PENNSYLVANIA

PENNSYLVANIA, which, but for a small stretch on Lake Erie is the only landlocked state in the northeast, was explored by the Dutch in the early 1600s, settled by the Swedes forty years later, and claimed by the British in 1664. Charles II of England, who owed a debt to the Penn family, rid himself of the potentially troublesome young William Penn, an enthusiastic advocate of religious freedom, by granting him land in the colony in 1682. Penn Jr. immediately established a "holy experiment" of "brotherly" love and tolerance, naming the state for his father and setting a good example by signing a peaceful cohabitation treaty with the Native Americans. Most of the early agricultural settlers were religious refugees: Quakers like Penn himself, Mennonites from Germany and Switzerland, to be joined later by Irish Catholics during the potato famines of the nineteenth century.

"The keystone state" was crucial in the development of the US. Politicians and thinkers like Benjamin Franklin congregated in Philadelphia – home of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution – and were prominent in articulating the ideas behind the Revolution. Later, the battle in Gettysburg, south Pennsylvania – best remembered for Abraham Lincoln's immortal Gettysburg Address – marked a turning point in the Civil War. Pennsylvania was also vital industrially: Pittsburgh, in the west, was the world's leading steel producer in the nineteenth century, and nearly all the nation's anthracite coal is still mined here. The two great urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, both lively and vibrant tourist destinations, are at opposite ends of the state. The three hundred miles between them, though predominantly agricultural, are topographically diverse. There are over one hundred state parks, with green rolling countryside in the east, brooding forests in the west, and in the northeast, the rivers, lakes and valleys of the Poconos. Lancaster County, home to traditional Amish farmers, and the Gettysburg battlefield both heave with busloads of day-trippers, while the Hershey chocolate factory, minutes away from Harrisburg, the capital, draws thousands of cocoa-loving visitors each year.

Central Pennsylvania
Central Pennsylvania, cut north to south by the broad Susquehanna River, has no major cities, though the state capital, Harrisburg, is an excellent base from which to explore sights that include the Hershey chocolate empire and the rolling Amish farmlands of Lancaster County to the east, and the Civil War site of Gettysburg on the state's southern border. To the north, the mighty forests of the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania," around Williamsport, reveal the legacy of its great nineteenth-century lumber wealth in mansion-lined streets. Cities like Johnstown, beyond the dramatic Allegheny Mountains in the west, and Scranton are industrial towns with little of interest for the casual visitor.

Lancaster County – Pennsylvania Dutch Country
Lancaster County, fifty miles west of Philadelphia, stretches for about 45 miles from Churchtown in the east to the Susquehanna River in the west. Although Lancaster City, ten miles east of the river, was US capital for a day in September 1777, the region is famed more for its preponderance of agricultural religious communities, known collectively as the Pennsylvania Dutch (a mistaken derivation of Deutsch, or German). An extremely touristy place, even before it was brought to international fame by the movie Witness, Lancaster County has maintained its natural beauty in the face of encroaching commercialization. It is a region of gentle countryside and fertile farmlands, mule-drawn ploughs, tiny roadside bakeries crammed with jams and pies, Amish children wending on old-fashioned scooters to and from their one-room schoolhouses, and flower-filled, immaculate farmhouses. However, attempting to live a simple life away from the pressures of the outside world has proved too much for many Pennsylvania Dutch. A few (mainly Mennonites) have succumbed to commercial need by offering rides in their buggies and meals in their homes. Members of the stricter orders in particular have moved away from the ceaseless intrusions of privacy – as well as soaring land prices – to less touristed Ohio and Iowa. Remember, too, that as Sunday is a day of rest for the Amish, many attractions, restaurants and other amenities will be closed.

Northwest Pennsylvania
The overwhelmingly rural northwestern corner of Pennsylvania offers nature lovers a treat in the shape of Allegheny National Forest, which spreads out between I-80 and the far western reaches of New York State. The only major conurbation is Erie, further northwest on the eponymous Great Lake.

Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania, a key point for frontier trade and an important thoroughfare to the West, was the focus of the fighting between the English and the French in the seven-year French and Indian War for colonial and maritime power (1756–63). It grew to industrial prominence in the nineteenth century, with the exploitation of its coal resources gathering pace after the Civil War, and the opening of the world's first oil well at Titusville (now Drake Well Memorial Park) in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1859. Today, tourism in western Pennsylvania, like the now-quiet coal and steel industries, is concentrated around the surprisingly appealing city of Pittsburgh. To the south of the city, the Laurel Highlands features Frank Lloyd Wright's not-to-be-missed architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater, as well as nearby Ohiopyle State Park and the Youghiogheny River, which offer plenty of outdoor activities. Another great wilderness area to explore is the lush Allegheny National Forest in the north, which begins twenty miles from I-80. Erie's Presque Isle State Park, in the very northwest corner of the state, is also worth a visit for its sandy beaches and wooded hiking trails.

To view Vacation Rental Homes in PENNSYLVANIA click here.

Return to Vacation Guides