Susquehanna River at Harrisburg

The Susquehanna River /ˌsʌskwəˈhænə/(Lenape: Siskëwahane[2]) is a river located in the northeastern United States. At 464 miles (747 km) long,[3] it is the longest river on theAmerican east coast that drains into theAtlantic Ocean. With its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States,[4][5] and the longest river in the continental United States without commercial boat traffic today—for what navigations had been used to improve the waterway for barge shipping of bulk goods by water transport of thePennsylvania Canal in the Canal Era were let go under the domination of the more flexible and much faster shipping measures under the railroad industry.[6]

The nation's sixteenth largest river by volume, the Susquehanna flows through New York,Pennsylvania, and Maryland into theChesapeake Bay. It forms from two main branches, with the "North Branch", which rises in upstate New York, regarded by federal mapmakers as the main branch,[7] and the West Branch Susquehanna, both of which were improved by navigations in the 1820s—1830s as the Pennsylvania Canal which, using the offices of the Allegheny Portage Railroad actually allowed ladened barges to be hoisted across the mountain ridge into thePittsburgh area. The 82 mile leg conceived to connect the Delaware to the Susquehanna became instead the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad built by the Pennsylvania Canal Commission. The shorter West Branch, which rises in western Pennsylvania, joins the main stem near Northumberland in central Pennsylvania.

The river drains 27,500 square miles (71,000 km2), including nearly half of the land area of Pennsylvania. The drainage basin(watershed) includes portions of theAllegheny Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains, cutting through a succession ofwater gaps in a broad zigzag course to flow across the rural heartland of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland in the lateral near-parallel array of mountain ridges. The river empties into the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, Maryland, providing half of the Bay's freshwater inflow. The Chesapeake Bay is in fact the ria of the Susquehanna

Downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Skyline

Website www.harrisburgpa.gov

Harrisburg is the capital city of Pennsylvania. As of 2011, the city had a population of 49,673, making it the ninth-largest city in Pennsylvania. [5] Harrisburg is also the county seat of Dauphin County [6] and lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 105 miles (169 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia.

The Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties, had a population of 509,074 in 2000 and grew to 549,850 in 2010. A July 1, 2007 estimate placed the population at 528,892, making it the fifth largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton (the Lehigh Valley), and Scranton–Wilkes Barre. [7] The Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon Combined Statistical Area, including both the Harrisburg-Carlisle and Lebanon Metropolitan Statistical Areas, had an estimated population of 656,781 in 2007 and was the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the state. [8]

Harrisburg played a notable role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States. The U.S. Navy ship USS Harrisburg, which served from 1918 to 1919 at the end of World War I, was named in honor of the city.

In the mid-to-late 20th century, the city's economic fortunes fluctuated with its major industries consisting of government, heavy manufacturing including the production of steel, agriculture (the greater Harrisburg area is at the heart of the fertile Pennsylvania Dutch Country), and food services (nearby Hershey is home of the chocolate maker, located just 10 miles east of Harrisburg). In 1981, following contractions in the steel and dairy industries, Harrisburg was declared the second most distressed city in the nation. [9] The city subsequently experienced a resurgence under its former mayor Stephen R. Reed, [10] with nearly $3 billion in new investment realized during his lengthy tenure. [11]

The Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest free indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in Harrisburg in 1917 and has been held there every early-to-mid January since then. [12] Harrisburg also hosts an annual outdoor sports show, the largest of its kind in North America, as well as an auto show, which features a large static display of new as well as classic cars and is renowned nationwide. Harrisburg is also known for the Three Mile Island accident, which occurred on March 28, 1979 near Middletown.

In 2010 Forbes rated Harrisburg as the second best place in the U.S. to raise a family. [13] Despite the city's recent financial troubles, in 2010 The Daily Beast website ranked 20 metropolitan areas across the country as being recession-proof, and the Harrisburg region landed at No. 7. [14] The financial stability of the region is in part due to the high concentration of state and federal government agencies. The finances of the city itself however, have been poorly managed and its inability to repay its bond debt has created an ongoing fiscal crisis.

State Street Bridge. Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge's Pylons. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

The State Street Bridge, also known as the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Bridge, is a 1,312-foot (400 m) concrete, deck arch bridge that spans Pennsylvania Route 230 and Paxton Creek in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The bridge was completed in 1930 and was intended to be the principal entrance into downtown Harrisburg and the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex from the east.

The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1988, and was documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in 1997.

History

Design

See also

Notes

References

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After the Pennsylvania State Capitol building burned to ground in 1897, plans were drawn up to improve and

expand the park that surrounds the Capitol building. [5] The plans were for a more impressive Capitol building that would prevent other Pennsylvania cities like Philadelphia from challenging Harrisburg's claim as the seat of the state

government. [5] After the land that was necessary for the expansion was acquired in 1916, Arnold Brunner was hired to design the plans for the construction and landscaping of the new buildings. Planning was interrupted by World War I.

After the war, in 1919, it was decided to make the bridge a memorial to the armed forces of the United States and

Pennsylvania that had fought in the war. [6] The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed an act authorizing the construction of the bridge on July 18, 1919. In 1926, William Gehron and Sidney Ross revised the plans that Brunner had made for the bridge in 1921 after his death in 1925. Changes they made included a more massive bridge

and taller, "more streamlined" pylons. [6]

Construction began on the bridge in September 1925. The General Assembly appropriated $361,000 ($4.83 million in present-day terms) for the bridge in the 1927 and 1929

sessions of the assembly. [7][8] The city of Harrisburg also contributed $300,000 ($4.01 million in present-day

terms). [8] The bridge was completed on August 22, 1930.

The bridge was renovated in 1955 by J. Richard Nissley, who added a 36-foot (11 m) steel girder span on the

bridge's east end. [2] The road deck and sidewalks were

replaced in 1957. [2] The State Street Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1988

Lewistown Amtrak Station.

Lewistown Station is an Amtrak railway station located about 60 miles northwest of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at PA Route 103 and Helen Street in Lewistown, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. The station is actually located across the Juniata River from Lewistown proper, a little less than one mile south of the center of the borough. Lewistown Station is currently only served by Amtrak's Pennsylvanian, which operates once per day in each direction. Until 2005, Lewistown was served by a second daily train, the Three Rivers (a replacement service for the legendary Broadway Limited), an extended version of the Pennsylvanian that terminated in Chicago. Upon its cancellation, the sole Pennsylvanian marked the first time in Lewistown's railway history that the town was served by just a single, daily passenger train.

A station building exists at the stop, which is open before and during train departure times. However, there is no ticket office at this station. The distance between Lewistown and the next station eastward, the Harrisburg Transportation Center, is the longest distance between stations (61 miles) anywhere along the route between Pittsburgh and New York.

The station house, according to volunteers that staff it, is the oldest structure built by the Pennsylvania Railroad which is still standing. The station itself is the oldest continually operated train station in America.

Metro Bank Park. Harrisburg Senators

Metro Bank Park is a baseball park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is the home field of the Harrisburg Senators minor league baseball team. The original structure was built in 1987 and it was called Riverside Stadium until 2004. Currently, the ballpark has a capacity of 6,187 people. [6] The ballpark received a $30 million renovation beginning in 2008. The stadium is located on City Island, in the Susquehanna River.

Metro Bank Park sits on the exact spot where baseball had been played earlier in the century, where other Harrisburg teams played from 1907-1952. The location, City Island, is a sixty-two-acre waterfront park and sports complex. The facilities include volleyball courts, softball fields, a football/soccer field, water golf, nature tails, jogging paths, cycling paths, two marinas, the "Pride of the Susquehanna" paddlewheel riverboat, a food court called RiverSide Village, and a miniature train that runs around the island for tours. Also the Harrisburg City Islanders soccer team plays on the island at Skyline Sports Complex, next to Metro Bank Park.

The original ballpark is a steel and aluminum structure, and over the course of time, additional seating areas were built along 1st base, and box seats in foul territory and in front of the grandstands behind home plate to provide additional seating, despite official capacity being listed over 6,000 since the park's inception. The stadium was used as the spring training facility in the movie Major League II, starring Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger and Corbin Bernsen.

Dance of Eternal Spring. Italian Lake

Italian Lake Park is a public park located at 3rd and Division Streets in the Uptown neighborhood of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

The 9.5 acre park was restored to its mid-century grandeur in the 1980s. [1] The lake is surrounded by antique-style streetlights, textured walkways, and formal gardens maintained in the Italian Renaissance-style. Features of the park include a beautiful Japanese-style bridge representing harmony between nature and man and a classical-style fountain designed with three muses of art, music and dance, entitle "Dance of Eternal Spring." Outdoor concerts are held at the park during the Summer months.

Wildwood Park. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Wildwood Park is a public park in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The 210 acre park is known for its 90 acre shallow lake and over 6 miles of trails. [1] The park is within the city of Harrisburg; however, it is administered and maintained by the Dauphin County parks department. The park runs parallel to the Paxton Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River, on the northern side of Harrisburg and adjacent to the main campus of HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College. Wildwood Park is also part of the Capital Area Greenbelt.

Pennsylvania's State Capitol building in Harrisburg.

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and is in downtown Harrisburg. It was designed in 1902 in a Beaux-Arts style with Renaissance themes throughout. The capitol houses the chambers for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. It is also the main building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex.

The seat of government for the state was originally in Philadelphia, then was relocated to Lancaster in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. The current capitol, known as the Huston Capitol, is the third state capitol building to be built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire and the second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding was discontinued in 1899.

Joseph Miller Huston designed the current capitol, dedicated in 1906. After its completion, the capitol project was the subject of a graft scandal. The construction and subsequent furnishing cost three times more than the General Assembly had appropriated for the project. Huston and four others were convicted of graft in relation to costs of the total project.

The capitol is often referred to as a "palace of art" because of its many sculptures, murals and stained-glass windows, most of which use Pennsylvania themes or were made by Pennsylvanians. [3] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Starting in 1982, the restoration of the capitol has been ongoing.

i83 Harrisburg, York, Hershey, Airport on ramp.

Interstate 83 (abbreviated I-83) is an Interstate Highway in the eastern United States. Its southern terminus is in Baltimore, Maryland at the Fayette Street exit; its northern terminus is in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania at Interstate 81.

Most of the route south of Lemoyne, Pennsylvania is a direct replacement of US 111, a former spur of US 11.

Ice forming on the Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge.

The Cumberland Valley Railroad Bridge is a currently unused railroad bridge, but it will serve as a central connection in the proposed CorridorOne regional commuter rail system.

The bridge links downtown Harrisburg, City Island, and the western suburbs of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. The bridge was originally constructed by the Cumberland Valley Railroad as part of the mainline from Harrisburg to Hagerstown via Chambersburg. The Cumberland Valley Railroad itself was leased as a subsidiary by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The crossing, a wooden covered bridge, was erected here in 1839. The original structure was destroyed by fire in 1844, rebuilt in 1846 and renovated and upgraded in 1856, 1872 and 1885. In 1887, the old wooden covered span was replaced by an open iron truss bridge, which by then served dozens of trains daily. The present concrete structure was completed c. 1916. Although abandoned for rail use over the past several decades, the bridge is poised to be the principal crossing for the Corridor One rail commuter system to serve the renewed rail needs of the metropolitan area and of Harrisburg's west shore. Immediately to the south of the Cumberland Valley Bridge, a similar iron truss structure was erected in 1891 by the Reading Company, originally known as the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.

Crowne Plaza Hotel and M&T Bank business signs glows during the night. Harrisburg skyline.

Website www.crowneplaza.com

Crowne Plaza is a chain of full service, upscale hotels catering to business travelers and to the meetings and conventions market. It forms part of the InterContinental Hotels Group family of brands, which include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts and Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and operates in 52 countries, usually located in city centers, resorts, or near major airports.

Originally branded as "Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza", the first United States Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel was opened in Rockville, Maryland, in 1983. Within a couple of years the brand was spun off as an independent chain (still owned at the time by Holiday Inn). The first Crowne Plaza Resort opened in Madeira, Portugal in 1999. Crowne Plaza once owned the Isle of Capri Casino resort chain.

Today, the brand represents over 400 hotels globally in 52 countries with 102,667 bedrooms (as of March 2010) and an expanding 129 hotels in the pipeline. In 1990, the InterContinental Hotels Group purchased the Holiday Inn family; today its portfolio includes the luxury brand InterContinental Hotels & Resorts, the upscale boutique brand Hotel Indigo, the upscale extended stay brand Staybridge Suites, the midscale extended stay brand Candlewood Suites, and the midscale, full service brand Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts and the midscale limited service brand Holiday Inn Express.

In July 2009, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts was recognized by Lodging Hospitality magazine as one of the industry's top growing brands.

Panorama of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. January 17, 2013

Website www.harrisburgpa.gov
Harrisburg is the capital city of Pennsylvania. As of 2011, the city had a population of 49,673, making it the ninth-largest city in Pennsylvania. [5] Harrisburg is also the county seat of Dauphin County [6] and lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 105 miles (169 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia.

The Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Dauphin, Cumberland, and Perry counties, had a population of 509,074 in 2000 and grew to 549,850 in 2010. A July 1, 2007 estimate placed the population at 528,892, making it the fifth largest Metropolitan Statistical Area in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton (the Lehigh Valley), and Scranton–Wilkes Barre. [7] The Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon Combined Statistical Area, including both the Harrisburg-Carlisle and Lebanon Metropolitan Statistical Areas, had an estimated population of 656,781 in 2007 and was the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the state. [8]

Harrisburg played a notable role in American history during the Westward Migration, the American Civil War, and the Industrial Revolution. During part of the 19th century, the building of the Pennsylvania Canal and later the Pennsylvania Railroad allowed Harrisburg to become one of the most industrialized cities in the Northeastern United States. The U.S. Navy ship USS Harrisburg, which served from 1918 to 1919 at the end of World War I, was named in honor of the city.

In the mid-to-late 20th century, the city's economic fortunes fluctuated with its major industries consisting of government, heavy manufacturing including the production of steel, agriculture (the greater Harrisburg area is at the heart of the fertile Pennsylvania Dutch Country), and food services (nearby Hershey is home of the chocolate maker, located just 10 miles east of Harrisburg). In 1981, following contractions in the steel and dairy industries, Harrisburg was declared the second most distressed city in the nation. [9] The city subsequently experienced a resurgence under its former mayor Stephen R. Reed, [10] with nearly $3 billion in new investment realized during his lengthy tenure. [11]

The Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest free indoor agriculture exposition in the United States, was first held in Harrisburg in 1917 and has been held there every early-to-mid January since then. [12] Harrisburg also hosts an annual outdoor sports show, the largest of its kind in North America, as well as an auto show, which features a large static display of new as well as classic cars and is renowned nationwide. Harrisburg is also known for the Three Mile Island accident, which occurred on March 28, 1979 near Middletown.

In 2010 Forbes rated Harrisburg as the second best place in the U.S. to raise a family. [13] Despite the city's recent financial troubles, in 2010 The Daily Beast website ranked 20 metropolitan areas across the country as being recession-proof, and the Harrisburg region landed at No. 7. [14] The financial stability of the region is in part due to the high concentration of state and federal government agencies. The finances of the city itself however, have been poorly managed and its inability to repay its bond debt has created an ongoing fiscal crisis.