Harrisburg, PA Summer Camps

About Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania . As of the 2010 census , the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg is also the county seat of Dauphin County and lies on the east bank of the Susquehanna River , 105 miles 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. 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 , and Scranton – Wilkes Barre . 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. 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 , and food services . In 1981, following contractions in the steel and dairy industries, Harrisburg was declared the second most distressed city in the nation. The city subsequently experienced a resurgence under its former mayor Stephen R. Reed , with nearly $ 3 billion in new investment realized during his lengthy tenure. In 2010 Forbes rated Harrisburg as the second best place in the U.S. to raise a family. 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. The financial stability of the region is in part due to the high concentration of state and federal government agencies. 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. 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 . On October 11, 2011, the City of Harrisburg filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania .

History of Harrisburg, PA

History History of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania See also: Timeline of Harrisburg history Founding Harrisburg's site along the Susquehanna River 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. The first European contact with Native Americans in Pennsylvania was made by the Englishman, Captain John Smith , who journeyed from Virginia up the Susquehanna River in 1608 and visited with the Susquehanna tribe. In 1719, John Harris, Sr. , an English trader, settled here and 14 years later secured grants of 800 acres in this vicinity. In 1785, 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 1791, Harrisburg became incorporated and was named the Pennsylvania state capital in October 1812, and has been since. The assembling here of the Harrisburg Convention in 1827 led to the passage of the high protective-tariff bill of 1828.

Harrisburg, PA City Statistics: