MID-ATLANTIC

Alex Sam

Introduction

The Mid-Atlantic has eight states: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Virginia.

The Mid- Atlantic got its name because the states are located midway along the east coast of the United States.

The Mid-Atlantic has almost 1/5 of the entire population of the United States.

Washington, D.C. is also located in the Mid- Atlantic.

New York has over eighteen million people!

People and HistoryEight U.S. Presidents were born in Virginia.

Philadelphia was where the U.S. was founded. The Declaration of Independence was adopted in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall in 1776 and the Constitution was written there as well.

A lot of immigrants came to Ellis Island in New York just before and after 1900. This is where examinations were done to either allow people to enter the U.S. or forced back to their native country.

Terrorists attacked Mid-Atlantic sites on September 11, 2001. These areas include the Twin Towers in N.Y.C., the Pentagon, in Washington, D.C., and this field in Pennsylvania. It was believed that the plane that went into the field was actually meant to hit the White House.

Land in the AreaThe average rainfall can be up to 114 cm.

Average temperature in the Mid-Atlantic ranges from the low 30s˚F in the winter to the low 80s˚F in the summer.

The Appalachian Mountains are estimated to be 600,000,000 years old. They’re believed to have formed when pieces of Earth’s crust collided.

The Appalachian Mountains were once 15,000 miles above sea level.

Maryland has over 3,200 miles of shore.

Right: Appalachian Mountains

Plants and AnimalsAnimals: Chesapeake blue crab, deer, moose, squirrels, rabbits, birds, fish, wood wasps

Plants: trees, flowers, mosses, cranberry bogs, grass (tree types: Dogwood, Pine, and more)

Located in SE Virginia, Dismal Swamp has many birds and a lot of aquatic life.

The Baltimore Aquarium contains over 10,500 sea creatures.

The American chestnut trees used to be one of the great trees of Mid- Atlantic forests, but a disease killed chestnuts between 1904 and 1945.

Cities and Towns Cities: NYC, NY, Philadelphia, PA, Trenton, NJ, Harrisburg, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, Newark, NJ, Annapolis, MD, Dover, DE, Richmond, VA, Washington, D.C.

Towns: Princeton, NJ, Abingdon, VA, Alexandria, VA, Williamsburg, VA

Princeton University is one of the world’s greatest universities.

The first Capitol Building finished in 1811 had no dome.

PrincetonUniversity

Trenton, New Jersey

Rural LifePennsylvania makes the most mushrooms in the nation. Almost one-half of the mushrooms made in the USA come from Pennsylvania. The mushrooms grow in dark, underground “mushroom houses”.

One of the first major movements west of the Appalachian Mountains happened because of the want of farmland.

Amish farmers use traditional ways of farming. The Mid-Atlantic states are home to many Amish. They have no electricity in their homes and do not own motorized vehicles.

The Mid-Atlantic is “Garden Country” most people keep gardens for fun. Some people do it to sell crops and make little money.

The Mid-Atlantic region uses less land for farming than any other region in the U.S. This is because there are many sprawling cities and suburbs in the area.

Getting AroundDover Air Force Base in DE houses the world’s largest military planes. C-5 Galaxies were designed to transport large amounts of military equipment quickly.

From NYC’s harbor, goods can go north by boat on the Hudson River to the Erie Canal. Once there, they can go through the Great Lakes, and then head south on the Mississippi River all the way to New Orleans.

In NYC people use taxis, bikes, or even walk as forms of transportation to get around. Very few people in NY have their own car.

Traffic is very congested in the megalopolis. Use of subways systems, carpooling, and other methods of transportation are being used to reduce the amount of traffic. The average commute in NYC is 38.3 minutes!

There are more interstate highways in the Mid-Atlantic than in any other U.S region.

The Mid-Atlantic is like a central hub for the United States. A lot of goods come into the region through large seaports, airports, highways, and even railroads.

Work in the AreaPeople have fished in the Chesapeake Bay for hundreds of years. They fished for striped bass, perch, catfish, and blue crabs.

Overfishing and pollution in the Chesapeake Bay are threatening the future of the area. Some groups are trying to prevent overfishing and lower the amount of pollution in the area. They are trying to protect the natural environment.

The first oil well in the US was in Pennsylvania.

Miners’ jobs are difficult and dangerous. For example, there can be explosions and sickness from breathing in harmful dust. Also, the walls of the mine could cave in. In 2006, a West Virginia mine explosion killed 12 people. Since then, people are calling for better mine safety.

The steel industry is an important business in the Mid-Atlantic region.

In the Mid-Atlantic, service jobs and white-collar jobs are increasing the fastest. Service jobs include nurses, cashiers, and police that serve people directly. White-collar jobs include teachers, salespeople and secretaries. There are also blue-collar jobs. These include dockworkers, steelworkers, machinists, and carpenters.

Steel industry

Mine

Free Time The most delicious foods in the Mid-Atlantic are Philly Cheese Steaks, Hershey’s Chocolate, Crab Cakes, and Apple Butter. They are very popular foods across the region.

The New York Knicks play their home games in Madison Square Garden in NYC.

Lacrosse is a popular sport in this region. It was first played by Native Americans. Players try to get a ball into a goal using a long stick with netting on the end.

A popular outdoor sport is hiking. Many people hike in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.

Ceremonies occur regularly at Arlington Cemetery near Washington, D.C. This is where many soldiers who have died in the Civil War or another war are buried. This is the cemetery for soldiers who have served in the armed forces.

CONCLUSIONThe Mid-Atlantic is a great region for its beauty. The Mid-Atlantic began and continues to be a beautiful area for farming.

Bays and rivers provide ports in the area. A lack of mountains near the East Coast makes land transportation in the region easier. The land is also rich in natural resources. Due to all of this, it’s easy to see why many companies want to locate in the Mid-Atlantic.

The Mid-Atlantic states play an important role for the U.S. They have more harbor locations, business headquarters, and large cities than any other region.

The Chesapeake Bay is one of the largest bays in the U.S. It is used for fishing, recreation, and as a great location for harbor cities.

Charlottesville, VA is best known as Thomas Jefferson's birthplace. In 2005, this town was named the “best place to live in America”.

Chesapeake Bay

Charlottesville, Virginia

Works Cited

Barr, Gary. Regions of the United States: The Mid-Atlantic: Chicago, Illinois: Raintree, 2006