HARRISBURG, the capital city of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and the county seat of Dauphin county, on the E. bank of the Susquehanna river, io5m. W. by N. of Philadelphia. It is at the intersection of Federal highways 11, 15, 22, 209 and 23o, and of many State roads, and is served by the Pennsylvania and the Reading railways. The population was 75,917 in 1920 (87.6% native white), and was 80,339 in 1930 by the Federal census. Including contiguous boroughs, the population of the metropolitan area in 1930 was about 125,00o.
The river here is 1 m. wide. Ordinarily it is shallow, and dotted with islets, but after a moderate rain it rises 4 to 6 feet. The area of the city is 9 square miles. Along the river bank for 5m. extends a parkway (Front street), bordered by fine residences, including the governor's mansion. Below the parkway, at the edge of the river, is a concrete promenade, on the top of a large intercepting sewer, with steps leading down into the water. On a large island is the municipal bathing beach, and during the sum mer huge flat-bottomed dance-boats ply up and down the river at night. A park system embracing i,iooac. almost encircles the city. There are public golf links and tennis courts, and 17 super vised playgrounds for children. At right angles to Front street is State street, I 2of t. wide, running east to Capitol park (i6ac.) in the heart of the city. The present capitol, dedicated in 1906, was erected at a cost of $13,000,000 to replace one burned in 1897. It is a fine building, with a dome modelled after that of St. Peter's at Rome. At the main entrance are groups of statuary by George Grey Barnard. The bronze doors are decorated in relief with scenes from the State's history. The rotunda is paved with tiles made at Doylestown in the style of the pottery of the early Mora vian settlers. There are stained-glass windows by W. B. van Ingen; and mural decorations by him and by Edwin A. Abbey, John W. Alexander and Violet Oakley. Adjoining is the State library and museum, containing 150,000 volumes, the State records and thousands of historic exhibits and relics. A large tract behind the capitol has been transformed into a park, as a site for four State office buildings, two of which had been erected by 1928. A via duct across the Pennsylvania railroad tracks is under construction by the State as a memorial to the Pennsylvania men who served in the World War. A comprehensive city plan is in process of development. The assessed valuation of property subject to tax ation was $86,918,210 in 1928.
For several years before 1902 Harrisburg suffered from impure water, a bad sewerage system and poorly paved and dirty streets. In 19o2 a non-partisan mayor was elected, and a vigorous pro gramme of improvement undertaken. Since then the city has spent over $14,000,000 in major civic improvements, including streets, schools, sewers, bridges, parks, fire apparatus, filtration and incin eration plants, elimination of grade crossings and development of civic centres. The private charitable agencies are associated, for joint raising of funds and other purposes, in a welfare federation which has 25,000 contributors. A State hospital for the insane, established in 1845 through the efforts of Dorothea Lynde Dix, is situated here.
Harrisburg is a concentration point for the Pennsylvania rail road, and both the Pennsylvania and the Reading have large freight-classification yards here. Coal and iron abound in the vicinity, and immense quantities of coal for power plants are sal vaged from the bed of the river. The city has numerous manufac turing establishments (204 in 1925, according to a State census), with an annual output valued at $46,000,000. The most important products are steel and iron, knit goods, tobacco and cigars, con fectionery and ice-cream, food products, printing, boilers and engines, and book-keeping and book-binding machinery. The railroads employ about i o,000 persons; the factories about 9,000; and 4,400 State employees live in the city. Its immediate trading area has a population of 250,00o. Bank clearings in 1927 amounted to The first settler here was John Harris, about 1726, a trader attracted to the site because it was an easy place to ford the Sus quehanna. In 17S3 his son began to operate a ferry, and the settlement was known as Harris's Ferry until 1785, when the younger Harris laid out a town and named it Harrisburg. In the same year it was made the seat of the new county of Dauphin, and its name was changed to Louisborough ; but in 1791, when it was incorporated as a borough, the old name was resumed. As the result of efforts extending over 25 years, it was made the capital of the State in 1812. In 186o, when the population was 13,405, it was chartered as a city. A commission form of government was adopted in 1913. A convention held here in 1827, in the interest of securing legislative aid for the woollen manufactures of New England, framed a programme which did much to bring about the passage by Congress of the famous high tariff act of 1828.