Pennsylvania Trivia & Tidbits - Page 9

Looking for Pennsylvania trivia? Try our list Pennsylvania little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

American Realist painter Andrew Wyeth was born July 12, 1917, the youngest of five children, in Chadds Ford. He held his first one-man show of watercolors at age 20.

first appeared: 2/22/2004

The book, Best Hikes with Children in Pennsylvania, published by Mountaineer Books, gives details on 75 family-friendly hikes in the state.

first appeared: 2/15/2004

Kane (pop. 4,400) is recognized by the state as the Black Cherry Capital of the World for its high concentrations of quality black cherry timber.

first appeared: 2/8/2004

Pennsylvania was the first state (in 2000) to list its website address on a license plate—in this case, www.state.pa.us.

first appeared: 2/1/2004

The first paper mill established in North America was founded in 1690 by William Rittenhouse, near Germantown.

first appeared: 1/25/2004

The state’s largest county, Lycoming, is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

first appeared: 1/18/2004

Forest County and Perry County are the only counties in the state with no traffic lights.

first appeared: 1/11/2004

Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856–1931), who was raised in the state’s coal fields and left school at age 16, invented the abrasive material carborundum, which made possible the mass production of precision-ground, interchangeable parts for the Industrial Age.

first appeared: 1/4/2004

One of the best spots in North America to view hawks, eagles and falcons is Hawk Mountain in the state’s southeast corner. On one day last year, viewers sighted nearly 400 such birds.

first appeared: 12/28/2003

Hex signs, known for decorating many Pennsylvania Dutch barns, also were used on furniture, birth certificates, pottery and other items. Their roots lay more in religious motifs than in superstition.

first appeared: 12/21/2003

The Pennsylvania Turnpike was begun as a railroad route in the 1880s but never completed. In the 1930s, the state agreed to convert the abandoned railroad into our nation’s first superhighway, which opened in 1940.

first appeared: 12/14/2003

The town of Mauch Chunk changed its name to Jim Thorpe (pop. 4,804) in 1954 at the request of the famous athlete’s widow. Thorpe died penniless in 1953 and his widow offered to bury his remains in any town that would memorialize him with a name change.

first appeared: 12/7/2003

Binney & Smith, makers of Crayola Crayons, is headquartered in Easton (pop. 26,263). The wax crayons first appeared in 1903 and sold for a nickel a box.

first appeared: 11/30/2003

More than 70 years worth of helicopters, autogiros and convertiplanes are on display at the American Helicopter Museum in West Chester (pop. 17,861).

first appeared: 11/23/2003

In 1777, the Brandywine Battlefield in Chadds Ford (pop. 3,170) was the site of one of the largest engagements of the Revolutionary War. Colonial troops were outmaneuvered by the British, who took Philadelphia two weeks later.

first appeared: 11/16/2003

Before high winds toppled its center section in July 2003, the Kinzua Viaduct in northwestern Pennsylvania was the fourth tallest railroad bridge in the world. Built in 1882, it stood 301-feet tall and stretched 2,100 feet across the Kinzua Valley.

first appeared: 11/9/2003

Kurt Angle of Mount Lebanon (pop. 33,017) is one of four wrestlers to have captured the sport’s Grand Slam: the Junior Nationals, the NCAA Championships, the World Championships, and the Olympics (1996).

first appeared: 11/2/2003

Longwood Gardens, more than 1,000 acres of gardens, woodlands and meadows in Kennett Square (pop. 5,273), was created by industrialist Pierre du Pont, who purchased the property in 1906 to preserve its trees.

first appeared: 10/26/2003

A dairy farmer for the Hershey Chocolate Co., H.B. Reese quit in 1923 to open his own candy business. People know it today for its most famous product—Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

first appeared: 10/19/2003

The Forest Cathedral at Cook Forest State Park, with its tall white pines and hemlocks, has been designated a National Natural Landmark. The 7,182-acre park, dubbed the Black Forest for its old growth stands, is located in northwestern Pennsylvania.

first appeared: 10/12/2003

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