Interesting Pennsylvania Facts and Trivia

• State Flower: Mountain Laure - Tree: Hemlock
• State Bird: Ruffed Grouse - Animal: Whitetail Deer
• PA is First Among US in: Rural Population, number of licensed hunters, State Game Lands, covered bridges, potato chip production, pretzel bakeries, licensed bakeries, meat packing plants, mushroom production, sausage production, scrapple production
• Pennsylvania 1st state to list their web site URL on a license plate
• The 1st baseball stadium was built in Pittsburgh in 1909
• Hershey PA is considered the Chocolate Capital of the United States
• First automobile service station opened in Pittsburgh in 1913
• The first daily newspaper was published in Philadelphia on 9/21/1784
• Philadelphia is the site of the first presidential mansion
• Betsy Ross made the first American flag in Philadelphia
• Philadelphia is home to the cheesesteak sandwich, water ice, soft pretzels, and TastyKakes
• The Rockville Bridge in Harrisburg is the longest stone-arch bridge in the world
• Kennett Square is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World
• The Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia in 1776
• Philadelphia is home to the Liberty Bell
• Each year on Christmas day the "Crossing of the Delaware" is reenacted at Washington Crossing
• Pennsylvania is the only original colony not bordered by the Atlantic Ocean
• Benjamin Franklin founded the Philadelphia Zoo, the first public zoo in the United States
• Pittsburgh is famous for manufacturing steel. Its professional football team is named the Pittsburgh Steelers
• Fairmount Park in Philadelphia is the largest city park with over 8,000 acres
• Little League Baseball's first World Series was held in 1946 in Williamsport
• Philadelphia was once the United States capital city
• The oldest stone railroad bridge in use in Pennsylvania is the Starrucca Viaduct that crosses PA Route 171 north of Lanesboro in Susquehanna County
• The Borough of Kane is known as the Black Cherry Capital of the World
• During the depression canned goods served as admission to The Star Theater in Mercersburg to help supply the local soup kitchen
• Located in the Grape Coast region of Pennsylvania the city of North East has four thriving wineries and is home to the largest Welch's grape processing plant in the country
• Penn Township, officially referred to as the Township of Penn, was named after the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn
• Punxsutawney citizens are proud to be over shadowed by their town's most famous resident the world-renowned weather forecasting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil. Punxsutawney is billed as the weather capital of the world

Preserving Pennsylvania Bridges

For the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT), bridge maintenance is not just about fixing bridges when they break down: It's about using preventive maintenance to breathe new life into not-so-new bridges and take care of structures before they have the chance to deteriorate.

Pennsylvania maintains the third largest number of State bridges in the country, spending $300 million on 250 bridge projects each year. PENNDOT has found that both proper and frequent inspections and a good preventive maintenance program are vital to extending performance, keeping costs down, and ensuring safety.

reprinted with persmission from United States Department of Transportation - Federal Highway Administration