Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | |
|---|---|
| Downtown Harrisburg Downtown Harrisburg | |
 Location in Pennsylvania | |
| Country State County | United States Pennsylvania Dauphin |
| Incorporated Charter | 1791 1860 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Stephen R. Reed (D) |
| Population (2000) | |
• City | 48,950 |
| • Metro | 643,820 (CSA 2,005) |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-4 (EDT) |
| Website | http://www.harrisburgpa.gov/ |
Harrisburg is the capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 48,950. The Harrisburg area population was 643,820, making it the fourth largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is the county seat of Dauphin CountyTemplate:GR and lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 105 miles (169 km) west-northwest of Philadelphia.
Harrisburg is one of the oldest and most historically significant state capital cities in the United States. It has played a critical 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.
Contrasted with its 1981 status as the second most distressed city in the nation, Harrisburg has undergone a dramatic economic resurgence, with nearly $3 billion in new investment now realized. The US Navy ship USS Harrisburg, which served from 1918-19 at the end of World War I, is named in honor of the city. Harrisburg is also known for the infamous Three Mile Island incident, which occurred in nearby Middletown.
History
The site along the Susquehanna River where Harrisburg is located is thought to have been inhabited by Native Americans as early as 3000 BC. Known to the Native Americans as "Peixtin," or "Paxtang," the area was an important resting place and crossroads for Native American traders, as the trails leading from the Delaware to the Ohio rivers, and from the Potomac to the Upper Susquehanna intersected there. In 1719, John Harris, Sr., an English trader, settled here and 14 years later secured grants of 800 acres (3.2 km²) in this vicinity. That same year, 1733, Harris was granted a license to operate a ferry, and the place was long afterwards known as Harris's Ferry. In 1784, John Harris, Jr. made plans to lay out a town on his father's land, which he named Harrisburg. In the spring of 1785, the town was formally surveyed by William Maclay, who was a son-in-law of John Harris, Sr. In the following year, the city was renamed Louisburg in honor of Louis XVI. In 1791, it was incorporated as Harrisburg, and was named the Pennsylvania state capital in October 1812. The cornerstone for the new capitol building was laid in 1819 by Governor William Findlay.
The assembling here of the Harrisburg Convention in 1827 led to the passage of the high protective-tariff bill of 1828. In 1839, Harrison and Tyler were nominated for President of the United States at Harrisburg.
In 1860, it was chartered as a city.
During the American Civil War, Harrisburg was a significant training center for the Union Army, with tens of thousands of troops passing through Camp Curtin. The city was a key target of Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia during the Gettysburg Campaign. Two full divisions of Richard S. Ewell's Second Army Corps approached Harrisburg in June 1863 from the southwest through Cumberland County, while a third division under Jubal Early planned to cross the Susquehanna River at Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and attack Harrisburg from the rear. A network of forts and earthworks were hastily constructed to defend the city, but the feared major Confederate attack never came, although a series of small skirmishes provided Ewell with information on Harrisburg's defenses. Desiring to concentrate his forces near the South Mountain range to parry oncoming Union forces, Lee ordered Ewell to withdraw from Harrisburg, a move that culminated in the Battle of Gettysburg.
On February 12, 1897, the Capitol was gutted by a fire. Construction of a new capitol was commenced, with an expected budget of $5 to $10 million. However, by the time it was completed in 1906, the cost rose to $12.5 million, $4 million of which was for graft. (For example, $850 was spent for a $150 flagpole.) Five people, including the architect and chief contractor, received prison terms. The dedication of the Capitol was held on October 4 and attended by President Theodore Roosevelt.
In 1902, Vance McCormick was elected mayor of Harrisburg as part of the growing city beautiful movement and immediately set about to improve the city. He expanded the city park system (which eventually included 1,100 acres), built steps along the Susquehanna River (which still exist today), paved seventy miles of roads, and improved the city water system. During this time, the population of the city increased from 51,000 to 73,000.
The Pennsylvania Farm Show, a major annual agriculture exposition, was first held in 1931 and has been held every January since then. The present location of the Show is the Pennsylvania State Farm Show Arena, located at the corner of Maclay and Cameron streets.
On February 14, 1964, the Harrisburg Area Community College (or HACC) was founded as the first community college in Pennsylvania in the former Harrisburg Academy. In March 1965, the City of Harrisburg sold the college 157 acres in Wildwood Park for a permanent campus. Construction of the academic buildings was completed in 1967. HACC now has additional campuses in Lebanon, Lancaster, and Gettysburg, besides the main campus in Harrisburg (now called the Wildwood Campus).
In June 1972, Harrisburg was hit by another flood from the remnants of hurricane Agnes.
On March 28, 1979, the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, down the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg, suffered a partial meltdown. Although the meltdown was contained and no radiation was released, there were still worries that an evacuation would be necessary. Governor Richard Thornburgh did recommend an evacuation of pregnant woman and preschool children who lived within a five mile radius of TMI. Out of the 5,000 people covered by this recommendation, 140,000 people fled the area.
(See also: Three Mile Island accident)
Geography
Harrisburg is located at 40°16′11″N 76°52′32″W / 40.26972°N 76.87556°WInvalid arguments have been passed to the {{#coordinates:}} function (40.269789, -76.875613)Template:GR.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 29.6 km² (11.4 mi²). 21.0 km² (8.1 mi²) of it is land and 8.6 km² (3.3 mi²) of it (29.11%) is water.
Harrisburg is located in the Susquehanna Valley, a rich and fertile agricultural region in south-central Pennsylvania. The region is also situated at the extreme western fringe of the BosWash megalopolis, the name for a group of metropolitan areas in the northeastern United States. Directly to the north of Harrisburg lies the Blue Ridge chain of the Appalachian Mountains.
Harrisburg's western boundary is formed by the Susquehanna River, which also serves as the boundary between Dauphin and Cumberland counties. The city is divided into numerous neighborhoods and districts. Like many of Pennsylvania's cities and boroughs that are at "build-out," there are several townships outside of Harrisburg city limits that, although autonomous, use the name Harrisburg for postal designation.
People and Culture in Harrisburg
Culture
Harrisburg enjoys a reputation as a source for many arts and cultural opportunities, largely due to its prominence as one of the oldest American state capital cities in the urbanized, Northeastern United States.
The city’s relative proximity to the larger metropolitan areas of Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington DC also plays an influential part in Harrisburg’s cultural life. Many new and long established organizations continue to professionalize themselves by rising to new standards which has been reciprocally supported by the city, the corporate sector and the community at large.
Center City is credited with two major performance centers which are unsurpassed not only for a city the size of Harrisburg but also in terms of their quality in design and complement. The Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, which was completed in 1999, is the first center of its type in the United States where education, science and the performing arts take place under one roof. The Forum, a magnificent 1,763-seat concert and lecture hall built in 1930-31, is a state-owned and operated facility prominently located within the Capitol Complex. Since 1931, The Forum has been home to the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra.
Harrisburg is also the home of the annual Pennsylvania Farm Show, the largest agricultural exhibition of its kind in the nation. In 2004, Harrisburg hosted CowParade, an international public art exhibit that has been featured in major cities all over the world. Fiberglass sculptures of cows are decorated by local artists, and distributed over the city centre, in public places such as train stations and parks. They often feature artwork and designs specific to local culture, as well as city life and other relevant themes.
Demographics
| City of Harrisburg Population by year [1] | |
| 1790 | 500 |
| 1820 | 2,990 |
| 1830 | 4,312 |
| 1840 | 5,980 |
| 1850 | 7,834 |
| 1860 | 13,405 |
| 1870 | 23,104 |
| 1880 | 30,762 |
| 1890 | 39,385 |
| 1900 | 50,167 |
| 1910 | 64,186 |
| 1920 | 75,917 |
| 1930 | 80,339 |
| 1940 | 83,893 |
| 1950 | 89,544 |
| 1960 | 79,697 |
| 1970 | 67,880 |
| 1980 | 53,264 |
| 1990 | 52,376 |
| 2000 | 48,950 |
As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 48,950 people, 20,561 households, and 10,917 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,330.4/km² (6,035.6/mi²). There were 24,314 housing units at an average density of 1,157.5/km² (2,997.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 31.72% White, 54.83% Black or African American, 0.37% Native American, 2.83% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 6.54% from other races, and 3.64% from two or more races. 11.69% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 20,561 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 23.4% were married couples living together, 24.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.9% were non-families. 39.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 3.15.
In the city the population was spread out with 28.2% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.8 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,920, and the median income for a family was $29,556. Males had a median income of $27,670 versus $24,405 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,787. About 23.4% of families and 24.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.9% of those under age 18 and 16.6% of those age 65 or over.
Since the 1950s, Harrisburg, along with other northeastern urban centers large and small, has experienced a declining population that is ultimately fueling the growth of its suburbs. Unlike Western and Southern states, Pennsylvania maintains a complex system of municipalities and has very little legislation on either the annexation/expansion of cities or the consolidating of municipal entities.
Media
The Harrisburg area has two daily newspapers. The Patriot-News is published in Harrisburg and has a daily circulation of over 100,000. The Sentinel, which is published in Carlisle, roughly 20 miles west of Harrisburg, serves many of Harrisburg's western suburbs in Cumberland County. The Press and Journal, published in Middletown, is one of many weekly, general information newspapers in the Harrisburg area. There are also numorous television and radio stations in the Harrisburg/Lancaster/York area, which makes up the 41st largest media market in the nation.
Museums, art collections, and sites of interest
- National Civil War Museum, located at Reservoir Park
- Pennsylvania State Farm Show Arena, one of the largest convention/exhibition centers on the east coast
- Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex
- State Museum of Pennsylvania
- Strawberry Square, known for unusual specialty retail shops and a full-variety food court
- Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, features an IMAX theater
Notable residents
Since the early 1700s, Harrisburg has been home to many people of note. Due to the fact that it is the seat of government for the Commonwealth, and in relative proximity to other urban centers, Harrisburg has played a significant role in the nation's political, cultural and industrial history. Harrisburgers have also taken a leading role in the development of Pennsylvania's history for over two centuries. Two former U.S. Secretaries of War, Simon Cameron and Alexander Ramsey and several other prominent political figures, such as former speaker of the house Newt Gingrich, hail from Harrisburg. Several olympic medalists, such as Jeremy Linn who placed silver and gold at the 1996 Atlanta games, also grew up in Harrisburg.
Sports
| Club | Sport | League | Venue | Logo |
| Harrisburg Senators | Baseball | Eastern League; Southern Division | Commerce Bank Park | Harrisburg Senators Logo |
| Harrisburg City Islanders | Soccer | USL Second Division | Skyline Sports Complex | Harrisburg City Islanders Logo |
| Hershey Bears | Ice hockey | American Hockey League; Eastern Conference | GIANT Center | Hershey Bears Logo |
Architecture
Harrisburg is home to one of the most magnificant State Capitol buildings in the country. Completed in 1906, the central dome rises to a height of 272 feet. The building is adorned with sculpture, most notably the two groups, Love and Labor, the Unbroken Law and The Burden of Life, the Broken Law by sculptor George Grey Barnard, murals by Violet Oakley and Edwin Austin Abbey and a magnificant tile floor by Henry Mercer which tells the story of the state of Pennsylvania.
Architecture photo gallery
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Railroad Bridge -
Strawberry Square -
Capitol Complex -
Detail of the Capitol Dome -
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Tile image of bat by Henry Mercer, State Capitol rotunda -
Federal Building -
The Walnut Street Bridge -
Love and Labor: The Unbroken Law -
The Burden of Life: The Broken Law -
Holocaust Memorial
Government
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. City Government Center, the only city hall in the United States named for a civil rights leader, serves as a central location for the administrative functions of the city [2].
Harrisburg has been served since 1970 by the “strong mayor” form of municipal government, with separate executive and legislative branches. The Mayor serves a four-year term with no term limits. As the full-time chief executive, the Mayor oversees the operation of 34 agencies, run by department and office heads, some of whom comprise the Mayor’s cabinet, including the Departments of Public Safety (police and fire bureaus), Public Works, Business Administration, Parks and Recreation, Incineration and Steam Generation, Building & Housing Development and Solicitor. The current mayor of Harrisburg is Stephen R. Reed (D).
There are seven city council members, all elected at large, who serve part-time for four-year terms. There are two other elected city posts, City Treasurer and City Controller, who separately head their own fiscally related offices.
Dauphin County Government Complex, in downtown Harrisburg, serves the administrative functions of the county. The trial court of general jurisdiction for Harrisburg rests with the Court of Dauphin County and is largely funded and operated by county resources and employees.
Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex, dominates the cities stature as a regional and national hub for government and politics. All administrative functions of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are located within the complex and at various nearby locations.
Commonwealth Judicial Center, houses Pennsylvania's three appellate courts, which are located in Harrisburg. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is the court of last resort in the state, regularly hears arguments at . The Superior Court of Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania are located here. Judges for these courts are elected at large.
Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse, located in downtown Harrisburg, serves as the regional administrative offices of the federal government. A branch of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is also located within the courthouse.
Transportation
Harrisburg is served by Capital Area Transit (CAT) which provides public bus, paratransit, and commuter rail (2006) service throughout the greater metropolitan area.
Airports
Domestic and International airlines provide services via Harrisburg International Airport (MDT), which is located southeast of the city in Middletown. HIA is the third-busiest commercial airport in Pennsylvania, both in terms of passengers served and cargo shipments. Passenger carriers that serve HIA include US Airways, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines, Continental Airlines, and Air Canada. Capital City Airport (CXY), a moderate-sized business class and general aviation airport, is located across the Susquehanna River in the nearby suburb of New Cumberland, south of Harrisburg. Both airports are owned and operated by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA).
Bridges
Harrisburg is the location of over a dozen large bridges, many up to a mile long, that cross the Susquehanna River.
Rail
The Pennsylvania Railroad's main line from New York to Chicago passed, unsurprisingly, through Harrisburg. The line was electrified in the 1930s, with the wires reaching Harrisburg in 1938. They went no further. Plans to electrify through to Pittsburgh and thence to Chicago never saw fruition; sufficient funding was never available. Thus, Harrisburg became where the PRR's crack expresses such as the Broadway Limited changed from electric traction to (originally) a steam locomotive, and later a diesel locomotive. Harrisburg remained a freight rail hub for PRR's successor Conrail, which was later sold off and divided between Norfolk Southern and CSX.
Norfolk Southern acquired all of Conrail's lines in the Harrisburg area and has continued the city's function as a freight rail hub. Norfolk Southern considers Harrisburg one of the 3 primary hubs in its system, along with Chicago and Atlanta, and operates 2 intermodal (rail/truck transfer) yards in the immediate Harrisburg area. The Harrisburg Intermodal Yard (formerly called Lucknow Yard) is located in the north end of Harrisburg, approximately 3 miles north of downtown Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Transportation Center, while the Rutherford Intermodal Yard is located approximately 6 miles east of downtown Harrisburg in Swatara Township, Dauphin County. Norfolk Southern also operates a significant classification yard in the Harrisburg area, the Enola Yard, which is located across the Susquehanna River from Harrisburg in East Pennsboro Township, Cumberland County.
Amtrak provides extensive service to and from Harrisburg. The passenger rail operator runs its Keystone and Pennsylvanian services between New York, Philadelphia, and the Harrisburg Transportation Center daily. The Pennsylvanian route, which operates once daily, continues west to Pittsburgh. As of April 2006, Amtrak runs 11 weekday roundtrips and 6 weekend roundtrips daily between Harrisburg and Philadelphia 30th Street Station; more than half of these trains also travel to and from New York Penn Station. Amtrak will increase the number of daily weekday roundtrips between Harrisburg and Philadelphia to 14 trips when the Keystone Corridor improvements are completed in late 2006. The improvements include upgrading the electrical catenary and replacing existing wooden railroad ties with concrete ties. These improvements will reduce the travel time between Harrisburg and Philadelphia to as little as 90 minutes and will also eliminate the need to change locomotives at 30th Street Station (from diesel to electric and vice-versa) for trains continuing to or coming from New York. The Harrisburg Transportation Center is the 2nd busiest Amtrak station in Pennsylvania and 27th busiest in the United States (just ahead of the nearby Lancaster train station in both categories), and had 339,599 boardings plus alightings in Federal Fiscal Year 2005 (October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005).
Currently Harrisburg is developing a comprehensive mass transit system by implementing the construction of a commuter rail line called CorridorOne, which will link the city with Lancaster, PA. Capital Area Transit's long-term plans call for the commuter rail line to continue westward to Carlisle, PA.
At present (October 12, 2005) Cumberland County Commissioners oppose the plan to connect Carlisle, PA to Harrisburg.
Sister cities
Harrisburg has three sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI): Maalot (Israel), Pachuca (Mexico), and Hiroshima (Japan).
Education
Public Schools
The City of Harrisburg is served by the Harrisburg School District. The school district provides education for the city’s youth beginning with all-day kindergarten through twelfth grade. A multi-year restructuring plan is aimed at making the district a model for urban public schools. The city also has two public charter schools, the Ronald H. Brown Charter School and the Sylvan Heights Science Charter School. In addition, Harrisburg is home to an arts-focused magnet school, Capitol Area School for the Arts.
Private schools
Harrisburg is home to an extensive Catholic educational system. There are nearly 40 parish-driven elementary schools and seven Catholic high schools within the region administered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, including Bishop McDevitt High School. Numorous other private schools, such as the The Londonderry School and The Circle School, which is a Sudbury Model school, also operate in Harrisburg. Harrisburg Academy, founded in 1784 is one of the oldest independent college preparatory schools in the nation. The Rabbi David L. Silver Yeshiva Academy, founded in 1944, is a progressive, modern Jewish day school.
Higher Education
- Dixon University Center
- Harrisburg Area Community College
- Harrisburg University of Science and Technology
- Penn State Harrisburg Eastgate Center, in Downtown Harrisburg
- Temple University Harrisburg Campus
- University of Phoenix, Harrisburg Campus
- Widener University School of Law
Colleges and universities near Harrisburg
- Central Pennsylvania College (formerly Central Penn Business School), in Summerdale, Pennsylvania
- Dickinson College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
- Duquesne University (Capital Region Campus), in Lemoyne, Pennsylvania
- Elizabethtown College, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
- Lebanon Valley College, in Annville, Pennsylvania
- Messiah College, in Grantham, Pennsylvania
- Penn State Dickinson School of Law, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
- Penn State Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey, Pennsylvania
- Penn State Harrisburg (Main Campus), located nearby in Middletown, Pennsylvania
- Shippensburg University, in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania
- United States Army War College, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania
Libraries
- Dauphin County Law Library
- Dauphin County Library System
- McCormick Library of Harrisburg Area Community College
- State Library of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Law Library
See also
List of Harrisburg neighborhoods
External links
- City of Harrisburg (official website)
- Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District
- Harrisburg-Hershey Capital Region Visitors Bureau
- Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce
