Pennsylvania Quiz

[angus]

1. What does "Pennsylvania" mean?
Well, sylvania means forest or woods, and Penn probably refers to William Penn, so Pennsylvania must mean "forest of William Penn" or something along those lines.

2. What is the state's nickname?
The Keystone State.

3. What is the capital of Pennsylvania?
Harrisburg.

4. What is the largest city in Pennsylvania?
Philadelphia.

5. Who founded the colony of Pennsylvania in 1681?
William Penn? 


1. The turning point battle of the Civil War was held near this small town.
Gettysburg.

2. Who is the current governor?
Corbit?  or Corbitt?  or Corbet?  Something like that.

3. Who are Pennsylvania's two sitting senators?
Casey just got elected.   One guy just died.  Can't be him.  Damn.  Let's see, oh, Toomey.  IS that right?  Casey and Toomey?  I think it is.  I'm tempted to google but I'm trying this without cheating.

4. In 2006, a sitting senator named _________was beaten by one of the current senators.
No idea here.  It's interesting, though.  I'll google it after submitting.

5. Vice President Biden was born in this PA city.
Oh, he's always talking about it.  Wilkes-Barre I think.  No, hang on.  It's Scranton.  Yeah, Scranton.  He's always going on about "this Scranton boy..."


1. What is the largest political party in Pennsylvania by number of registered members?
Democrats.  (I only know this because I post here and so many threads mention the gazillion-vote registration advantage.)

2. The border between Pennsylvania and Maryland is known as the...
The Mason and Dixon line.

3. Name every state that borders Pennsylvania.
Hmm, Okay, there's Ohio to the west, West Virgina to the west and south, Maryland to the south, Delaware to the south, New Jersey to the east, and New York to the North. 

4. What major mountain range runs through western Pennsylvania?
The Poconos, Allegheny, and Appalachians are all here, I think. 

5. This large river runs through Pennsylvania and empties at the Chesapeake Bay. 
The Susquehanna?  That also forms the western border of Lancaster County. 


1. What town in Pennsylvania was originally set to be the U.S. capital, and why didn't it get it?
Philadelphia maybe.  I think Lancaster was the capital for a day.  So was York.  I don't know why though.

2. This Pennsylvanian wrote "Camptown Ladies", "My Old Kentucky Home", and other famous songs.
Stephen Foster?  I think he wrote that sort of stuff. 

3. This state was part of Pennsylvania until it seceded during the Revolutionary War.
Hmmm.  I'd guess Ohio, since it is immediately west and all those pre-independence maps show Pennsylvania colony going due west for a long way.

4. How many presidents resided in PA while in office, and who were they?
Let's see...  Washington, Adams, and Jefferson...  Who knows.  I'm just guessing.  I do know that Buchanan's Wheatland is very near here.

5. Which two 2012 Republican presidential candidates were born in Pennsylvania?
Gary Johnson and Jill Stein? 


1. Which Pennsylvania counties share names with U.S. states?
There's a Delaware county.  I think there's also an Ohio county.  That's all I can come up with.

2. Which three Pennsylvania cities have actually served as the capital of the United States?
Ah, I mentioned them earlier.  York, Lancaster, and Philadelphia. 

3. What county is the main Penn State campus located in?
College something.  College Station?  College Park?  Let's see.  Oh, yeah, it's called State College.

4. How many counties voted for both Walter Mondale and Mitt Romney in the general election?
Pffffffffffft.  Who knows?  I'll guess seven.

5. What Pennsylvania town is nicknamed "The Sweetest Place on Earth", and why?
I'd guess Hershey, because of the chocolate factory.  I think I have a tourist guide that says something about sweetest place on it.  We did Dutch Wonderland in August.  Haven't been to the Hershey one yet.  maybe next summer.


1. Which Pennsylvanian served as Senate Minority Leader for eight years?
Tip O'Neill?

2. How many governors of Pennsylvania have been defeated for re-election?
Nineteen.

3. This small PA town was the site of a major riot over the capture of fugitive slaves.
Allentown, like it says in that Billy Ocean song.

4. What is the only county in the U.S. where a plurality of residents are of Polish descent?
The county that Pittsburg is in.  Allegheny I think it's called.

5. What county are the towns of "Intercourse" and "Blue Ball" both located in?
Invagination County.


So, how'd I do?  Can I be for-real Lancastrian now or do I have to re-apply next year?

[angus]

Hard-1 is Columbia, but it wasn't made the capital because Southerners wanted a more central/Southern capital.

All the others I know have been answered already.

Columbia?  Really?  The one about ten miles from here?

What a weird place.  I'm glad that they picked somewhere else for the national capital.

[angus]

Ha! 

I should have known more about some of those. 

I wonder why Phil didn't post here.  I bet he'd get 100%.

By the way, I Googled it and still couldn't find anything about a beating in 2006 by one of Pennsylvania's current senators.  I remember learning about a Massachusetts senator named Charles Sumner being beaten, in the mid-1800s, by a South Carolinian.  I forget his name.  But I didn't find anything about a more recent senator being beaten by another.  Do tell.  That's pretty interesting. 

[angus]

5. What county are the towns of "Intercourse" and "Blue Ball" both located in?

I just discovered a community called Fertility just about a mile east of Lancaster city limits.  It's behind the big Walmart on Lincoln Highway.

[angus]

5. What Pennsylvania town is nicknamed "The Sweetest Place on Earth", and why? - Hershey?

We were just there two weeks ago.  Went to Hershey Park.  My son is now a Twizzler (between 54 and 60 inches tall), and can now ride all the big roller coasters.  (I'm a Jolly Rancher, over 60 inches tall.  Not sure what extra privileges that brings.)  Saw the big signs "Sweetest Place on Earth" signs as we entered the city limits.  Interestingly, we passed a disproportionately large number of dentists' offices on the way in.  I guess it should not be surprising.  Still, the high density of family dentistry offices in Hershey is very striking.

FYI, Milton Hershey started his first successful company in Lancaster.  It was the Lancaster Caramel Company, founded in 1887.  He sold that in 1900 and opened a new business 30 miles north of Lancaster, near his birthplace of Derry, PA.  The town that grew up around his business became Hershey, Pa, the Sweetest Place on Earth.  And home to a thriving cottage dental industry.

Lucky for those early 20th Century dental students, Hershey's wife took ill and he had to cancel his travel plans to return to the US in 1912 and got a refund on his tickets that he had bought for a trip on the luxury liner the RMS Titanic.  As it was, he did not board the Titanic, and lived to build the world's largest chocolate company, to the economic security of dentists everywhere.