PENNSYLVANIA , which, but for a small stretch on Lake Erie is the only landlocked state in the northeast, was explored by the Dutch in the early 1600s, settled by the Swedes forty years later, and claimed by the British in 1664. Charles II of England, who owed a debt to the Penn family, rid himself of the potentially troublesome young William Penn , an enthusiastic advocate of religious freedom, by granting him land in the colony in 1682. Penn Jr. immediately established a "holy experiment" of "brotherly" love and tolerance, naming the state for his father and setting a good example by signing a peaceful cohabitation treaty with the Native Americans. Most of the early agricultural settlers were religious refugees: Quakers like Penn himself, Mennonites from Germany and Switzerland, to be joined later by Irish Catholics during the potato famines of the nineteenth century.

"The keystone state" was crucial in the development of the US. Politicians and thinkers like Benjamin Franklin congregated in Philadelphia - home of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution - and were prominent in articulating the ideas behind the Revolution. Later, the battle in Gettysburg, south Pennsylvania - best remembered for Abraham Lincoln's immortal Gettysburg Address - marked a turning point in the Civil War. Pennsylvania was also vital industrially: Pittsburgh, in the west, was the world's leading steel producer in the nineteenth century, and nearly all the nation's anthracite coal is still mined here.

The two great urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh , both lively and vibrant tourist destinations, are at opposite ends of the state. The three hundred miles between them, though predominantly agricultural, are topographically diverse. There are over one hundred state parks, with green rolling countryside in the east, brooding forests in the west, and in the northeast, the rivers, lakes and valleys of the Poconos. Lancaster County , home to traditional Amish farmers, and the Gettysburg battlefield both heave with busloads of day-trippers, while the Hershey chocolate factory, minutes away from Harrisburg , the capital, draws thousands of cocoa-loving visitors each year.  TOP

Amtrak crosses daily from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, stopping at Lancaster City, Harrisburg and other smaller towns. Greyhound covers all the major cities and some small towns not served by rail, but its routes can be circuitous; check arrival times when buying your ticket, especially if you need to make a connection.  TOP

Central Pennsylvania
Central Pennsylvania , cut north to south by the broad Susquehanna River , has no major cities, though the state capital, Harrisburg, is an excellent base from which to explore sights that include the Hershey chocolate empire and the rolling Amish farmlands of Lancaster County to the east, and the Civil War site of Gettysburg on the state's southern border. To the north, the mighty forests of the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania," around Williamsport , reveal the legacy of its great nineteenth-century lumber wealth in mansion-lined streets. Cities like Johnstown , beyond the dramatic Allegheny Mountains in the west, and Scranton are industrial towns with little of interest for the casual visitor.

Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania , a key point for frontier trade and an important thoroughfare to the West, was the focus of the fighting between the English and the French in the seven-year French and Indian War for colonial and maritime power (1756-63). It grew to industrial prominence in the nineteenth century, with the exploitation of its coal resources gathering pace after the Civil War, and the opening of the world's first oil well at Titusville (now Drake Well Memorial Park) in northwestern Pennsylvania in 1859.

Today, tourism in western Pennsylvania, like the now-quiet coal and steel industries, is concentrated around the surprisingly appealing city of Pittsburgh . To the south of the city, the Laurel Highlands features Frank Lloyd Wright's not-to-be-missed architectural masterpiece, Fallingwater , as well as nearby Ohiopyle State Park and the Youghiogheny River , which offer plenty of outdoor activities. Another great wilderness area to explore is the lush Allegheny National Forest in the north, which begins twenty miles from I-80. Erie's Presque Isle State Park , in the very northwest corner of the state, is also worth a visit for its sandy beaches and wooded hiking trails.  TOP