Plunketts Creek's name comes from the first owner of the land including the creek's mouth, and the creek has given its name to two townships (although one has since changed its name). The creek flows southwest and then south through the dissectedAllegheny Plateau, through rock from the Mississippian sub-period and Devonian period. Much of the Plunketts Creek valley is composed of various glacial deposits, chiefly alluvium. (Full article...)
The city of Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn in the English CrownProvince of Pennsylvania between the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. Before then, the area was inhabited by the Lenape people. Philadelphia quickly grew into an important colonial city and during the American Revolution was the site of the First and Second Continental Congresses. After the Revolution the city was chosen to be the temporary capital of the United States. At the beginning of the 19th century, the federal and state governments left Philadelphia, but the city remained the cultural and financial center of the country. Philadelphia became one of the first U.S. industrial centers and the city contained a variety of industries, the largest being textiles.
After the American Civil War Philadelphia's government was controlled by a Republicanpolitical machine and by the beginning of the 20th century Philadelphia was described as "corrupt and contented." Various reform efforts slowly changed city government with the most significant in 1950 where a new city charter strengthened the position of mayor and weakened the Philadelphia City Council. At the same time Philadelphia moved its supports from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, which has since created a strong Democratic organization. (Full article...)
During the American Civil War, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a substantial supply of military personnel, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government. The state raised over 360,000 soldiers for the Federal armies. It served as a significant source of artillery guns, small arms, ammunition, armor for the new revolutionary style of ironclad types of gunboats for the rapidly expanding United States Navy, and food supplies. The Phoenixville Iron Company by itself produced well over 1,000 cannons, and the Frankford Arsenal was a major supply depot.
Pennsylvania was the site of the bloodiest battle of the war, the Battle of Gettysburg, which became widely known as one of the turning points of the Civil War. Numerous more minor engagements and skirmishes were also fought in Pennsylvania during the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign, as well as the following year during a Confederate cavalry raid that culminated in the burning of much of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. (Full article...)
Image 11The locomotive Tioga in Philadelphia in 1848; Pennsylvania was an important railroad center throughout the 19th century. (from History of Pennsylvania)
Image 31Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem was one of the world's leading steel manufacturers for most of the 19th and 20th century. In 1982, however, it discontinued most of its operations, declared bankruptcy in 2001, and was dissolved in 2003. (from Pennsylvania)
Image 33One of only two confirmed photos of Abraham Lincoln (sitting in center, facing camera, without his traditional top hat) at Gettysburg a few hours prior to giving the Gettysburg Address at Gettysburg National Cemetery on November 19, 1863. The address, which was only 271 words in length, ranks among the most famed speeches in American history. (from History of Pennsylvania)
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