Fascinating Facts About Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania is a state full of history and contrast. Since its founding by William Penn it has become the home of many peoples and places that are both interesting and educational.
1.America’s first paved road constructed in 1795 went from Philadelphia to Lancaster, PA.
2.No where in Pennsylvania are you further than 25 miles from one of the state’s 114 parks.
3.Dorney Park in Allentown, PA hosts Steel Force, the largest steel roller coaster east of the Mississippi River.
4.Most know that the Mountain Laurel is PA’ s state flower, and that the Ruffed Grouse is the state game bird, but some of the state’s symbols are not as widely recognized. For example, the state drink is Milk, and PA even has a state fossil, the Phacops rana. This is a trilobite (related to crabs and lobsters) that flourished in PA in the middle Paleozoic time period, 570 – 365 million years ago.
5.The Ohio River, which begins in Western PA at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers, provides thirty-five percent of ALL the water emptying into the Gulf of Mexico.
6.Lancaster, PA is the largest Amish settlement in the world, Kennett Square, PA is the mushroom capital of the world.
7.Boulder Field, located at PA’s Hickory Run State, is literally a field of boulders created by the Ice Age. It covers an area 400 ft. by 1,800 ft., approximately 12 ft. deep with some of the boulders measuring 26 ft. long.
8.Pennsylvania is the proud home of Crayola Crayons, Hershey Chocolate, and Silly Putty!
9.Pennsylvania has had the honor of three different U.S. Navy ships being named after it; the first was the largest sailing warship ever built by the U.S, it was burnt to the waterline in 1861 to prevent her capture by the Confederacy. The second PENNSYLVANIA sailed again in 1901 as the Armored Cruiser 4, the first boat to launch and retrieve an aircraft on her deck; this ship’s name was changed to PITTSBURGH to make way for the new and larger battleship PENNSYLVANIA which received 8 battlestars for her service in WWII.
10.The 1st streetlights, designed by Ben Franklin, were installed in Philadelphia in 1757.
11.Women outnumber men in Pennsylvania by approximately one-half million.
12.The highest point in PA is Mount Davis, at only 3,213 ft; compared to the highest point in the United States, Mt. McKinley, measuring in at 20,320 ft.
13.PA’s nine nuclear plants produce over one-third of its electricity, placing it second to Illinois in total nuclear produced electricity.
14.The fight to restore the environment began in 1962 when the Pennsylvania born women writer, Rachel Carson, published “Silver Spring,” awakening the nation to environmental dangers.
15.Pennsylvania’s population includes about 1,300 veterans of World War I; 490,410 veterans of World War II; 240,030 veterans of the Korean Conflict; 389,600 veterans of the Vietnam era, and 47,970 veterans of the Persian Gulf War. That’s an approximate total of 1,169,310 veterans in PA.
16.In 1846, the first telegram was sent from Harrisburg to Lancaster.
17.The venerable Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA, is the oldest theatre in continuous use in the English speaking world, it was also the first American theatre to present a play by William Shakespeare.
18.Although he became famous as a Kentucky frontiersman, Daniel Boone was born in what used to be called the Oley Valley, now Bucks County, PA. He lived there till the age of fifteen and a half.
19.In 1957 American bandstand debuted on national television live from Philadelphia. In 1964, the show moved to California and ran till 1989, becoming the longest running variety series in television history.
20.The longest home run in history made by a teenager was hit at Yankees Stadium in 1930 by western Pennsylvanian Joshua Gibson, at 19 years old he hit the ball 505 feet.
21.Born in Latrobe, PA and currently living outside of Pittsburgh, Fred McFeeley Rogers better known as “Mr. Rogers,” has hosted the longest running program on the Public Broadcast System.
22.On Saturday August 22, 1859 Edwin L. Drake demonstrated in Titusville, PA (Oil City) that petroleum could be obtained in substantial quantities by drilling through rock and into the earth.
23.The scenic Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, PA is the world’s first refuge for raptors (birds of prey). Between August 15 and December 15 each year an average of 18,000 hawks, eagles and falcons representing 16 species fly past the Sanctuary’s North Lookout as they migrate south.
24.The famous high speed passenger locomotive K4 Pacific Number 3750, one of only two survivors of more than four hundred, rests on display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania located in Lancaster County. This locomotive pulled the funeral train of President Warren G. Harding, who died in office in 1923.
25.Pennsylvania refers to itself as a commonwealth from the Old English meaning the well being of the citizenry. There is no legal distinction between a commonwealth and a state.
