Welcome to Pennsylvania Geography!!!

Geography of PA

Bordering states of PA

West Virginia Maryland Delaware

New Jersey

New York

Ohio

Map of PA

PA Counties

History of Allegheny County

• Before it was settled by Europeans, the county was mostly wilderness and uninhabited except for wandering Indians such as the Iroquois, who were the largest tribe in the area. The Allegheny River, Mountains, and County get their name from the Allegwi Indians who were also in the area.

• The first Europeans to enter the area were the French in 1749. Captain Pierre Joseph de Celeron, sieur de Blainville claimed the Ohio Valley and all of Western Pennsylvania for Louis XV of France. The captain travelled along the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers inserting lead plates in the ground to mark the land for France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_County,_Pennsylvania

Important PA Facts

• Pennsylvania was the 2nd state in the creation of the USA;

• It became a state on December 12, 1787 • Population, 2003 estimate 12,365,455• State Abbreviation – PA• State Capital – Harrisburg• Largest City - Philadelphia • Area - 46,058 square miles

– Pennsylvania is the 33rd largest state in the USA

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PA State Flag

PA State Flag

• Pennsylvania's State Flag is more of a square than a rectangle. It is composed of a blue field on which the State Coat of Arms is embroidered. Draft horses are on either side of the coat of arms and the American eagle rests on the top. The scroll at the bottom reads Virtue, Liberty and Independence.

• The first state flag bearing the state coat of arms was authorized by the general assembly in 1799. An act of the general assembly of June 13, 1907, standardized the flag and required that the blue field match the blue of "Old Glory".

http://www.50states.com/flag/paflag.htm

State Flower

• The State Flower is the Mountain Laurel, as enacted by the General Assembly on May 5, 1933. The mountain laurel is in full bloom in mid-June, when Pennsylvania's woodlands are filled with its distinctive pink flower.

http://www.50states.com/flower/pennsylvania.htm

State Nickname:

• The word "keystone" comes from architecture and refers to the central, wedge-shaped stone in an arch, which holds all the other stones in place. The application of the term “Keystone state” to Pennsylvania cannot be traced to any single source. It was commonly accepted soon after 1800.

• At a Jefferson republican victory rally in October 1802, Pennsylvania was toasted as "the keystone in the federal union," and in the newspaper aurora the following year the state was referred to as "the keystone in the democratic arch." The modern persistence of this designation is justified in view of the key position of Pennsylvania in the economic, social, and political development of the united states. Source: http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ Rhode island

State Bird

• The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) was approved as Pennsylvania's official state game bird by an act of the Pennsylvania Legislature on June 22, 1931.

• Pennsylvania has adopted an official state game bird but has not adopted an official state bird.

State Tree• The Hemlock was

a sturdy ally to the state's first settlers. Many a pioneer family felt better protected from the elements and their enemies inside log cabins made from the patriarch of Pennsylvania's forests.

The capital of PA is Harrisburg

I break for Shoo-Fly Pie

Pennsylvania official bumper sticker

Early History• Rich in historic lore, Pennsylvania

territory was disputed in the early 1600s among the Dutch, the Swedes, and the English. England acquired the region in 1664 with the capture of New York, and in 1681 Pennsylvania was granted to William Penn, a Quaker, by King Charles II.

• Philadelphia was the seat of the federal government almost continuously from 1776 to 1800; there the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and the U.S. Constitution drawn up in 1787. Valley Forge, of Revolutionary War fame, and Gettysburg, site of the pivotal battle of the Civil War, are both in Pennsylvania. The Liberty Bell is located in a glass pavilion across from Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

http://www.tudo.co.uk/quakers_craw/shell/contents/quakers/images_quakers/william_penn_1644_1718/william_penn_01_orig.jpg

http://geography.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108264.html

PA Charter

• King Charles II’s charter to William Penn, granting him the New World Colony now known as Pennsylvania, resides in the Pennsylvania State Archives An elaborate, hand written document on parchment paper with a portrait of King Charles II in the upper left corner, and decorative borders

Walking Purchase

• The agreement to sell the land whose boundaries were defined by the "walk" was signed on August 25, 1737, about three weeks before the walk actually took place. The questionable "walk" committed the Lenape to surrendering more land than they had anticipated

• A 1735 portrait of Lapowinsa, the Delaware chief who signed the now infamous “Walking Purchase.”

PA farming industry

• Pennsylvania's 59,000 farms (occupying nearly 8 million acres) are the backbone of the state's economy, producing a wide variety of crops. Leading commodities are dairy products, cattle and calves, mushrooms, greenhouse and nursery products, poultry and eggs, a variety of fruits, sweet corn, potatoes, maple syrup, and Christmas trees.

http://susag.cas.psu.edu/articles/dairy/down_on_the_farm.htm