Government of Pennsylvania
The Government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the governmental structure of the state of Pennsylvania as established by the Pennsylvania Constitution. It is composed of three branches: executive and judicial; the capital of the Commonwealth is Harrisburg. The elected officers are: In Pennsylvania all members of the executive branch are not on the ballot in the same year: elections for governor and lieutenant governor are held in years when there is not a presidential election, while the other three statewide offices are elected in presidential election years; the Governor's Cabinet comprises the directors of various state agencies: Department of Community and Economic Development Department of Aging Office of General Counsel Department of Insurance Department of Corrections Department of Transportation Department of State Department of General Services Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Emergency Management Agency Department of Health Department of Banking and Securities Office of the Budget Department of Environmental Protection Pennsylvania State Police Office of Inspector General Department of Human Services Department of Labor & Industry Department of Agriculture Department of Revenue Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Office of Administration Department of Education Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs The Pennsylvania Bulletin is the weekly gazette containing proposed and emergency rules and other notices and important documents, which are codified in the Pennsylvania Code.
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the bicameral state legislature composed of 253 members: the House of Representatives with 203 members, the Senate with 50 members. The Speaker of the House of Representatives or their designated speaker pro tempore holds sessions of the House; the President of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor, who has no vote except in the event of tie in the Senate, where the vote is 25-25. The legislature meets in the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, its session laws are published in the official Laws of Pennsylvania, which are codified in the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes. Members of the Senate and the House cannot hold a position in any civic office, both the houses may expel a member with two-thirds vote. Any member, expelled for corruption may never run again for reelection in either portion of the legislature. Pennsylvania is divided into 60 judicial districts, most of which have magisterial district judges, who preside over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims.
Magisterial District Judges preside over preliminary hearings in all misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Most criminal and civil cases originate in the Courts of Common Pleas, which serve as appellate courts to the district judges and for local agency decisions; the Superior Court hears all appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas not expressly designated to the Commonwealth Court or Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. It has original jurisdiction to review warrants for wiretap surveillance; the Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the final appellate court. All judges in Pennsylvania are elected. In total, 439 judges preside over the Court of Common Pleas, 9 judges preside over the Commonwealth Court, 15 judges preside over the Superior Court, 7 justices preside over the Supreme Court. Elected judges run in 10 year terms, at which point they are required to run in a non-partisan retention election if they wish to continue to serve.
Local government in Pennsylvania consists of five types of local governments: county, borough and school district. All of Pennsylvania is included in one of the state's 67 counties and each county is divided into one of the state's 2,562 municipalities. There are no independent cities or unincorporated territory within Pennsylvania. Local municipalities are either governed by statutes enacted by the Pennsylvania Legislature and administered through the Pennsylvania Code, by a home rule charter or optional form of government adopted by the municipality with consent of the Legislature. Municipalities may enforce local ordinances. Pennsylvania enacted the Local Government Commission by an Act of Assembly; the commission is one of the oldest in the country, composed of five members of the state Senate and House of Representatives who are appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House. The commission provides assistance to Members of the General Assembly on researching local issues.
Politics of Pennsylvania Elections in Pennsylvania Law of Pennsylvania PA. GOV Pennsylvania General Assembly Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania
Grey Towers National Historic Site
Grey Towers National Historic Site known as Gifford Pinchot House or The Pinchot Institute, is located just off US 6 west of Milford, Pennsylvania, in Dingman Township. It is the ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, first director of the United States Forest Service and twice elected governor of Pennsylvania; the house, built in the style of a French château to reflect the Pinchot family's French origins, was designed by Richard Morris Hunt with some work by Henry Edwards-Ficken. Situated on the hills above Milford, it overlooks the Delaware River. Pinchot grew up there and returned during the summers when his life took him to Washington and Harrisburg, his wife Cornelia made substantial changes to the interior of the home and gardens, in collaboration with several different architects, during that time. In 1963 his family donated the surrounding 102 acres to the Forest Service. S. National Historic Site managed by that agency. Three years the Department of the Interior designated it a National Historic Landmark.
Today it is open to the public for tours and hiking on its trails. The mansion itself is a three-story L-shaped fieldstone chateau. Conical roofed towers at three of the corners give the property its name. A service wing juts out from the fourth corner; as built it contained 43 rooms, with the first floor featuring a large entrance hall, billiard room, dining room and sitting room. Bedrooms were located on the second floor, with more on the third floor plus storage spaces and children's playrooms; the house boasts a number of outbuildings. On the 303 acres of the combined parcels that made up the original estate, there are 48 total buildings and sites, all but eight of which are considered contributing to its historic value; these include nearby cottages known as the Letter and Bait Boxes, a unique outdoor dining facility called the Finger Bowl, a Forester's Cottage used as a residence by the Pinchot descendants, an open-air theatre, the former Yale School of Forestry's summer school, a white pine plantation established by Gifford Pinchot.
There are four distinct periods in the history of Grey Towers: its initial construction under James Pinchot and his ownership and Cornelia Pinchot's years, the early years with the Forest Service, a more recent period of historic preservation efforts. In 1875, Gifford's father, James W. Pinchot, retired after a successful career in the wallpaper business and moved his family from New York City back to Milford, where he had grown up, he bought 3,000 acres of land overlooking the Delaware in Dingman Township, just outside the borough. Attractive to him and his family was a small waterfall on Sawkill Creek. There, James Pinchot's primary endeavor was planning and designing Grey Towers and the land around it. At first, he developed the land along lines of the ornamental farm advocated by Andrew Jackson Downing; the original drive up the hill was meant to show off his orchards. In 1884, he retained Hunt, a family friend, to put these ideas for a French-style chateau, modeled after the Marquis de Lafayette's LaGrange and reflecting the Pinchot family's origin in France, on paper for eventual construction.
Two years it was complete, but not before Pinchot altered the plans to save money. While Hunt was away in Europe, he had Edwards-Ficken alter Hunt's design when bedrock on the site made it difficult to build the raised foundation Hunt had planned. Edwards-Ficken added some of his own decorative touches to the house, such as the front door, interior paneling and wrought iron porches on the south and east facades. All the materials came from local sources. Hemlock timbers were floated down the Delaware on rafts from Lackawaxen, another river town, provided the bluestone and windows. Roofing slate came in Lafayette, New Jersey. All the workers and contractors hired were Milford residents; the total cost was $24,000 for furnishings. In 1906, a design by Frederick Law Olmsted was implemented for an old cemetery on the property. Today it is in poor condition. James Pinchot had come to regret the environmental damage forest-product industries such as his had done, he endowed the Yale School of Forestry, the first graduate forestry program in the country.
From 1901 to 1926, the Grey Towers estate grounds served as the school's primary summer preparatory fieldwork location. Only ruins of the educational buildings exist today. James Pinchot died in 1908, his wife, died three days after Gifford married Cornelia Bryce in August 1914, he and his brother Amos split the estate, with Amos taking the half on which a small forester's cabin was the main dwelling and Gifford taking the house. The couple began spending their summers at Grey Towers, she realized that his developing political career, hers, required a residence more suited to entertaining guests than it had been intended to be, set about modernizing the house. At her behest, many alterations were made to the original first-floor plan; the most significant involved merging the dining and breakfast rooms to create a large sitting room, enlarging the library by adding the living room to it. "The first thing my wife did", Pinchot told the Saturday Evening Post in 1922, "was to break down the partition walls and let in light and air...
F course, it's a vast improvement."An avid gardener, she turned her attention to the ground
Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
The Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site is a preserved home once rented by American author Edgar Allan Poe, located at 532 N. 7th Street, in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though Poe lived in many houses over several years in Philadelphia, it is the only one which still survives, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962. Poe lived in several homes in Philadelphia, including homes on Arch Street, on Sixteenth Street near Locust, on Coates Street near Twenty-Fifth Street. While living in Philadelphia, Poe published some of his most well-known works, including "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," and "The Gold-Bug", it has been called his most prolific period. In all, Poe published 31 stories during his time in Philadelphia as well as several literary criticism pieces, including his February 1841 review of Charles Dickens's novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of'Eighty. In reviewing the novel, which inspired Poe's poem "The Raven", he predicted the novel's resolution before its final serialized installment was published.
Dickens is said to have remarked, "The man must be the devil". Poe's five years in the city have been described as the happiest of his life; the Historic Site is the only one of Poe's Philadelphia homes which still stands and is located in the now defunct Spring Garden district on the northern edge of Philadelphia. Poe rented the house early in 1843 and is believed to have lived there for about a year or less along with his wife Virginia and his aunt/mother-in-law Maria Clemm, it is uncertain when the family moved into the home, at the corner of Seventh Street and Brandywine Alley though believed to be some time before June. In a letter to James Russell Lowell dated June 20, 1843, Poe invites Lowell to visit him: "My address is 234 North Seventh St. above Spring Garden, West Side." Speculation as to which stories and poems were written in this home are unprovable, but suggestions include "A Tale of the Ragged Mountains", "The Balloon-Hoax", "Eulalie". The neighborhood was predominantly made up of Quakers.
The family's decision to move may have been prompted by Virginia's health, as she was struggling with tuberculosis. Her mother, Maria Clemm, maintained the home for the small family. A neighbor recalled: "Mrs. Clemm was always busy. I have seen her mornings clearing the front yard, washing the windows and the stoop, white-washing the palings. You would notice how clean and orderly everything looks." A visitor referred to the home as little more than a lean-to. Poe had difficulty paying rent, though the landlord, a plumber, was tolerant of this; the family made their way to New York. Several families lived in the home after Poe until it was purchased by Richard Gimbel, son of the founder of Gimbels department store, in 1933. An avid fan of Poe, he opened it as a museum. In his will, he left the property to the city of Philadelphia; the National Park Service began overseeing the property in 1978, reopening the home in 1980. The site combines both Poe's former residence and two adjoining houses which were not built until after Poe left Philadelphia.
The rooms of the house are left in arrested decay and are not furnished to look like they did during Poe's time. The neighboring residences include a welcome area, gift shop, a film screening room, some minor exhibits; the site includes a reading room decorated based on Poe's theories in "The Philosophy of Furniture". This, the only room on the site furnished to look like the 19th century, is not part of Poe's original home and is not meant to suggest Poe had a decorated room; the room includes a complete collection of Poe's works, including criticism, audio interpretations of his work. A statue outside of the home depicts a large raven, representative of one of Poe's most famous poems, "The Raven"; the cellar in the house resembles one described in "The Black Cat" written while Poe lived in Philadelphia. Though the house does not include any items owned by the Poe family, many items are collected nearby at the Free Library of Philadelphia; the site is affiliated with the Independence National Historical Park.
The site is 9 AM to 5 PM with guided tours or self-guided tours at any time. Admission is free. Paid membership in the Friends of Poe Society, which sponsors events throughout the year, aids in the upkeep of the home. Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum in Baltimore, Maryland Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia Edgar Allan Poe Cottage in The Bronx, New York List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia National Register of Historic Places listings in North Philadelphia Media related to Category:Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site at Wikimedia Commons National Park Service: Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site
Lewisberry, Pennsylvania
Lewisberry is a borough in York County, United States. The population was 362 at the 2010 census. Lewisberry is located at 40°8′7″N 76°51′38″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.1 square miles, all of it land. Ski Roundtop is located 3 miles southwest of Lewisberry; the lands in and around the borough of Lewisberry were under control of the Susquehannock people until the first Quaker settlements in the 1730s. These settlements were among the first Quaker settlements in America west of the Susquehanna River. Among the group of original titleholders along the small creek that would become known as Bennett Run were Ellis Lewis, Joseph Bennett, John Rankin, John Heald, John Hall. At this time, the area that would become York County was still entirely populated by the Susquehannock Indians, yet there are few recorded conflicts between the native population. In this area that would become majority Pennsylvania German, the first and second waves of settlers were entirely English speakers and included the Kirks, Huttons, Nebingers, Starrs, Clines, Moores, Suttons, Prowells and Hammonds.
While most were Quakers, a significant minority were Anglicans. The Quaker meeting house at the intersection of Old Quaker and Lewisberry roads is the original Quaker meeting house in the area; the borough's founder, Eli Lewis, was born nearby in 1750, the son of one of the original settlers, Ellis Lewis. On the eve of the American Revolution, Eli opened a store on the site of the current borough. Lewis and members of other prominent families in the area served in the Pennsylvania militia, Eli rose to the rank of major. Over the course of the war, the town became known for producing guns, the Committee of Safety for York County contracted with area gunsmiths to supply the Continental Army. Following the Revolutionary War, Lewis' fortune grew and his store was the center of commerce in the Redland Valley. In 1798, Issac Kirk surveyed twelve acres of land and laid out lots for Lewis, who wanted a town to exist on the site. While all of the lots were not sold, many were, the town began a modest growth.
Between 1790 and 1798, Major Lewis had lived in Harrisburg, where he took up printing and published the first Harrisburg newspaper, The Advertiser, sold to John Wyeth, who renamed it The Oracle of Dauphin. While living in Harrisburg, Lewis published the popular poem, "St. Clair's Defeat," which described the defeat of Arthur St. Clair by the tribes of the Western Confederacy during the Battle of the Wabash. Lewisberry was not incorporated until 1832, fifty years and the first census figures of 1840 show a population of 220. In 1800, Henry Ensminger opened a large tannery just south of town, owned and operated by Samuel Grove. More significant for the town's growth was John Herman, who built a large flour mill on the west side of the borough, but the town's most successful operator was Andrew Cline, who ran a large and successful milling business during the second half of the 19th century. The mill and house are still standing just outside the borough beside Silver Lake, created to power the mill.
One of Lewisberry's most important small industries during the 19th and early 20th centuries was the manufacture of block brimstone matches, the families of Lyman Lewis, Herman Kirk, Moses Magrew, Rt. Starr, Lyman Shettle became prosperous through this industry. In the early 19th century, Joseph Potts manufactured the area's first coffee mills out of his home; this industry grew under his children, by the middle of the century, Lewisberry was producing large numbers of coffee grinders in a small factory near the Quaker meeting house. In 1835, William Smith started a newspaper in the bustling town. In 1837, Lewisberry native Hervey Hammond began manufacture of the patented Hammond window sash spring, in 1838, President Martin Van Buren installed Hammond springs in all of the White House's windows; as of the census of 2000, there were 385 people, 146 households, 102 families residing in the borough. The population density was 2,892.4 people per square mile. There were 150 housing units at an average density of 1,126.9 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the borough was 97.40% White, 1.82% African American, 0.26% Asian, 0.26% from other races, 0.26% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.60% of the population. There were 146 households out of which 43.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 9.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.5% were non-families. 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.16. In the borough the population was spread out with 30.4% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 40.3% from 25 to 44, 13.2% from 45 to 64, 10.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.4 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $49,844, the median income for a family was $58,125.
Males had a median income of $31,667 versus $27,250 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,147. About 4.5% of families and 3.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5
York County, Pennsylvania
York County is a county in the U. S. state of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the population was 434,972, its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster County and named either after the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and shire of York in England. York County comprises the York-Hanover, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area, included in the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, Pennsylvania Combined Statistical Area, it is in a large fertile agricultural region in South Central Pennsylvania. Based on the Articles of Confederation having been adopted in York by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, the local government and business community began referring to York in the 1960s as the first capital of the United States of America; the designation has been debated by historians since. Congress considered York, the borough of Wrightsville, on the eastern side of York County along the Susquehanna River, as a permanent capital of the United States before Washington, D.
C. was selected. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 911 square miles, of which 904 square miles is land and 6.5 square miles is water. The county is bound to its eastern border by the Susquehanna River, its southern border is the Mason -- Dixon line, which separates Maryland. Cumberland County Dauphin County Lancaster County Harford County, Maryland Baltimore County, Maryland Carroll County, Maryland Adams County As of the census of 2000, there were 381,751 people, 148,219 households, 105,531 families residing in the county; the population density was 422 people per square mile. There were 156,720 housing units at an average density of 173 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 92.76% White, 3.69% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.39% from other races, 1.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.96% of the population. 42.0% were of German, 12.6% American, 7.7% Irish, 6.4% English and 5.1% Italian ancestry.
94.8% spoke English and 2.9% Spanish as their first language. There were 148,219 households out of which 32.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% were married couples living together, 9.00% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.80% were non-families. 23.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.20% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.98. In the county, the population was spread out with 24.60% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 30.30% from 25 to 44, 24.00% from 45 to 64, 13.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males. As of 2006, the York-Hanover Metropolitan Statistical Area was the fastest-growing metro area in the Northeast region, was ranked among the fastest-growing in the nation, according to the "2006 Population Estimates for Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas".
The estimates listed York-Hanover as the 95th fastest-growing metro area in the nation, increasing 9.1 percent between 2000 and 2006. York city had a 77.3 percent increase in the number of residents of Hispanic or Latino origin, based on a comparison of the 2000 and 2010 U. S. census results. The city's 30.9 percent Hispanic population is more than that of other places in the area. York County is home to Martin's Potato Chips in Thomasville, Utz Quality Foods, Inc. in Hanover, Snyder's of Hanover in Hanover, Hanover Foods in Hanover, Gibble's Potato Chips in York, Wolfgang Candy in York, The Bon-Ton in York, Dentsply in York, a major manufacturing branch of Harley-Davidson Motor Company. The Central Pennsylvania accent and the Susquehanna dialect are the two most heard speech patterns in the county, however there are numerous Mennonites and other persons of Pennsylvania Dutch descent that inhabit the county, who tend to speak with dialects similar to Pennsylvania Dutch English; the United States Office of Management and Budget has designated York County as the York–Hanover, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The United States Census Bureau ranked the York–Hanover, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area as the 9th most populous in the state of Pennsylvania, 115th most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States as of July 1, 2012. The Office of Management and Budget has further designated the York–Hanover Metropolitan Statistical Area as a component of the more extensive Harrisburg–York–Lebanon, PA Combined Statistical Area, the 43rd most populous combined statistical area and the 49th most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012; as of the 2017 estimates, the CSA's 1.26 million people ranks 5th in the state of Pennsylvania. As of November 2008, there are 299,414 registered voters in York County. Republican: 143,261 Democratic: 112,207 Other Parties: 43,946 Susan Byrnes, Republican Christopher B. Reilly, Republican Doug Hoke, Vice President, Democrat York County School of Technology Lincoln Intermediate Unit region includes: Adams County, Franklin County and York County.
The agency offers school districts, home schooled students and private schools many services including: special education services, combined purchasing, instructional technology services. It runs Summer Academy which offers both art and academic strands designed to meet the individual needs of gifted and high achieving students
Steamtown National Historic Site
Steamtown National Historic Site is a railroad museum and heritage railroad located on 62.48 acres in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania, at the site of the former Scranton yards of the Delaware and Western Railroad. The museum is built around a working turntable and a roundhouse that are replications of the original DL&W facilities; the site features several original outbuildings dated between 1899 and 1902. All the buildings on the site are listed with the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Delaware and Western Railroad Yard-Dickson Manufacturing Co. Site. Most of the steam locomotives and other railroad equipment at Steamtown NHS were collected by F. Nelson Blount, a millionaire seafood processor from New England. In 1964, Blount established a non-profit organization, the Steamtown Foundation, to operate Steamtown, USA, a steam railroad museum and excursion business in Bellows Falls, Vermont. In 1984, the foundation moved Steamtown to Scranton, conceived of as urban redevelopment and funded in part by the city.
But the museum failed to attract the expected 200,000 to 400,000 annual visitors, within two years was facing bankruptcy. In 1986, the U. S. House of Representatives, at the urging of Scranton native Representative Joseph M. McDade, approved $8 million to begin turning the museum into a National Historic Site; the idea was derided by those who called the collection second-rate, the site's historical significance questionable, the public funding no more than pork-barrel politics. But proponents said the site and the collection were ideal representations of American industrial history. By 1995, the National Park Service had acquired Steamtown, USA, improved its facilities at a total cost of $66 million. Steamtown National Historic Site has since sold a few pieces from the Blount collection, added a few others deemed of greater historical significance to the region. By 2008, low visitor attendance and the need of costly asbestos removal from many pieces of the collection were spurring discussion about privatizing Steamtown.
Steamtown NHS is located within a working railroad yard and incorporates the surviving elements of the 1902 DL&W Scranton roundhouse and locomotive repair shops. The visitor center, theater and history museums are built in the style of and on the site of the missing portions of the original roundhouse, giving an impression of what the original circular structure was like; the museum has exhibits about the history and technology of steam railroads in the United States and Pennsylvania the DL&W. The theater shows a short film throughout the day. Many locomotives and freight and passenger cars are on display; some have open cabs and compartments that visitors can climb in and walk through, including a mail car, railroad executives' passenger car, a boxcar, two cabooses, a recreated DL&W station with ticket window. A steam locomotive with cutaway sections helps visitors understand steam power. Part of one of the 1865 roundhouse inspection pits uncovered in archaeological excavations is preserved in situ, under glass.
Some of the rolling stock is connected to the site, including a DL&W steam engine and diesel, boxcar, a former World War II troop sleeper that the DL&W converted to maintenance of way service, numerous passenger cars. Former Oneida & Western/Rahway Valley Railroad 2-8-0 engine #15 was overhauled by the DL&W. Other noteworthy pieces are the popular Union Pacific Big Boy #4012, Canadian Pacific Railway #2929, Nickel Plate Road S-2 #759, Reading Company T-1 #2124. Engines NKP #759, Canadian National #47, New Haven Trap Rock Co. #43, Rahway Valley #15 have operated at Steamtown, but not since the move to Pennsylvania. Engines sold by Steamtown NHS/Steamtown USA Foundation include Canadian Pacific 2816, the sole remaining non-streamlined Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 Hudson, restored to working order and hauls trips for CP Rail. Several engines not part of the collection have visited the Scranton site: NYS&W #142, BM&R #425, Lowville & Beaver River Shay #8, former RDG T-1 #2102, Milwaukee Road 261, PRR 1361 and NKP 765.
"Peppersass" No.1 from Mount Washington Cog Railway visited the Steamtown Scranton site during Railfest 2016. And revisited again during March 11 to 13, 2019. Steamtown NHS offers a variety of demonstrations and excursions that demonstrate how railroads functioned in the age of steam. Park rangers give guided tours of the locomotive shop, where one can see work being done on the steam engines in the original roundhouse area, they give talks on the history of Steamtown. The Scranton yard occupies about 40 acres. Several working locomotives take visitors on short excursions through the Scranton yard in the spring and fall. Most rides are on passenger coaches, but there are caboose and handcar rides offered; these rides are included in the admission. Longer excursions are scheduled with separate tickets; these include a ride on a Pullman coach and longer trips to various nearby towns, including the Lackawanna River valley and Carbondale and Moscow, Pennsylvania. On rare occ
John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum
The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum is a 1000-acre National Wildlife Refuge spanning Philadelphia and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania. Located in Tinicum Township, the refuge is adjacent to the Philadelphia International Airport. Established in 1972 as the Tinicum National Environmental Center, it was renamed in 1991 after the late H. John Heinz III who had helped preserve Tinicum Marsh; the refuge serves to protect the largest remaining freshwater tidal marsh in Pennsylvania. When land acquisition is complete, the refuge will consist of 1200 acres of varied habitats; the history of Tinicum Marsh, the largest remaining freshwater tidal wetland in Pennsylvania, goes back to 1634 and the region's first settlements. Dutch and English settlers diked and drained parts of the marsh for grazing. At that time, the vast tidal marshes stretched over 5,700 acres. Rapid urbanization since World War I has reduced tidal marshes to 200 acres; the remnant of this once vast tidal marsh is protected by the refuge.
A diked, non-tidal area of 145 acres, adjacent to the eastern end of Tinicum marsh, was donated by the Gulf Oil Corporation to the City of Philadelphia in 1955. This area, administered for the benefit of wildlife and people, was known as Tinicum Wildlife Preserve; the areas of open water along with the adjacent vegetated tidal wetlands, formed an ideal habitat for thousands of migratory waterfowl. The marsh was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1965. In 1969, the remaining area was threatened by plans to route Interstate 95 through it and by a sanitary landfill on the tidal wetlands; these activities started a long series of injunctions, public hearings and extraordinary efforts by private and public groups to secure rerouting of the highway and termination of the landfill operation. Among these groups was The Philadelphia Conservationists, a group of bird watchers who, following the success of efforts to protect the marshes at Tinicum, went on to conserve natural areas along the east coast and were incorporated in 1961 as Natural Lands Trust, a conservation organization that continues to conserve and steward open land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey out of its headquarters in Media, Pennsylvania.
Under legislation passed by Congress in 1972, authorization was given to the Secretary of the Interior to acquire 1200 acres to establish the Tinicum National Environmental Center. In November 1991, in a bill sponsored by Congressman Curt Weldon, the name of the refuge was changed to John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum to honor the late Senator who helped preserve Tinicum Marsh; the refuge has five varied habitats: freshwater tidal marsh, impounded water, woods and field. The diversity of such habitats in such a concentrated area make it a natural magnet for all forms of wildlife. In addition to the above-mentioned there are a wide variety of fish species that can be found in both, Darby Creek, the lifeblood of Tinicum Marsh, as well as the 145 acre impoundment and the smaller, Hoy's Pond, they include brown bullhead, channel catfish, crappie and small striped bass that utilize the wider expanses of Darby Creek, just before its confluence with the Delaware River, in the earlier stages of their development.
The fields and meadows provide open areas where wide arrays of insects including several species of butterflies can be found foraging the dozens of species of wildflowers. The Refuge is home to a variety of wildlife despite its urban location. Birdwatchers have recorded over 300 species of birds in and around the Refuge, 85 of which nest here. Migratory birds like warblers, sandpipers, a large variety of ducks, within the Atlantic Flyway, use the refuge as a resting/feeding spot during spring and fall flights. Since water levels can be controlled in the impoundment, the water is drained in early fall at the refuge; this serves both to reduce the large population of invasive carp and makes the impoundment a large mudflat, which renders it attractive to migrating shorebirds. The water levels is raised in the fall so waterfowl can use the impoundment. In addition, opossums, red foxes, coyotes, river otters, minks and muskrats take refuge here along with a wide variety of wildflowers and plants. Bats are observed by visitors on the refuge during warmer seasons and a formal species diversity and population survey would provide valuable information on recent declines of these important creatures due to white nose syndrome and habitat disturbances.
There are several species of reptiles and amphibians that call the refuge home including the northern water and Northern brown snakes. There are over 10 miles of trails, including the popular "Impoundment Trail", two boardwalks that cross the impoundment and one of its smaller coves. Trail segments are a part of the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000 mile long system of trails connecting Maine to Florida. A 4.5-mile segment of Darby Creek flows through the refuge allowing canoeists to see a variety of plants and animals. Points of interest around the Creek's deep water lagoon are: The Sun Oil Company tank farm.
