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Fun Facts:
Nickname: Keystone State - During colonial times Pennsylvania was the middle colony of the original 13 colonies. It held the colonies together like the "keystone" in a window or door arch.
Background: Pennsylvania was settled in 1643. Philadelphia was our state capital during the Revolutionary War and York was the first capital of the United States.
State name’s meaning: Penn’s Woods (after Admiral William Penn's father)
Motto: Virtue, Liberty and Independence
Important Documents: Several important documents were written in Pennsylvania
The Constitution of the United States
The American Declaration of Independence
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address
Flower: Mountain Laurel
Tree: Hemlock
Bird: Ruffed Grouse
Animal: Whitetail Deer
Insect: Firefly
Dog: Great Dane
Beverage: Milk
Fish Brook Trout
Fossil: Phacops Rana
Ship: United States Brig Niagara
Geography:
Area: 45,888 square miles
Rank: 32nd in nation
Width: 310 miles (east to west) 180 miles (N to S)
Geographic center: Centre County, home of Penn State University
Highest point: Mt. Davis, Somerset County 3,213 feet. Somerset County was also the site of the September 11, 2001 crash of Flight 93.
Lowest point:Delaware River
Largest County: Lycoming County with its county seat of Williamsport (the Home of Little League Baseball) is larger than the State of Rhode Island. Bradford County is second in size.
Capital: Harrisburg in Dauphin County
Counties: 67
Population: 12,009,000
Lancaster County has more people than the entire state of Wyoming
Lakes:50 natural lakes (over 20 acres wide) and 2,500 man-made lakes
Christmas Tree Capital of the World: Indiana County
Rivers and streams: 45,000 miles
State Parks: 116 Acreage: 282,500
State Forest Districts: 20 Acreage: 2,200,000
State Game Lands: 294 Acreage: 1,379,002
Government:
State Representatives: 203
State Senators: 50
U.S Representatives: 21
U.S. Senators: 2
Pennsylvania Firsts:
Hospital, Library, Zoo, Newspaper, Nation's Capitol, all motion-picture theater, television broadcast, radio broadcast, educational public-television station, paper mill, druggist, locomotive for railroad use, high-speed multi-lane highway - the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Banana Split, electronic computer built, commercial use of computer, cable television, educational public television station, government low-interest, long term business financing program
Agriculture:
Farms: 55,000
Farmland: 9,000,000 acres
Agricultural product sales: $3,500,000,000
Rural Population: 3,700,000
Leading Farm products: dairy products, mushrooms, apples, tobacco, grapes, peaches, cut flowers
PA is First Among US in:
Rural Population, number of licensed hunters, State Game Lands, covered bridges, potato chip production, pretzel bakeries, licensed bakeries, meat packing plants, mushroom production, sausage production, scrapple production
| Information courtesy of Pennsylvania Visitors Network. |
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