Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Harrisburg with view of the Pennsylvania State Capitol
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harrisburg,_Pennsylvania_State_Capital_Building.jpg
Author: kev72


Harrisburg is the capital and 9th largest city in Pennsylvania. It is also the county seat of Dauphin County. The city is located on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, on the southeastern part of the state. It covers 11.4 sq mi (26.9 sq km) and has a population of some 50,000 people (2011 estimate), within a metropolitan area of some 530,000 inhabitants.

Colonial Theatre, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colonial_Theatre_Harrisburg_PA_Nov_10.jpg
Author: Pubdog


The climate of Harrisburg is somewhere between the humid subtropical and the humid continental. There are four distinct seasons here, with July being the hottest month, when the average high temperature rises to 85.7°F (29.8°C). January is the coldest month, with average low temperature of 23.1°F (-4.9°C). May gets the most rain at 4.6 in (116.8 mm.

The Harrisburg site has been inhabited by Native Americans for thousands of years when the first European - in the form of English Captain John Smith - arrived in 1608. Nothing much happened for another hundred years or so, when English trader John Harris, Sr., settled there, having received a 500-acre grant. The land was later developed by his son, John Harris, Jr., who named the settlement Harrisburg.

Harrisburg was incorporated as a town in 1791, and due to its strategic location, was selected to be the state capital of Pennsylvania in 1812, a position it held since.

During the American Civil War, Harrisburg was a training camp for Union soldiers. It was also an important stop on the Underground Railroad which enabled escaped slaves to flee north towards Canada. By the 19th century it had transformed into an industrial town supported by the steel and iron industries.

As with many cities in the region, Harrisburg suffered a massive decline that began in the Great Depression years and prolonged until the 1970s, when its economy shifted towards a service-oriented base, centering on health care and other clean industries.

Visiting Harrisburg

A number of highways converge on Harrisburg, among them I-76 running roughly east-west, connect it with Philadelphia to the east and Pittsburgh to the west, the I-81 running southwest-northeast, and the I-83 running south towards Baltimore.

Places of Interest in Harrisburg

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