|
Things to do in Pennsylvania
-
Independence Hall
Independence Hall, the name
conjures up the most incredible visions of our history, born of
a new kind of people that wanted, needed, new ideas about
religion, freedoms, and the right to be heard in the first
government of the people, by the people and for the people; that
was ever created in this world. It is a National Landmark,
perhaps the most important in terms of Americans, whose families
came here in the beginning to carve out a land that would become
the greatest super power in the world. Built in 1753, the
Pennsylvania State House was built for the business of
Pennsylvania province's dealings with the crown; only to be
converted into the center of freedom, where the Declaration of
Independence was talked about, debated, and finally with a hail
of screams, yells and cries, our country was created on July
4th, 1776. It was here that the Second Continental Congress met
from 1775 until 1783, and it was also here that the United
States Constitution was born; and is now part of the
Independence National Historical Park that has become a World
Heritage Site. Constructed of red brick, it was designed in the
Georgian architecture by Andrew Hamilton and Edmund Woolley, who
went on to build it. The highest point stands 135 feet in the
Philadelphia skyline and was the meeting place of the
Pennsylvania colonial legislature and their government. Two
smaller buildings sit by the side of this magnificent structure;
the Old City Hall and Congress Hall. They sit side by side on
Independence Square with another old structure the Philosophical
Hall. The bell tower steeple of the hall was the home of
the Liberty Bell, but it now houses the Centennial Bell, made
for the Centennial Exposition of 1876, with the original and its
famous crack sitting in the Liberty Bell Center. The hall was
the meeting place of the Second Continental Congress that was
the representative body of the 13 colonial provinces of the
British North America. After the declaration was written and
approved by all the colonies, it was read publically in the
square, joining all the colonies together and making them
independent of Great Britain. George Washington was voted as the
new commander of the Continental Army in 1775 here, and Benjamin
Franklin was made the new Postmaster General. Over a half
million people come here each year to marvel at all the
fantastic memorabilia and artifacts that exist here. The
interior was renovated in 1948, back to its original condition,
and the park started by the 80th Congress. The park is made up
of four blocks of the city, and other sites that are; City
Tavern, where many things took place related to the
independence, Carpenters' Hall, where the first Continental
Congress met, Benjamin Franklin's house, and the Graff house
where Thomas Jefferson wrote the declaration. Besides the
Liberty Bell, the park houses the desk of Benjamin Franklin,
libraries, gardens and a portrait gallery.
-
Weather Capital of the World
Punxsutawney, Pa; the
official site of the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, where
thousands come every February 2nd to find out how much more
winter will be left. There used to be just a bronze statue and
plywood caricature of him in the small town, but it has
continued to grow due to the many people that come here each
year. His statue, or at least his likeness is found everywhere,
with Phil being shown as a short-order cook, cartoon fiberglass
statues, as a dollar bill and the statue of Liberty as well.
Phil seems to have sprung up all over the town because of his
yearly predictions, and the people love it. A newer and really
interesting venue opened in 2001, the Weather Discovery Center,
where the forces of folklore and science come together and butt
heads. A movie with Bill Murray, called Groundhog Day was made
some miles down the road from here, but travelers and the
inquisitive still come to town to find some of the places
mentioned in it. The new center is more tuned to children,
hoping to increase the range of Phil's meteorological prowess,
as well as other inventions that the children enjoy. The big 8
foot tube that is filled with smoke swirls around and shows all
what a tornado looks and acts like, the van der Gaff's
generator, where you can get a decent shock and a weather lore
area that has a jar of leeches that supposedly will forecast the
weather. When the leeches are at the top, that means the weather
will be bad. A space shuttle thermometer was given to the
center by the Porter Thermometer Museum, and Accuweather gave
them a large screen setup that shows green and people can stand
and see themselves acting like a weather person. There is also a
12 foot tree, not real, where Phil's burrow is and his desk sits
there. Inside one of the drawers, a dried out pelt from a
groundhog has been put to show children and others what a
groundhog feels like and guides call it Phil's extra scarf.
-
Eastern State Penitentiary
This prison was in operation
from 1829, until 1971, and is located on Fairmount Avenue in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first prison of its kind
that separated prisoners, and put the emphasis of reform first,
rather than a place of punishment. A couple of real bad people
were sent here, Willie Sutton and Al Capone, and when it was
built, it was the biggest and most expensive penitentiary in the
nation, but it did become the model for all future prisons
worldwide. It is a National Historic Landmark, and gives tours
every day of the year, from 10 to 5 P.M. It was designed by John
Haviland and opened in October of 1829, as the first real
penitentiary and was to a new type of penal system that had the
warden visiting each prisoner every day, and the overseers to
see them three times a day; in hopes of rehabilitating them.
Many considered this new prison system to be too easy on the
prisoners, whereas the old system was like Sing Sing and had the
cons working together in silence and being subject to punishment
of the body. The open floor plan and solitary confinement of
each cell afforded the opportunity of the inmates to open up to
God and change their lives around. Cells were separated by a
metal and wood door to keep noise out, and the halls were made
to remind all that this felt like a church. The doors were
small, signifying that it would be hard to get out of the cells,
and harder to attack or hit guards. The cells walls were
concrete, with a lone glass skylight that supposedly represented
the eye of God, so they inmates would know that they were being
watched by God all the time. The inmates were taken out of their
cells to exercise in the yard opposite the cells with high walls
so that no one could communicate with each other. They used
hoods over their heads to keep them separated while walking back
and forth. Many people have come to the realization that the
solitude of these cells and their system of isolation may have
actually made the prisoners more mentally unbalanced rather to
bring them closer to God. It was always crowded, even before it
was finished, and by 1913, it quit using the system, and made it
congregate until it closed in 1970; although it did house some
inmates during the riots at Holmesburg.
|
