Also see Specific Destinations, Travel and Location Humor.

Page Toppers

• Allegheny Moon
• Pennsylvania Sunrise
• Philadelphia Morning
• Streets of Philadelphia
• You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania

Quotes

• And the beautiful open spaces, the forests of Pennsylvania, the recreational uses that come from having these green open spaces and forests, they contribute dramatically to the level of our tourism, dramatically. (Ed Rendell)
• I love Philadelphia. I was shocked at what a great city this is. For me, it is the cat's pajamas. I love everything about it. I love where I live. I love the people. I have been met with such kindness and affection here. (George Dzundza)
• I own property in a quiet little town of Pennsylvania. (Davy Jones)
• No more egregious error can be committed by the visitor to Gettysburg than to assume that the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) is over. (Philip Hamburger)

Symbols

• Nicknames: The Keystone State; The Quaker State; The Oil State; The Steel state
• Slogan: Memories Last a Lifetime
• Slogan from License Plate: You've Got a Friend in Pennsylvania
• Motto: Virtue, Liberty, and Independence
• Colors: blue and gold
• Song: Pennsylvania (words by Eddie Khoury, music by Ronnie Bonner)
• Dance: Polka
• Pops Orchestra: Philly Pops
• Animal: Whitetail Deer
• Bird: Ruffed Grouse
• Dog: Great Dane
• Fish: Brook Trout
• Insect: Firefly
• Tree: Hemlock
• Flower: Mountain Laurel
• Beautification and Conservation Plant: Penngift Crownvetch
• Fossil: Trilobite
• Beverage: Milk
• Cookie: Chocolate Chip Cookie (some sources say Sugar Cookie)
• Pro Sports Teams: Philadelphia 76ers (men's basketball); Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers (football); Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates (baseball); Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey)

Facts About Pennsylvania

• Capital: Harrisburg
• Residents: Pennsylvanians
• State Name Origin: named after William Penn and a Latin word meaning "woodlands"
• Admitted to Statehood: 12 Dec 1787
• Order of Admission: 2nd state
• Coastline/Shoreline: 0/89 miles
• Length: 283 miles
• Width: 160 miles
• Area: 46,055 square miles
• Size Rank: 33
• Number of Counties: 67
• Streams and Rivers: 83,260 miles
• Geographic Center: 2 miles SW of Bellefonte in Centre Co.
• Mean Elevation: 1,100 feet
• Highest Point: Mt. Davis, 3,213 feet
• Lowest Point: Delaware River, sea level
• Agricultural Products: food products
• Commercial Products: iron, steel, coal, stone, clay, glass products, industrial machinery, printing and publishing, electronic equipment, transportation equipment, chemicals
• Average Annual Rainfall: 40.2 inches
• Average Winter High Temperature: 25 degrees
• Record Low Temperature: -42 degrees (5 Jan 1904 Smethport)
• Average Summer High Temperature: 80 degrees
• Record High Temperature: 111 degrees (10 Jul 1936 Phoenixville)
• Official Language: English
• More information about Pennsylvania

Items of Interest

• Pennsylvania has the largest rural population in the nation.
• The U.S. Constitution was written in Philadelphia.
• Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address on a Civil War battlefield in PA.
• The Pennsylvania Turnpike, completed in 1940, was the nation's first superhighway.
• Pennsylvania is the first state in the US to list their website URL on a license plate.
• In 1909 the first baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh.
• Hershey is the Chocolate Capital of the United States.
• In 1913 the first automobile service station opened in Pittsburgh.
• In 1946 Philadelphia became home to the first computer.
• The first daily newspaper was published in Philadelphia on Sept. 21, 1784.
• Edwin L. Drake drilled the world's first oil well in Titusville in 1859.
• In Philadelphia in 1775 Johann Behrent built the first piano in America.
• Philadelphia is the site of the first presidential mansion.
• The Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg is the longest stone arch bridge in the world.
• The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776.
• KDKA radio in Pittsburgh produced the first commercial radio broadcast.
• Pennsylvania is the only original colony not bordered by the Atlantic Ocean.
• Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Zoo, the first public zoo in the United States.
• Pittsburgh has over 300 sets of city maintained steps. If they were stacked on top of each other, they would reach over 26,000 feet high.
• Little League Baseball's first World Series was held in 1946 in Williamsport.
• Nazareth is the home of Martin guitars--started in 1833.
• The State College Area High School was the first school in the country to teach drivers education in 1958.
• Philadelphia was once the United States capital city.
• The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.
• Punxsutawney is home to the world-renowned weather forecasting groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil.

Notable Natives

Some of these were born here, others just lived a while in the state.

• Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856-1931) - engineer, inventor (Washington)
• Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888) - author, wrote Little Women (Germantown)
• Richard Allen - religious leader
• Marian Anderson - singer
• Maxwell Anderson - playwright (Atlantic)
• Samuel Barber - composer (West Chester)
• John Barrymore - actor (Philadelphia)
• Donald Barthelme - author (Philadelphia)
• Stephen Vincent Benet - poet, author (Bethlehem)
• George G. Blaisdell - founded Zippo Manufacturing in 1932.
• Daniel Boone - frontiersman (Reading)
• James Buchanan (1791-1868) - 15th U.S. president (Mercersburg)
• Charles W. Cadman - composer
• Alexander Calder (1898-1976) - sculptor (Philadelphia)
• Simon Cameron - political leader
• Rachel Carson (1907-1964) - environmentalist, biologist, author (Springdale)
• Mary Cassatt - painter (Allegheny)
• Henry Steele Commager - historian (Pittsburgh)
• George Catlin - native American expert, poet (Wilkes-Barre)
• Bill Cosby (1937- ) - actor, comedian (Philadelphia)
• Bing Crosby - actor, singer
• Stuart Davis - painter (Philadelphia)
• Jimmy Dorsey - band leader (Shenandoah)
• Tommy Dorsey - band leader (Mahanoy Plane)
• W.C. Fields - actor (Philadelphia)
• Stephen C. Foster - composer (Pittsburgh)
• Henry Clay Frick - industrialist/philanthropist
• Robert Fulton - inventor (Lancaster County)
• Bill Gates - founder of Microsoft, philanthropist
• Henry George - economist (Philadelphia)
• Martha Graham (1895-1991) - dancer, choreographer (Pittsburgh)
• Alexander Haig - secretary of state (Bala-Cynwyd)
• Henry J. Heinz - industrialist/philanthropist
• Milton S. Hersey - industrialist/philanthropist
• Bob Hoffman - U.S. Olympic coach, businessman, philanthropist, known as the "Father of weight-lifting"
• Dr. George Holtzapple - first doctor to use oxygen to save a patient's life in 1885
• Marilyn Horne - mezzo-soprano (Bradford)
• Lee Iacocca - auto executive (Allentown)
• Reggie Jackson - baseball player (Wyncote)
• Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) - poet (Pittsburgh)
• Gene Kelly - dancer, actor (Pittsburgh)
• Grace Kelly - actress
• Jim Kelly - football player (East Brady)
• Walter C. Kelly - cartoonist
• Gelsey Kirkland - ballerina (Bethlehem)
• S. S. Kresge - merchant (Bald Mount)
• Mario Lanza - actor, singer (Philadelphia)
• Tara Lipinski (1982- ) - Olympic gold medalist figure skater (Philadelphia)
• George C. Marshall - five-star general (Uniontown)
• Mary McCarthy - author
• George Brinton McClellan - general, hero (Philadelphia)
• Margaret Mead - anthropologist (Philadelphia)
• Andrew William Mellon - industrialist, philanthropist (Pittsburgh)
• Tom Mix - actor (Mix Run)
• Ethelbert W. Nevin - composer
• Hezekiah Niles - journalist (Jeffers Ford)
• Arnold Palmer (1929- ) - golfer (Youngstown)
• Maxfield Ferederick Parrish - artist
• Robert E. Peary - explorer (Cresson)
• Man Ray - painter, photographer (Philadelphia)
• Mary Roberts Rinehart - author (Pittsburgh)
• Betsy Griscom Ross (1752-1836) - made the first American Flag (lived in Philadelphia)
• Charles M. Schwab - industrialist
• B. F. Skinner - psychologist (Susquehanna)
• John Sloan - painter (Loch Haven)
• Gertrude Stein - author (Allegheny)
• James Stewart - actor, each year at Christmas his hometown of Indiana is decorated in the theme of It's a Wonderful Life
• John Updike - author (Shillington)
• Honus Wagner - baseball player (Carnegie)
• John Wanamaker - merchant
• Fred Waring - band leader (Tyrone)
• Ethel Waters - singer, actress (Chester)
• Anthony Wayne - military officer (Waynesboro)
• Benjamin West - painter
• Andrew Wyeth (1917- ) - artist (Chadds Ford)

The Pennsylvania State Flag
The background of the Pennsylvania flag is the same blue that is in the United States flag. The state Coat of Arms (which also contains the state Seal) is on both sides of the flag. The Coat of Arms is that of the Penn family that gave Pennsylvania its name. It first appeared on paper money issued by the state in 1777 and two years later was adapted for the state flag.

You know you are in Pennsylvania when...

• All the festivals across the state are named after a fruit, vegetable, grain or animal.
• At least five people on your block have "electric candles" in most of their windows all year long.
• Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are packed with snow.
• Hearing horses clopping down a paved street doesn't bring you to the window to see what's going on outside.
• It takes you three hours to go to the store for one item, even when you're in a rush, because you have to stop and talk to everyone in town.
• Red Beet Eggs makes your list of top ten favorite foods.
• School closings due to snow take the radio stations half an hour to finish because almost every town has its own school district.
• The local paper covers national and international headlines on one page but requires six pages for sports.
• The municipality buys a Zamboni before a school bus.
• There is a Dairy Queen in every town with a population of 1000 or more.
• The trunk of your car doubles as a deep freeze.
• 'Vacation' means going to Cedar Point or Hershey Park for the weekend.
• When it snows they put cinders on the roads instead of sand.
• When someone says 1972, you think "Agnes" and when someone says 1979, you think "TMI."
• When traveling and asked where you are from...you say "P-A" instead of "Pennsylvania".
• When you have a craving for a cheesesteak sandwich, water ice, soft pretzels, or TastyKakes you know to go to Philadelphia.
• Words like: gumband, buggy, hoagie, chipped ham, and pop actually means something to you.
• You ask the waitress for "dippy eggs" for breakfast.
• You buy your beer and soda only by the case.
• You call Sloppy Joes "barbecue."
• You can eat, and like, cold pizza (even for breakfast) and know others who do the same.
• You can give directions to Intercourse with a straight face.
• You can stop along the road to buy fruits, vegetables, or crafts on the 'honor system.'
• You can use the phrase 'Fire Hall Wedding' and not even bat an eye.
• You can't go to a Pennsylvania Wedding without hearing the Chicken Dance and at least five Polkas.
• You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend or wife knows how to use them.
• You consider Pittsburgh to be 'out west' and you know the fastest way to Philly is the Turnpike.
• You design your Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
• You do things "once," as in "I'll go check in the back room once."
• You don't understand how anyone could watch a football game without either Halupki, Halushki, or Kielbasi.
• You end your sentence with an unnecessary preposition. Example:"Where's my coat at?"
• You find -20F a little chilly.
• You have ten favorite recipes for venison.
• You have an uncontrollable urge to buy bread and milk when you hear the word 'snow'.
• You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
• You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.
• You know several people who have hit a deer.
• You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
• You know several places to purchase or that serve Scrapple, Summer Sausage (Lebanon Bologna), and Hot Bacon Dressing.
• You know that a turkey dinner at a firehouse is the most nearly perfect food on earth.
• You know that the top three Pennsylvania sports are bowling, darts and pool.
• You know the four seasons: Winter, Still Winter, Almost Winter, and Construction.
• You know the only way to make good fastnachts is to cook them in lard.
• You know the Penn State cheer.
• You know what "Cow Tipping" and "Snipe Hunting" are.
• You know what a "State Store" is, and your out of state friends find it incredulous that you can't purchase liquor at the mini-mart.
• You know what a Moravian star is and what to do with it.
• You know what REAL pot pie is.
• You know what's knee-high by the Fourth of July.
• You know which leaves make good toilet paper.
• You live within two miles of a plant that makes potato chips, corn chips, pretzels, candy, or ice cream, or that packages turkeys, beans, or bologna.
• You measure distance in minutes.
• You not only have heard of Birch Beer, but you know that it comes in several colors.
• You often switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
• You only own three spices: salt, pepper, and ketchup.
• You owe more money on your snow mobile than your car.
• You prefer Hershey's Chocolate to Godiva.
• You pronounce "Suite" as SUIT, not SWEET.
• You remember fondly days of youth known as "Snow Days."
• You say the correct pronunciation is LANG-kist-er (instead of Lan-CAST-er), and LEB-en-in (instead of Leb-a-NON).
• You say things like, "Outen the lights," "I'm calling off today," and "They're calling for snow."
• You say you're going out to the shed "awhile," instead of "for awhile."
• You see a car running in the parking lot at the store with no one in it, no matter what time the year.
• You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
• You think "medium rare" equals well done.
• You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
• You think of the major food groups as deer meat, fish, and berries.
• You think sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.
• You think the roads in any other state are smooth.
• You think the start of deer hunting is a national holiday.
• You use a down comforter in the summer.
• Your grandparents drive at 65mph through thirteen feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.
• Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor on the highway.
• Your school classes were canceled because of cold.
• Your snow blower gets stuck on your roof.
• Your turkey has "filling," not "stuffing" or "dressing."
• You've heard of distelfinks and hex signs.
• You've never met any celebrities.
• You've seen all the biggest bands ten years after they were popular.
• You've seen people wear bib overalls at funerals.
• You actually get these jokes.

Songs about Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania 6-5000 - Glenn Miller Orchestra (1940)
• Pennsylvania Home - The Greenwood County Singers (1961)
• Pennsylvania Polka - Frankie Yankovic (1983)
• Pennsylvania Sunrise - David Mallett (1990)

Songs about Pennsylvania Cities

• Allegheny Lady - Max D. Barnes (1977)
• Allegheny Moon - Patti Page (1956)
• Allentown Jail - Billy Strange (1966)
• Duquesne, Pennsylvania - Hank Snow (1971)
• All Clear in Harrisburg - Tom Paxton (1980)
• Speedway at Nazareth - Mark Knopfler (2000)
• Pittsburgh Stealers - The Kendalls (1978)
• There's a Pawnshop on the Corner in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Mitch Miller (1952)
• Punxutawny Boogie - Lenny Dee (1955)

Songs about Philadelphia

• Philadelphia - Neil Young (1994)
• Philadelphia Fillies - Del Reeves (1971)
• Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John (1975)
• Philadelphia Lawyer - The Maddox Brothers and Rose (1949)
• Philadelphia Morning - Bill Conti (1977)
• Sound of Philadelphia, The - MFSB (1974)
• South Street - The Orlons (1963)
• Streets of Philadelphia - Bruce Springsteen (1994)
• There's More Than One Road to Philadelphia - The Good Earth (1969)