Pennsylvania (U.S. State)

The Pennsylvania Amish, who live mostly in Lancaster County, maintain a traditional way of life without electricity, cars, or telephones, traveling by horse and buggy instead.

Pennsylvania is home to the Little League World Series, held every August in Williamsport, where the best teams of 10-12 year old baseball players from around the world compete.

The cheesesteak sandwich was invented in Philadelphia in the 1930s, consisting of thinly sliced steak, melted cheese, and sometimes onions on a long roll.

Pennsylvania has 7 professional sports teams: the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers (football), Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates (baseball), Philadelphia 76ers (basketball), Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins (hockey).

The oldest continuously running farmers market in the United States is the Lancaster Central Market, which has been operating since 1730, almost 300 years ago.

The Philly Phanatic, the furry green mascot of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team, is one of the most famous and beloved mascots in sports.

Pennsylvania Dutch Country isn’t actually Dutch – the settlers were German (“Deutsch” in German), but Americans misunderstood the word and called them “Dutch” instead.

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, is known as the “Mushroom Capital of the World,” producing over 500 million pounds of mushrooms each year, which is about half of all mushrooms grown in the United States.

The first baseball stadium in the United States made of concrete and steel was Shibe Park in Philadelphia, which opened in 1909.

The first successful daily newspaper in America, the Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, was published in Philadelphia in 1784. However, the first daily newspaper overall was the Pennsylvania Evening Post, which began daily publication in 1783.

The first computer in the world, called ENIAC, was built at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1946 and was as big as a room.

In Pennsylvania, the longest single-word town name is Kleinfeltersville.

The world’s first roller coaster, built in Pennsylvania’s Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway in 1827, was originally designed to carry coal down a mountain but became a popular thrill ride for visitors.

Pennsylvania’s official state toy is the Slinky, invented near Philadelphia in 1943 when a naval engineer knocked springs off a shelf and saw them ‘walk’ down!

There is a town in Pennsylvania called Intercourse, which got its unusual name from an old word for the intersection of roads, not the modern meaning of the word.

Pennsylvania has more than 200 covered bridges still standing, more than almost any other state, built to protect wooden bridge structures from rain and snow.

Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania is one of the darkest places in the eastern United States, making it perfect for stargazing with over 10,000 stars visible on a clear night.

The Pine Creek Gorge, often called the “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania,” is 47 miles (76 kilometers) long and up to 1,450 feet (0.44 kilometers) deep, carved by a creek over millions of years.

Presque Isle State Park on Lake Erie has 11 beautiful beaches and is shaped like a curved peninsula that resembles a dinosaur’s tail sticking out into the lake.

Pennsylvania has over 2,500 lakes, but most are man-made, not created by glaciers — only a few in the north were carved by ice about 12,000 years ago!

Bald eagles, once endangered, have made a remarkable comeback in Pennsylvania, with over 300 nesting pairs now living throughout the state.

Pennsylvania’s state soil is called Hazleton, and it covers more than 1 million acres, helping forests grow and providing nutrients for wild plants.

McConnells Mill State Park features a deep gorge with house-sized boulders created by a glacier that melted thousands of years ago.

Pennsylvania is home to Centralia, a nearly abandoned town where an underground coal mine fire has been burning since 1962 and could continue burning for over 250 more years.

Ricketts Glen State Park has 24 named waterfalls along its Falls Trail, with the tallest, Ganoga Falls, dropping 94 feet (29 meters) – about as tall as a 9-story building.

During the Underground Railroad era, Pennsylvania was a key route for escaped slaves seeking freedom, with many Quakers and free Black people helping them along the way.

George Washington crossed the Delaware River from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on Christmas night in 1776 to launch a surprise attack that helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Gettysburg was followed by President Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Address, a speech just 271 words long that is one of the most famous speeches in American history.

Pennsylvania is home to the town of Jim Thorpe, renamed in 1954 to honor the Native American Olympic gold medalist who is considered one of the greatest athletes of all time.

The first nationally circulated magazine in America, The American Magazine, was published in Philadelphia in 1741 by Andrew Bradford.

The first commercial pretzel bakery in America opened in Lititz, Pennsylvania, in 1861, beginning the state’s love affair with these twisted treats.

The Duquesne Incline in Pittsburgh is a century-old cable car that climbs up Mount Washington, giving riders one of the most spectacular views of the city’s skyline.

The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia was once the most famous prison in the world, housing notorious criminals like Al Capone, and now operates as a historic site and museum.

The Little League World Series Museum and Official Store in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, showcases the history of Little League Baseball and displays memorabilia from around the world.

Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia is one of the world’s greatest gardens, with more than 1,000 acres of gardens, woodlands, meadows, and spectacular fountains.

The Strasburg Rail Road in Lancaster County is America’s oldest continuously operating railroad, offering rides on authentic steam trains through Amish Country.

The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia is one of the oldest science museums in the United States, featuring a giant walk-through human heart that would fit someone 220 feet (67 meters) tall.

Knoebels Amusement Park in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, is America’s largest free-admission amusement park, where you only pay for the rides you choose to enjoy.

Bushkill Falls, known as “The Niagara of Pennsylvania,” features eight waterfalls connected by hiking trails and wooden bridges in the Pocono Mountains.

The Crayola Experience in Easton, Pennsylvania, lets visitors see how crayons are made and offers tons of creative activities in the town where Crayola crayons started being made in 1903!

Grace Kelly, who grew up in Philadelphia, became a famous Hollywood actress and later the Princess of Monaco when she married Prince Rainier III in 1956.

Pennsylvania has many traditional foods including scrapple (a breakfast meat made from pork scraps), shoofly pie (a molasses pie), and whoopie pies (cake-like cookies with cream filling).

The oldest Thanksgiving Day Parade in America is the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, which started in 1920 and is even older than the famous Macy’s parade in New York.

Pennsylvania Dutch farmers invented the hex signs – colorful, geometric designs painted on barns – which were believed to bring good luck, ward off evil, or ensure a good harvest.

Famous children’s author Stan and Jan Berenstain, who created the Berenstain Bears book series, were both born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania has more than 14 amusement parks, including some of the oldest in America, making it one of the best states for roller coaster enthusiasts.

Mr. Fred Rogers, host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, always wore colorful sweaters that were knitted by his mother, who was from Pennsylvania.

The Philly Soft Pretzel is different from other pretzels because it’s soft, twisted into a figure-8, and often served with mustard, with Philadelphians eating about 12 times more pretzels than the average American.

Pennsylvania is home to over 200 farmers markets where you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and other foods directly from the farmers who grow them.

The oldest golf course in America still in use is the Foxburg Country Club, established in Pennsylvania in 1887.