Tour Ambassador Notes

Russ Schleiplman
 

When touring the Pocono Mountains, be sure to tell your group about our extensive history. The following are some of the many interesting, little known facts about our area.

POCONO MOUNTAINS TRIVIA

• The first American railroad was built in 1827 between Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe), Carbon County.
• Harry Packer Mansion in Jim Thorpe served as the inspiration for Disneyworld's Haunted Mansion.
• The first steam locomotive in America, the Stourbridge Lion, made its trial run on the Gravity Railroad in 1829 in Honesdale, Wayne County.
• The first J.J. Newberry store was built in Stroudsburg, Monroe County.
• The first commercial ski area opened in Pennsylvania in the winter of 1946 at Big Boulder Ski Area in Lake Harmony, Carbon County.
• Snowmaking was patented at Big Boulder Ski Area in 1956. It was the first ski area to make snow for skiing.
• The first silent movie ever make in the United States was filmed in Milford, Pike County, in 1912.
• Daniel Beard at Lake Teedyuskung, Milford, and Pike County established the first Boy Scout camp in the United States.
• On Dingmans Creek there are two waterfalls that together, have a larger drop than Niagara; but not a sheer drop of water. They are Dingmans and Silver Thread Falls in Pike County.

WHAT IS A COMMONWEALTH?

We share the technical Commonwealth designation with Virginia, Kentucky and Massachusetts. It refers to an old English term from the common weal or common well-being. Our state Constitution of 1776, and those since, use both State and Commonwealth; although common practice in recent years is to refer to the State.

WHAT IS A KEYSTONE?

The word "keystone" comes from architecture and refers to the central, wedge-shaped stone in an arch, which holds all the other stones in place.

WHY ARE WE CALLED A KEYSTONE STATE?

The application of the term “Keystone State” to Pennsylvania cannot be traced to any single source. It was commonly accepted soon after 1800.

At a Jefferson Republican victory rally in October 1802, Pennsylvania was toasted as "the keystone in the federal union," and in the newspaper Aurora the following year the state was referred to as "the keystone in the democratic arch." The modern persistence of this designation is justified in view of the key position of Pennsylvania in the economic, social, and political development of the United States.

STATE SYMBOLS

PENNSYLVANIA FACTS

• Pennsylvania has a state park within a 25-mile radius of every location in the state.
• Pennsylvania leads the nation in the acres of state game lands and number of covered bridges.
• The bobcat is the only wild cat found in Pennsylvania.
• Pennsylvania means Penn's Woods, and is named after founder William Penn's father.
• Lima, PA is home to the first cloverleaf highway interchange; named after the plant it resembles.
• A German craftsman in south-central PA invented the Pennsylvania long rifle, sometimes mistakenly called the Kentucky rifle.
• The Philadelphia Zoo was the country's first zoo; which opened in 1874 and is still in operation today.
• American's first movie theater was opened in Pittsburgh in 1905. The admission was five cents so it was named "Nickelodeon."
• Little League Baseball was founded in Williamsport.
• Flag Day was conceived in Pennsylvania in 1937.
• The first SLINKY toy was made here in 1948.
• Tom Mix, the first cowboy of the silent screen, was born in Pennsylvania.
• The first United States Mint was established here in 1792.

WHERE THE AREA NAMES AND THE MEANINGS CAME FROM