic origins of Pennsylvanians (from Pennsylvania)
Image 2NASCAR racing at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond (from Pennsylvania)
Image 3The Hershey Company in Hershey (from Pennsylvania)
Image 4Stephen Decatur, a 19th-century naval commander who served in the War of 1812 and other engagements (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 5
Pennsylvania's unemployment rate between 1976 and 2021
The U.S. unemployment rate during these years
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 6Bethlehem 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 7South Philadelphia High School on Broad Street in South Philadelphia in February 2010 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 8The 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 9Pennsylvania population density map (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 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 12The 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 13The 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 14Benjamin 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 15Pittsburgh Steelers' fans waving the Terrible Towel, a tradition that dates back to 1975 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 16Simon 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 17Pat's King of Steaks in South Philadelphia is widely credited with inventing the cheesesteak in 1933. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 18A 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 19Dorney 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 20The 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 21Pennsylvania Municipalities (from Pennsylvania)
Image 22On 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 23One 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 24The 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 25Map of counties in Pennsylvania by racial and ethnic plurality, per the 2020 U.S. census (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 27An 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 282024 U.S. presidential election results by county in Pennsylvania
Democratic
Republican
(from Pennsylvania)
Image 29Shelter 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 30Amtrak's Pennsylvanian on Horseshoe Curve in Logan Township (from Pennsylvania)
Image 31The Köppen climate types of Pennsylvania based on 1991–2020 climate normals (from Pennsylvania)
Image 32Rivers Casino, located in the Chateau section of Pittsburgh on the Ohio River, one of Pennsylvania's 16 casinos (from Pennsylvania)
Image 33The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 34Autumn in North Branch Township in Wyoming County in October 2011 (from Pennsylvania)
Image 35Lenape chief Lappawinsoe, depicted in a 1735 painting by Gustavus Hesselius (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 36Philadelphia 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 37Frederick Winslow Taylor of Philadelphia, a late 19th and early 20th century pioneer in scientific management (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 38A 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 39Citizens 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 40Map of Pennsylvania's 67 counties (from Pennsylvania)
Image 41The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg (from Pennsylvania)
Image 42William Penn, a Quaker and son of a prominent admiral, founded the colonial Province of Pennsylvania in 1681. (from Pennsylvania)