New York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States, and is the country's third most populous state. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and shares a water border with Rhode Island as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
New York City, which is both the largest city in the state and in the entire United States, is known for its history as a gateway for immigration to the United States and its status as a financial, cultural, transportation, and manufacturing center.
New York was inhabited by the Algonquian, Iroquois, and Lenape Native American groups at the time Dutch and French nationals moved into the region in the very early 17th century. First claimed by Henry Hudson in 1609, the region came to have Dutch forts in Fort Orange, near the site of the present-day capital of Albany in 1614 and was colonized by the Dutch in 1624, at both Albany and Manhattan; it later fell to British annexation in 1664. About one third of all of the battles of the Revolutionary War took place in New York. New York became an independent state on July 9, 1776 and enacted its constitution in 1777. The state ratified the United States Constitution on July 26, 1788 to become the 11th state. According to the US Department of Commerce, it is also the state of choice for foreign visitors, leading both Florida and California in tourism respectively.

Geography

New York covers 54,475 square miles (141,089 km²) and ranks as 27th largest state by size. The Great Appalachian Valley dominates eastern New York, while Lake Champlain is the chief northern feature of the valley, which also includes the Hudson River flowing southward to the Atlantic Ocean. The rugged Adirondack Mountains, with vast tracts of wilderness, lie west of the valley. Most of the southern part of the state is on the Allegheny plateau, which rises from the southeast to the Catskill Mountains. The western section of the state is drained by the Allegheny River and rivers of the Susquehanna and Delaware systems. The Delaware River Basin Compact, signed in 1961 by New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the federal government, regulates the utilization of water of the Delaware system.
New York's borders touch (clockwise from the west) two Great Lakes (Erie and Ontario, which are connected by the Niagara River); the provinces of Ontario and Quebec in Canada; Lake Champlain; three New England states (Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut); the Atlantic Ocean, and two Mid-Atlantic states (New Jersey and Pennsylvania). In addition, Rhode Island shares a water border with New York.
Contrasting with New York City's urban atmosphere, the vast majority of the state is dominated by farms, forests, rivers, mountains, and lakes. New York's Adirondack Park is the largest state park in the United States. Niagara Falls, on the Niagara River as it flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, is a popular attraction. The Hudson River begins with Lake Tear of the Clouds and flows south through the eastern part of the state without draining Lakes George or Champlain. Lake George empties at its north end into Lake Champlain, whose northern end extends into Canada, where it drains into the Richelieu and then the St Lawrence Rivers. Four of New York City's five boroughs are on the three islands at the mouth of the Hudson River: Manhattan Island, Staten Island, and Brooklyn and Queens on Long Island.
"Upstate" is a common term for New York State counties north of suburban Westchester and Rockland counties. Upstate New York typically includes the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, the Shawangunk Ridge, the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes in the west; and Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Oneida Lake in the northeast; and rivers such as the Delaware, Genesee, Mohawk, and Susquehanna. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.

Climate

The climate of New York State is broadly representative of the humid continental type that prevails in the northeastern United States, but its diversity is not usually encountered within an area of comparable size. The Great Lakes, ocean, rivers, and mountains give New York interesting weather. Masses of cold, dry air frequently arrive from the northern interior of the continent. Prevailing winds from the south and southwest transport warm, humid air, which has been conditioned by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent subtropical waters. These two air masses provide the dominant continental characteristics of the climate. A third great air mass flows inland from the North Atlantic Ocean and produces cool, cloudy, and damp weather conditions.
Nearly all storm and frontal systems moving eastward across the continent pass through or come close in proximity to New York State. Storm systems often move northward along the Atlantic coast and have an important influence on the weather and climate of Long Island and the lower Hudson Valley. Frequently, areas deep in the interior of the state feel the effects of such coastal storms.
The winters are long and cold in the Plateau Divisions of the state. In the majority of winter seasons, a temperature of or lower can be expected in the northern highlands (Northern Plateau) and or colder in the southwestern and east-central highlands (Southern Plateau). The Adirondack region records from 35 to 45 days with below zero temperatures in normal to severe winters. Much of Upstate New York, particularly Western and Central New York, are typically affected by lake-effect snows. This usually results in high yearly snowfall totals in these regions. Winters are also long and cold in both Western and Central New York, though not as cold as the Adirondack region. The New York City metro area in comparison to the rest of the state is milder in the winter. Thanks in part to geography (its proximity to the Atlantic and being shielded to the north and west by hillier terrain), the New York metro area usually sees far less snow than the rest of the state. Lake-effect snow rarely affects the New York metro area, except for its extreme northwestern suburbs. Winters also tend to be noticeably shorter here than the rest of the state.
The summer climate is cool in the Adirondacks, Catskills, and higher elevations of the Southern Plateau. The New York City area and lower portions of the Hudson Valley have rather warm summers by comparison, with some periods of high, uncomfortable humidity. The remainder of New York State enjoys pleasantly warm summers, marred by only occasional, brief intervals of sultry conditions. Summer daytime temperatures usually range from the upper 70s to mid 80s °F (25 to 30 °C) over much of the State, producing an atmospheric environment favorable to many athletic, recreational, and other outdoor activities.
New York ranks 46th among the 50 states in the amount of greenhouse gases generated per person. This efficiency is primarily due to the state's relatively higher rate of mass transit use.

State parks

New York has many state parks and two major forest preserves. Adirondack Park, roughly the size of the state of Vermont and the largest state park in the United States, was established in 1892 and given state constitutional protection in 1894. The thinking that led to the creation of the Park first appeared in George Perkins Marsh's Man and Nature, published in 1864. Marsh argued that deforestation could lead to desertification; referring to the clearing of once-lush lands surrounding the Mediterranean, he asserted "the operation of causes set in action by man has brought the face of the earth to a desolation almost as complete as that of the moon."
The Catskill Park was protected in legislation passed in 1885, which declared that its land was to be conserved and never put up for sale or lease. Consisting of 700,000 acres (2,800 km²) of land, the park is a habitat for bobcats, minks and fishers. There are some 400 black bears living in the region. The state operates numerous campgrounds and there are over 300 miles (480 km) of multi-use trails in the Park.
The Montauk Point State Park boasts the famous Montauk Lighthouse commissioned by the first President of the U.S.A, George Washington, which is a major tourist attraction and is located in the township of East Hampton, Suffolk County. Hither Hills park offers camping and is a popular destination with surfcasting sport fishermen.

History

During the 17th century, Dutch trading posts established for the purchase of pelts from the Iroquois and other tribes expanded into the colony of New Netherlands. The first of these trading posts were Beverwyck (1614, now Albany); New Amsterdam, (1623, now NYC); and Esopus, (1653, now Kingston). The British captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York. Agitation for independence during the 1770s brought the American Revolution, which for New York was also a civil war.
New York declared itself an independent state on July 9, 1776. The New York state constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains, New York on July 10 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, New York on Sunday evening, April 20 1777, when the new constitution was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. It was drafted by John Jay. On 30 July 1777, George Clinton was inaugurated as the first Governor of New York at Kingston.
During the revolution, four of the Iroquois nations fought on the side of the British. They were defeated in the Sullivan Expedition of 1779. Suffering privations, many members moved to Canada. Most, absent or present, lost their land after the war. Some of the land purchases are the subject of modern-day claims by the individual tribes.
New York state was one of the original thirteen colonies that became the United States. It was the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26 1788.
Transportation in western New York was difficult before canals were built in the early part of the nineteenth century. The Hudson and Mohawk Rivers could be navigated only as far as Central New York. While the St. Lawrence River could be navigated to Lake Ontario, the way westward to the other Great Lakes was blocked by Niagara Falls, and so the only route to western New York was over land. Governor DeWitt Clinton strongly advocated building a canal to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie, and thus all the Great Lakes. Work commenced in 1817, and the Erie Canal was finished in 1825. The canal opened up vast areas of New York to commerce and settlement, and enabled port cities such as Buffalo to grow and prosper.

Politics and government

Under its present constitution (adopted in 1938), New York is governed by three branches of government: the executive branch, consisting of the Governor of New York and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch, consisting of the bicameral New York State Legislature; and the judicial branch, consisting of the state's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals, and lower courts. The state has two U.S. senators, 29 members in the United States House of Representatives, and 31 electoral votes in national presidential elections (a drop from its 41 votes during the 1970s).
New York's capital is Albany. The state's subordinate political units are its 62 counties. Other officially incorporated governmental units are towns, cities, and villages. New York has more than 4,200 local governments that take one of these forms. About 52% of all revenue raised by local governments in the state is raised solely by the government of New York City, which is the largest municipal government in the United States.
The state has a strong imbalance of payments with the federal government. New York State receives 82 cents in services for every $1 it sends in taxes to the federal government in Washington. The state ranks near the bottom, in 42nd place, in federal spending per tax dollar.
Many of New York's public services are carried out by public benefit corporations, frequently called authorities or development corporations. Well known public benefit corporations in New York include the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees New York City's public transportation system, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a bi-state transportation infrastructure agency.
New York's legal system is explicitly based on English common Law. Capital punishment was declared unconstitutional in 2004.

Politics

In the last few decades, New York State has generally supported candidates belonging to the Democratic Party in national elections. Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry won New York State by 18 percentage points in 2004, while Democrat Al Gore won the state by an even larger margin in 2000. New York City is a major Democratic stronghold with liberal politics. Many of the state's other urban areas, such as Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse are also Democratic. Rural upstate New York, however, is generally more conservative than the cities and tends to favor Republicans. Heavily populated Suburban areas such as Westchester County and Long Island have swung between the major parites over the past 25 years, but more often supports Democrats.
New York City is the most important source of political fund-raising in the United States for both major parties. Four of the top five zip codes in the nation for political contributions are in Manhattan. The top zip code, 10021 on the Upper East Side, generated the most money for the 2000 presidential campaigns of both George W. Bush and Al Gore. Republican Presidential candidates will often skip campaigning in the state, taking it as a loss and focusing on vital swing states.

Education

The University of the State of New York oversees all public primary, middle-level, and secondary education in the state, while the New York City Department of Education manages the public school system in New York City.
At the college level, the statewide public university system is the State University of New York (SUNY). The City University of New York (CUNY) is the public university system of New York City. SUNY schools SUNY Geneseo and Binghamton University are consistently ranked in the top two best values in education in the nation, according to Kipliger's. Binghamton University was ranked as the, "Premier Public University in the Northeast," according to the Fisk Guide to Colleges. The SUNY system consists of 64 community colleges, technical colleges, undergraduate colleges and universities. The four university centers are University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo and SUNY Stony Brook.
In addition there are several private universities, including the oldest Catholic institution in the northeast, Fordham University. New York is home to both Columbia University and Cornell University, making it the only state to contain more than one Ivy League school.
In total, New York State is home to 307 degree granting institutions making it the second in number behind California. Among the most notable and highest ranked institutions are:

Binghamton University

Clarkson University

Colgate University

Columbia University

Cornell University

Fordham University

SUNY Geneseo

Hamilton College

Ithaca College

Marist College

New York University (NYU)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

University of Rochester

Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)

Syracuse University

Vassar College

Polytechnic University

Sports

New York hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, the Games known for the USA-USSR hockey game dubbed the "Miracle on Ice" in which a group of American college students and amateurs defeated the heavily-favored Soviet national ice hockey team 4-3 and went on to win the gold medal. Lake Placid also hosted the 1932 Winter Olympics. Along with St. Moritz, Switzerland and Innsbruck, Austria, it is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games.
New York is represented in the National Football League by the Buffalo Bills; Despite their names, the New York Giants and New York Jets, which had both been based in New York City, play in Giants Stadium, which is located in East Rutherford, New Jersey. New York also has two Major League Baseball teams, the New York Yankees (based in The Bronx), and the New York Mets (based in Queens). Three National Hockey League franchises (the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres) are based in New York. A National Basketball Association team, the New York Knicks is based in Manhattan, while the New Jersey Nets are scheduled to move into Brooklyn in the near future.

Navy vessel namesakes

There have been at least six United States Navy ships named USS New York in honor of the state. The keel was laid for the USS New York (LPD 21) on September 10, 2004 and she will be the seventh US Navy ship to be named for the state. The New York's motto will be "Never Forget."
The USS New York is one of several ships in the San Antonio-class of amphibious transport dock ships (LPD stands for Landing Ship Transport, Dock). The ship will be used to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies, such as amphibious vehicles and helicopters. It is one of three similar ships that are being built and being given names that are associated with September 11. The others are the LPD 24 USS Arlington (named because of the location of the Pentagon) and the LPD 25 USS Somerset (named after the county in Pennsylvania where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed).
Twenty-four tons of steel from the World Trade Center have been recycled for construction of the ship. Approximately seven tons were used to make the bow section of the ship's hull. The steel from the World Trade Center has been treated with reverence by the ship builders. Several workers have postponed their retirements for the honor of constructing the USS New York.
According to Naval records, several other ships have carried the name the USS New York. This new ship was given the name the USS New York when former New York governor George Pataki wrote to Secretary of the Navy Gordon England and requested that the Navy use the name to honor the victims of September 11 and to give it to a surface ship that would be used to fight the War on Terror. This is an exception to the current use of state names for submarines only.
The first ship to carry the name USS New York was an armed gondola built by Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold in 1776. She was burned to avoid capture later in the Revolutionary War.
The second ship named USS New York was a 36-gun frigate built in New York and commissioned in 1800. She saw service in the Mediterranean in the war against the Barbary Pirates. She was burned by the British in 1814 while she was in the Washington Navy Yard.
The third USS New York was one of nine built to discourage a future war with Britain after the war of 1812. The threat abated, so she was never launched. Union forces later burned the 74-gun ship of the line to avoid her capture at the start of the American Civil War.
Beginning in 1863, a screw sloop that was being built that would have carried the name USS New York, but it also never got launched, being sold in 1888.
The fifth USS New York (ACR 2) was a armored cruiser commissioned in 1893. She was used in the Spanish-American War and was the flagship of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba (July 3, 1898), which destroyed the Spanish fleet. She was later renamed the USS Saratoga in 1911 and then renamed again as the USS Rochester in 1917.
The sixth was the battleship USS New York (BB 34), commissioned in 1914. She saw service in both World War I and World War II. She participated in atomic testing off the Bikini Islands surviving both an atmospheric explosion and an underwater detonation. She was used as a target ship in 1948 and was sunk off Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Finally, there was a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine USS New York City (SSN 696) in service from 1979 until 1997 when she was decommissioned.

External links

New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation

State of New York Website

New York Governor Website

NYProfiles.com - Profiles of New Yorkers

I Love New York - official New York State tourism website

Population of each county

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of New York

US Census Bureau

New York State Facts

NewYoogle.com - Google customised by New York experts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New York City, arguably the world's most vibrant and sprawling metropolis, occupies five boroughs, each with its own distinct identity. After all, before the historic 1898 consolidation, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island were each independent municipalities.

Manhattan Manhattan, home to the most recognizable sites, dominates popular perception of New York City. Its most famous districts are listed below:

Wall Street and the Financial District New York's first district remains its most historic. Wall Street investment banks coexist with landmarks like Trinity Church . Battery Park draws people for its panoramic views. The World Trade Center was also one of the area's most popular destinations, until its tragic destruction on Sept. 11, 2001; no longer will people be able to view the city from its observation deck, and it may be years before this area of Manhattan returns to normal.

Harlem Long the national epicenter of African-American culture, Harlem was home to the Harlem Renaissance, arguably this country's most influential artistic, literary and cultural movement. It has since seen some of New York's worst poverty and crime. But now, Harlem is benefiting from a booming economy, as rents rise and tourists clamor to visit its jazz clubs and Southern restaurants.

Greenwich Village At the turn of the 19th century, Greenwich Village drew free spirits from around the nation, including poet Edna St. Vincent Millay and playwright Eugene O'Neill. As the years went on, rents inevitably rose. Now, its townhouses are some of the most expensive in the city. New York University students gather here in the Washington Square Park . A diverse array of shops, bars and music clubs exist along Bleecker Street.

East Village Artists, students and yuppies have gone a long way towards gentrifying the long poor and multi-ethnic neighborhood. Today, the artistic spirit that initially brought about change remains evident. Urban gardens and art exhibits sit beside cafes, craft shops and vegetarian restaurants.

Soho & Tribeca Once home to massive factories, artists moved in and transformed the area into a bustling urban mecca. Galleries, designer shops, sophisticated restaurants and trendy bars followed soon after. Today, tourists flock here and rents have risen sky high.

Lower East Side It is hard to believe that this area once housed some of the city's worst slums. Today, rents are rising and yuppies have arrived. The historic Orchard Street Shopping District is home to several hip bars and nightclubs.

Chinatown Asian restaurants, grocery stores and trinket shops line the ever-crowded streets. One need not travel to Hong Kong for a $10 Rolex watch, as plenty are available here. Dim Sum and other favorites attract diners on practically every corner.

Little Italy Frank Sinatra, Italian restaurants and kitsch draw tourists to this lively neighborhood surrounding Mulberry Street. The Feast of San Gennaro still welcomes its throngs, but the neighborhood is fast being surrounded by nearby Chinatown.

Gramercy and Flatiron The majestic Flatiron Building lords over this beautiful, eclectic district marked by loft spaces to the west and pre-war residences to the east. More than a century after their construction, the apartment buildings and townhouses around Gramercy Park remain coveted addresses.

Chelsea Once a working class community, Chelsea has become a posh address. As rents in Greenwich Village rose, the vibrant gay community moved upwards to occupy Chelsea's many brownstones and loft spaces. Others followed, and today it reflects New York's ethnic and cultural diversity.

Meat Packing District Chelsea's energy was bound to spill downward into this former industrial wasteland. Now, some of the city's hottest destinations occupy spaces, once reserved for slaughtered meat.

Midtown As the name implies, Midtown is smack in the middle of everything. Nobody is really sure where Midtown begins (most would say somewhere at the 30s), but most agree it stops around Central Park . Publishing houses, financial firms, import/export companies and fashion houses all do business here. Trump Tower entices shoppers, along with all those glorious stores along Fifth Avenue. Ice skaters twirl at Rockefeller Center and the spectacular St. Patrick's Cathedral offers serenity and spirituality.

Times Square & Hell's Kitchen Many New Yorkers miss the almost-gone seediness of Times Square, as the World of Disney has replaced sex shops and strip clubs. However, most people begrudgingly admit that it is better this way. Visitors adore everything from souvenir shops to enormous billboards and Broadway musicals. A few blocks west lies Hell's Kitchen, a community filled with eclectic restaurants, bars and shops.

Upper East Side Park, Fifth and Madison have always been posh avenues. Whether in the gilded mansions of yesterday or the area's hi-rise modern apartments, old money and high society have long made their home here. Consequently, shops to serve them line Madison Avenue. Baby Gap coexists with art galleries and antique shops. Further east, new money has overtaken the old Yorkville slum.

Upper West Side When the co-ops of the East Side were freer to restrict residents, the Upper West Side became home to new money. Then, as "modernist" Eastsiders tore down their pre-war palaces, Upper West Side residents kept their old buildings and renters now value the neighborhood's attractive real estate. Meanwhile, bars and restaurants catering to Long Island and New Jersey folk (a. k. a. the Bridge and Tunnels crowd) continue to sprout like weeds along Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.

Brooklyn This massive borough stretches from festive Coney Island to elegant Brooklyn Heights. But wherever Brooklynites hail from, they remain a largely proud lot. They can boast of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden , the gorgeous bridge that bears the borough's name, the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and a growing restaurant scene. Some are even proud of their accent.

Queens From Flushing to Astoria, Queens is experiencing a quiet renaissance, as refugees from Manhattan's high rents continue to discover what this working-class borough offers its residents. Inexpensive ethnic restaurants pepper the borough. Queens is also home to the Kaufman Astoria Studio and the American Museum of the Moving Image.

The Bronx This borough boasts the Yankees, one of the nation's finest zoos, and an extraordinary Botanical Garden . Alas, poverty continues to exist, but areas including the South Bronx have benefited from economic booms.

Staten Island More like a middle and working class suburb than a borough of the city, Staten Island houses thousands of residents who ride the ferry to work in Manhattan each business day.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. Most of its population of 6.4 million live in the Boston metropolitan area. The eastern half of this relatively small state is mostly urban and suburban. The west is primarily rural, also with most of its population in urban enclaves. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states and ranks third in overall population density among the 50 states.
Massachusetts has been a significant state in American history. Plymouth, Massachusetts, was the second permanent English settlement in North America. Colonists from England founded many towns and villages in the present-day territory of Massachusetts very early in the nation's history in the 1620s and 1630s. The Boston area became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the ferment there which led to the American Revolution and the independence of the United States from Great Britain. Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to abolish slavery and was a center of the temperance movement and abolitionist activity in the years leading to the American Civil War. The state has contributed many prominent politicians to national service, including the Kennedy family.
Originally dependent on agriculture and trade with Europe, Massachusetts was transformed into a manufacturing center during the Industrial Revolution. Migration of factories to the lower-wage Southern states caused economic stagnation during the first half of the 20th century. The Massachusetts economy was revived after World War II, and today is prominent in higher education, health care, and high technology.

Name

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was named after the indigenous population, the Massachusett, whose name can be segmented as mass-adchu-s-et, where mass- is "large", -adchu- is "hill", -s- is a diminutive suffix meaning "small", and -et is a locative suffix, identifying a place. It has been translated as "near the great hill," "by the blue hills" "at the little big hill," or "at the range of hills," referring to the Blue Hills, or in particular, Great Blue Hill, located on the boundary of Milton and Canton, to the southwest of Boston. (c.f. the Narragansett name Massachusêuck;
Massachusetts is officially a "commonwealth." Colloquially, it is often referred to simply as "the Commonwealth," although "state" is used interchangeably. While this designation is part of the state's official name, it has no practical implications. Massachusetts has the same position and powers within the United States as other states and a similar form of internal government.

Geography

Massachusetts is bordered on the north by New Hampshire and Vermont; on the west by New York; on the south by Connecticut and Rhode Island; and on the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the state is uplands of resistant metamorphic rock that were scraped by Pleistocene glaciers that deposited moraines and outwash on a large, sandy, arm-shaped peninsula called Cape Cod and the islands Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket to the south of Cape Cod. Upland elevations increase to the north and west and the highest point in the state is Mount Greylock at near the state's northwest corner.
The uplands are interrupted by the downfaulted Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River and further west by the Housatonic Valley separating the Berkshire Hills from the Taconic Range along the western border with New York.
Boston is located at the innermost point of Massachusetts Bay, at the mouth of the Charles River, the longest river entirely within Massachusetts. Most of the population of the Boston metropolitan area (approximately 4.4 million) does not live in the city proper; eastern Massachusetts on the whole is fairly densely populated and largely suburban as far west as Worcester.
Central Massachusetts encompasses Worcester County, and includes the cities of Worcester, Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, Southbridge and small upland towns, forests, and small farms. The Quabbin Reservoir borders the western side of the county, and is the main water supply for the eastern part of the state.
The Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts is urbanized from the Connecticut border (and greater Hartford) to north as far as Northampton, and includes Springfield, West Springfield, Westfield, and Holyoke. Pioneer Valley economy and population was influenced by agriculturally productive Connecticut River Valley land in the 17th and 18th century, water power for the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century and expansion of higher education in the 20th century.
The remainder of the state west of Pioneer Valley is mainly uplands, a range of small mountains known as the Berkshires, summer home to the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Lenox), Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, the Norman Rockwell Museum (Stockbridge), Monument Mountain and Mount Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. It largely remained in aboriginal hands until the 18th century when Scotch-Irish settlers arrived and found the more productive lands already settled. Availability of better land in western New York and then the Northwest Territories soon put the upland agricultural population into decline. Available water power led to 19th century settlement along upland rivers. Pittsfield and North Adams grew into small cities and there are a number of smaller mill towns along the Westfield River.
The geographic center of the state is in the town of Rutland, in Worcester county.
The National Park Service administers a number of natural and historical sites in Massachusetts.
The fourteen counties, moving roughly from west to east, are
Berkshire,
Franklin,
Hampshire,
Hampden,
Worcester,
Middlesex,
Essex,
Suffolk,
Norfolk,
Bristol,
Plymouth,
Barnstable,
Dukes, and
Nantucket.
All but two of the Commonwealth's fourteen counties are named for British counties, cities, or nobles.

Climate

Massachusetts has a humid continental climate, with warm summers and cold, snowy winters. Massachusetts receives about 40 inches (1016 mm) of rain annually, fairly evenly distributed throughout the year, slightly wetter during the winter. Summers are warm with average high temperatures in July above 80 °F (26.7 °C) and overnight lows above 60 °F (15.5 °C) common throughout the state. Winters are cold, but generally less extreme on the coast with high temperatures in the winter averaging above freezing even in January, although areas further inland are much colder. The state does have extreme temperatures from time to time with 90 °F (32.2 °C) in the summer and temperatures below 0 °F (-17.8 °C) in the winter not being unusual.
The state has its share of extreme weather, prone to Nor'easters and to severe winter storms. Summers can bring thunderstorms, averaging around 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. Massachusetts has had its share of destructive tornadoes, with the western part of the state slightly more vulnerable than coastal areas in the east. Massachusetts, like the entire United States eastern seaboard, is vulnerable to hurricanes. Because its location is farther east in the Atlantic Ocean than states farther south, Massachusetts has suffered a direct hit from a major hurricane three times since 1851, the same number of direct hits suffered by the southern Atlantic state of Georgia. More often hurricanes weakened to tropical storm strength pass near Massachusetts.

Flora and fauna

The primary biome of inland Massachusetts is temperate deciduous forest. However, much
of the state has been logged, leaving only traces of old growth forest in isolated pockets.
Secondary growth has regenerated in many woodlots and forests, particularly in the western half of Massachusetts. Urbanization, particularly in the eastern half of the state, has affected much of Massachusetts. No longer are there vast expanses of wilderness. Gray Wolf, Elk, Wolverine and Mountain Lion once occurred here but have long since disappeared.
Wildlife species that are doing well are adapting to a changing setting. Coyote, White-tailed Deer, Raccoon, and Wild Turkey are now found in suburbs of major cities and are increasing in population. Black Bear and moose have made comebacks in western and central Massachusetts, and are slowly expanding their range. Peregrine Falcon can be found nesting on artificial platforms on many of the state's tallest buildings in larger cities such as Boston, Worcester and Springfield.
The Atlantic Flyway is the primary migration route for North American bird species. Common Loon are a relatively recent addition to the breeding bird list, their nests at the Wachusett Reservoir are considered the most southerly in the world population of this species. A significant portion of the eastern population of Long-tailed Duck winter off Nantucket. Small offshore islands are home to a significant population of breeding Roseate Terns, and some beaches are important breeding areas to the endangered Piping Plover.
Massachusetts has an extensive coastline and has a declining commercial fishery out to the continental shelf. Atlantic cod, haddock and American lobster are species harvested here. Gray Seal have a large nursery near Monomoy Island and other islands in Nantucket Sound. Harbor seals are a commonly seen feeding and playing just offshore year round. Finally, a significant number of the endangered North Atlantic Right Whales summer on feeding grounds in Cape Cod Bay. Whale watching is a popular summer activity off the coast of Massachusetts. Boats regularly sail to Stellwagen Bank to view species such as Humpback Whale, Fin Whale, Minke Whale and Atlantic White-sided Dolphin.

History

Massachusetts was originally inhabited by several Algonquian tribes: the Wampanoag, Nauset, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Pennacook, Mahican, Massachuset, and some Narragansett and Pequot. A vast number of the indigenous people were killed by waves of smallpox inadvertently brought to the New World by Sir Herbert Popham and his ship to the Saco, Maine area in 1616.
The first European settlers in Massachusetts, the Pilgrims, established their settlement at Plymouth in 1620, and developed friendly relations with the native Wampanoag. This was the second successful permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony; both were preceded by temporary camps, the unsuccessful Popham Colony, and Spanish settlements in Florida in the 1500s. Most early settlers came from within of Haverhill, England. The Pilgrims were soon followed by Puritans who established the Massachusetts Bay Colony at present-day Boston in 1630. The Puritans, whose beliefs included exclusive understanding of the literal truth of the Bible, came to Massachusetts for religious freedom. Dissenters such as Anne Hutchinson, Roger Williams, and Thomas Hooker left Massachusetts because of the Puritan society's lack of religious tolerance. Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island, and Hooker founded Connecticut.
By 1636, the colonists had begun to settle the inland Pioneer Valley along the Connecticut River, where the state's best agricultural land is concentrated.
Native American-European racial tensions led to King Philip's War 1675-76. There were major campaigns in the Pioneer Valley and Plymouth Colony, as well as an unsuccessful expedition against Quebec under William Phips in 1690. Massachusetts became a single colony in 1692, the largest in New England, and one where many American institutions and traditions were formed. The colony fought alongside British regulars in a series of French and Indian Wars that were characterized by brutal border raids and successful attacks on British forces in New France (present-day Canada).
Massachusetts was a center of the movement for independence from Great Britain, earning it the nickname, the "Cradle of Liberty". Colonists here had long had uneasy relations with the English monarchy, including open rebellion under the Dominion of New England in the 1680s.
The Boston Tea Party is an example of the protest spirit of the later pre-revolutionary period in the 1770s, and the Boston Massacre is a famous incident which escalated the conflict. With actions by patriots such as Sam Adams and John Hancock followed by counter-actions by the Crown were a main reason for the unity of the Thirteen Colonies and the outbreak of the American Revolution. The Battles of Lexington and Concord initiated the American Revolutionary War and were fought in the Massachusetts towns of Concord and Lexington.
After independence and during the formative years of independent American government, Shays' Rebellion was an armed uprising in the western half of the state from 1786 to 1787. The rebels were mostly small farmers angered by crushing war debt and taxes which resulted from their lack of representation in Congress.
On March 15, 1820, Maine separated from Massachusetts, of which it had been a non-contiguous part, and entered the Union as the 23rd State as a result of the ratification of the Missouri Compromise.
During the 19th century, Massachusetts became a national and world leader in the Industrial Revolution, with its mastery of machine tools and textiles. The economy transformed from primarily agricultural to manufacturing, making use of its many rivers to power factories for shoes, furniture, and clothing that drew labor from Yankees on subsistence farms at first, and later drew upon immigrant labor from Europe.
Horace Mann made the state system of schools the national model. Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson made major contributions to American thought. Members of the Trancendentalism movement, they emphasized the importance of the natural world to humanity.
In the years leading up to the Civil War, Massachusetts was a center of social progressivism, the temperance movement, and abolitionist activity within the United States. Antagonism to their views resulted in anti-abolitionist riots in Massachusetts between 1835 and 1837. The works of abolitionists contributed to subsequent actions of the state during the Civil War. Massachusetts was the first U.S. state to abolish slavery, in a 1783 judicial interpretation of its 1780 constitution, and was the first state to recruit, train, and arm a Black regiment with White officers, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry.
The industrial economy declined in the early twentieth century with the exodus of many manufacturing companies. By the 1920s low-wage competition from the South, followed by the Great Depression, led to the collapse of Massachusetts' two main industries, shoes and textiles. In the years following World War II, Massachusetts was transformed from a factory system to a largely service and high-tech based economy.
Government contracts, private investment, and research facilities led to a new and improved industrial climate, with reduced unemployment and increased per capita income. Suburbanization flourished, and by the 1970s, the Route 128 corridor was dotted with high-technology companies who recruited graduates of the area's many elite institutions of higher education.
The Kennedy family was prominent in Massachusetts politics in the 20th century, especially with President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s.
In 1987, the state received federal funding for the $14.6 billion Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Known colloquially as the "the Big Dig," it was at the time the biggest federal highway project ever approved. As of 2007, the highway is open but landscaping is still underway.
In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the country to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Law, government, and politics

Law

The Massachusetts Constitution was ratified in 1780 while the Revolutionary War was in progress, four years after the Articles of Confederation was drafted, and seven years before the present United States Constitution was ratified in 1787. Massachusetts has the oldest written Constitution now in use by any government in the world. It specifies three branches of government: executive, legislative, and judicial.
Following a November 2003 decision of the state's Supreme Court, Massachusetts became the first (and so far only) state to issue same-sex marriage licenses, on May 17, 2004. (See the articles on same-sex marriage in the United States and same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.) Massachusetts is the first state in the union to mandate health insurance for all its citizens. (See Massachusetts 2006 Health Reform Statute for more details.)

Government

The governor is head of the executive branch and serves as chief administrative officer of the state and as commander-in-chief of the Massachusetts National Guard. The current governor is Deval Patrick. All governors of Massachusetts are given the style His/Her Excellency, a carry-over from the Commonwealth's British past, despite such styles being uncommon in American political traditions. Responsibilities of the governor include preparation of the annual budget, nomination of all judicial officers, the granting of pardons (with the approval of the governor's Council), appointments of the heads of most major state departments, and the acceptance or veto of each bill passed by the Legislature. Several executive offices have also been established, each headed by a secretary appointed by the governor, much like the president's cabinet.
The Governor's Council (also called the Executive Council) is composed of the Lieutenant Governor and eight councilors elected from councilor districts for a two-year term. It has the constitutional power to approve judicial appointments and pardons, to authorize expenditures from the Treasury, to approve the appointment of constitutional officers if a vacancy occurs when the legislature is not in session, and to compile and certify the results of statewide elections. It also approves the appointments of notaries public and justices of the peace.
The Massachusetts state legislature is formally styled the "General Court." (See Massachusetts General Court) Elected every two years, the General Court is made up of a Senate of 40 members and a House of Representatives of 160 members. The Massachusetts Senate is said to be the second oldest democratic deliberative body in the world. Each branch elects its own leader from its membership. The Senate elects its president; the House its speaker. These officers exercise power through their appointments of majority floor leaders and whips (the minority party elects its leaders in a party caucus), their selection of chairs and all members of joint committees, and in their rulings as presiding officers. Joint committees of the General Court are made up of 6 senators and 15 representatives, with a Senate and House chair for each committee. These committees must hold hearings on all bills filed. Their report usually determines whether or not a bill will pass. Each chamber has its own Rules Committee and Ways and Means Committee and these are among the most important committee assignments.
Judicial appointments are held to the age of seventy. The Supreme Judicial Court, consisting of a chief justice and six associate justices, is the highest court in the Commonwealth; it is empowered to give advisory opinions to the governor and the legislature on questions of law. All trials are held in departments and divisions of a unified Trial Court, headed by a Chief Justice for Administrative and Management, assisted by an administrator of courts. It hears civil and criminal cases. Cases may be appealed to the Supreme Judicial Court or the Appeals Court for review of law, but findings of fact made by the Trial Court are final. The Superior Court, consisting of a chief justice and sixty-six associate justices, is the highest department of the Trial Court. Other departments are the District, Housing, Juvenile, Land, and Probate Courts.
Massachusetts's Congressional delegation is entirely Democratic. U.S. senators are Edward Kennedy and John Kerry. The ten members of the state's delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives are John Olver, Richard Neal, Jim McGovern, Barney Frank, Niki Tsongas, John F. Tierney, Ed Markey, Mike Capuano,
Stephen Lynch, and Bill Delahunt. Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. Appeals are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Politics

During the first half of the 1900s, Boston was socially conservative and strongly under the influence of Methodist minister J. Frank Chase and his New England Watch and Ward Society, founded in 1878. In 1903, the Old Corner Bookstore was raided and fined for selling Boccaccio's Decameron. Howard Johnson's got its start when Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude was banned in Boston, and the production had to be moved to Quincy. In 1927, works by Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and Sherwood Anderson were removed from bookstore shelves. "Banned in Boston" on a book's cover could actually boost sales. Burlesque artists such as Sally Rand needed to modify their act when performing at Boston's Old Howard Casino. The clean version of a performance used to be known as the "Boston version." By 1929, the Watch and Ward society was perceived to be in decline when it failed in its attempt to ban Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, but as late as 1935 it succeeded in banning Lillian Hellman's play The Children's Hour. Censorship was enforced by city officials, notably the "city censor" within the Boston Licensing Division. That position was held by Richard J. Sinnott from 1959 until the office was abolished on March 2, 1982. In modern times, few such puritanical social mores persist. Massachusetts has since gained a reputation as being a politically liberal state and is often used as an archetype of liberalism, hence the usage of the phrase "Massachusetts liberal."
Massachusetts is the home of the Kennedy family, and routinely votes for the Democratic Party in federal elections: it is the most populous state to have an all-Democratic Congressional delegation (ten representatives and two senators); this also makes Massachusetts the largest state to have a solid delegation of either party. As of the 2006 election, the Republican party holds less than 13% of the seats in both legislative houses of the General Court: in the House, the balance is 141 Democratic to 19 Republican, and in the Senate, 35-5.
Although Republicans held the governor's office continuously from 1991 to 2007, they have mostly been among the most progressive Republican leaders in the nation, especially William Weld (the first of four recent Republican governors). Two of these governors, Paul Cellucci and Jane Swift, took office when their predecessors resigned to take other positions. In presidential elections, Massachusetts supported Republicans until 1912, from 1916 through 1924, in the 1950s, and in 1980 and 1984. From 1988 through 2004, Massachusetts has supported Democratic presidential candidates, most recently giving native son John Kerry 61.9% of the vote and his largest margin of victory in any state. (It should be noted, however, John Kerry's margin of victory in the District of Columbia was much higher.)
During the 1972 election, Massachusetts was the only state to give its electoral votes to George McGovern, the Democratic nominee (The District of Columbia also voted for McGovern). Following the resignation of President Nixon in 1974, two famous bumper stickers were sold in Boston, one saying "Don't blame me, I'm from Massachusetts," and the other read "Nixon 49, America 1"

Cities and towns

There are 50 cities and 301 towns in Massachusetts, grouped into 14 counties. Eleven communities which call themselves "towns" are, by law, cities since they have traded the town meeting form of government for a mayor-council or manager-council form. Boston is the state capital and largest city. It is the nation's 11th largest metropolitan area. Cities over 100,000 in population (2004 estimates) include Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, Brockton, and Cambridge. Massachusetts shares the governmental structure known as the New England town with the five other New England states, as well as New York and New Jersey.

Education

Massachusetts has historically had a strong commitment to education. It was the first state to require municipalities to appoint a teacher or establish a grammar school (albeit paid by the parents of the pupils) with the passage of the Massachusetts Education Law of 1647; this mandate was later made a part of the state constitution in 1789. The town of Rehoboth, Massachusetts has been noted to be the birthplace of public education in North America. Massachusetts is home to the country's oldest high school, Boston Latin School (founded 1635), America's first publicly funded high school, Dedham, Massachusetts (founded 1643), oldest college, now called Harvard University (founded 1636), first racially integrated school (Nantucket), and oldest municipally supported free library, Boston Public Library (founded 1848). In 1852, Massachusetts became the first state to pass compulsory school attendance laws. The per-student public expenditure for elementary and secondary schools (kindergarten through grade 12) was fifth in the nation in 2004, at $11,681. Massachusetts has scored highest of all the states in math on the National Assessments of Educational Progress.
Massachusetts is home to many well-known preparatory schools, colleges, and universities. There are more than 40 colleges located in the greater Boston area alone. Ten colleges and universities are located in the greater Worcester area. The University of Massachusetts (nicknamed UMass) is the five-campus public university system of the Commonwealth. The population of metropolitan Boston and Worcester, and of the Five Colleges area in Western Massachusetts, in particular, surges during the school year.

Media

There are two major television media markets located in Massachusetts. The Boston/Worcester market is the 7th largest in the United States. All major networks are represented. The other market surrounds the Springfield area. Some communities in Berkshire county are serviced by the Albany, New York market, and some southeastern Massachusetts communities are serviced by the Providence, Rhode Island market. The Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Worcester Telegram & Gazette and the Springfield Republican are the Commonwealth's largest daily newspapers. In addition, there are many community dailies and weeklies found throughout the state. There are a number of major radio stations (AM 50,000 watts, FM over 20,000 watts) which service Massachusetts, along with many more regional and community based stations. Some colleges and universities also operate campus television and radio stations, and print their own newspaper.

Sports and recreation

Organized sport

Massachusetts has a long history with amateur athletics and professional teams. Most of the major professional teams have won multiple championships in their respective leagues. Massachusetts teams have won 5 Stanley Cups (Boston Bruins), 16 NBA Championships (Boston Celtics), 3 Super Bowls (New England Patriots), and 8 World Series (7 Boston Red Sox, 1 Boston Braves). The state is also the home to the Basketball Hall of Fame (Springfield), because those sports were invented in Massachusetts the Volleyball Hall of Fame (Holyoke), and the Cape Cod Baseball League. It is also home to prestigious sports events such as the Boston Marathon, the Eastern Sprints on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, and the Head of the Charles Regatta. The Falmouth Road Race in running and the Fitchburg Longsjo Classic in bicycle racing are also very popular events with long histories.
The PGA Deutsche Bank Championship and the Champions Tour Bank of America Championship are regular professional golf tour stops in the state. Massachusetts has played host to 9 US Opens, 4 US Womens Opens, 2 Ryder Cups, 1 PGA Championship, and 1 Senior Open. The New England Revolution is the Major League Soccer (MLS) team in Massachusetts.
Many colleges and universities in Massachusetts are active in college athletics. There are a number of NCAA Division I members in the state for multiple sports: Harvard University, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Outdoor recreation

Boating activities such as sailing and yachting are popular all along the Massachusetts coast and its offshore islands. Hiking and cross-country skiing are also popular activities in many of the states undeveloped lands. The Appalachian Trail, the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, the Midstate Trail, and the Bay Circuit Trail are all long distance hiking trails that run the length of the state. The Tully Trail, an loop in the North Quabbin Region (through the towns of Athol, Orange, Warwick and Royalston) incorporates waterfalls and vistas. A handful of downhill skiing operators still maintain slopes in Massachusetts, although many skiers drive to major resorts in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine for the weekend. Sport fishing still remains a strong outdoor activity. Spincasting during the warmer months and ice fishing during winter on inland lakes and ponds, Flyfishing inland rivers for trout, surf casting for striped bass and bluefish and deep sea fishing for cod and haddock all remain popular. Hunting, primarily for whitetail deer and waterfowl continues to attract a number of residents.

Bibliography

Overviews and Surveys

Brown, Richard D. and Jack Tager. Massachusetts: A Concise History (2002)

Hall, Donald. ed. The Encyclopedia of New England (2005)

Works Progress Administration. Guide to Massachusetts (1939)

Secondary Sources

Abrams, Richard M. Conservatism in a Progressive Era: Massachusetts Politics, 1900-1912 (1964)

Adams, James Truslow. Revolutionary New England, 1691-1776 (1923)

Adams, James Truslow. New England in the Republic, 1776-1850 (1926)

Andrews, Charles M. The Fathers of New England: A Chronicle of the Puritan Commonwealths (1919), short survey

Conforti, Joseph A. Imagining New England: Explorations of Regional Identity from the Pilgrims to the Mid-Twentieth Century (2001)

Cumbler, John T. Reasonable Use: The People, the Environment, and the State, New England, 1790-1930 (1930), environmental history

Fischer, David Hackett. Paul Revere's Ride (1994), 1775 in depth

Green, James R., William F. Hartford, and Tom Juravich. Commonwealth of Toil: Chapters in the History of Massachusetts Workers and Their Unions (1996)

Huthmacher, J. Joseph. Massachusetts People and Politics, 1919-1933 (1958)

Labaree, Benjamin Woods. Colonial Massachusetts: A History (1979)

Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Maritime History of Massachusetts, 1783-1860 (1921)

Peirce, Neal R. The New England States: People, Politics, and Power in the Six New England States (1976), 1960-75 era

Porter, Susan L. Women of the Commonwealth: Work, Family, and Social Change in Nineteenth-Century Massachusetts (1996)

Sletcher, Michael. New England (2004).

Starkey, Marion L. The Devil in Massachusetts (1949), Salem witches

Tager, Jack, and John W. Ifkovic, eds. Massachusetts in the Gilded Age: Selected Essays (1985), ethnic groups

Zimmerman, Joseph F. The New England Town Meeting: Democracy in Action (1999)

External links

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Massachusetts Historical Society

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Massachusetts

Maps of Massachusetts

1837 descriptions of Massachusetts cities, towns, mountains, lakes, and rivers, from Hayward's New England Gazetteer.

Massachusetts State Symbols

Miscellaneous Massachusetts Facts

Massachusetts State Facts from USDA

Massachusetts 351 Project

Massachusetts Constitution and Laws

Massachusetts Tourism Board

Atlases of Massachusetts. 1871-Walling&Gray, 1891-Walker, 1892-Mass., 1904-Walker. Large Images at Salemdeeds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a state located in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States of America. As of 2005 the state has the 17th largest economy in the world.
One of Pennsylvania's nicknames is the Quaker State; in colonial times, it was known officially as the Quaker Province, in recognition of Quaker William Penn's First Frame of Government constitution for Pennsylvania that guaranteed liberty of conscience. Penn knew of the hostility Quakers faced when they opposed rituals, oaths, violence, and what they viewed as ostentatious frippery.
Pennsylvania has also been known as the Keystone State since 1802, based in part upon its central location among the original Thirteen Colonies forming the United States. and rifles, and the agriculture common to the South, producing feed, fiber, food, and tobacco.
Pennsylvania has of coastline along Lake Erie and of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary. Philadelphia is Pennsylvania's largest city and is home to a major seaport and shipyards on the Delaware River.

Geography

Pennsylvania is north to south and east to west. Of a total , are land, are inland waters and are waters in Lake Erie. It is the 33rd largest state in the United States. Pennsylvania is in the Eastern time zone.
The original southern boundary of Pennsylvania was supposed to be at 40° North latitude, but as a result of a bad faith compromise by Lord Baltimore during Cresap's War, the king's courts moved the boundary south to 39° 43' N. would have been split in half by the original boundary. While he was a captive, Cresap, a Marylander, was paraded through Philadelphia. He taunted the officers by announcing that Philadelphia was one of the prettiest towns in Maryland.

Climate

Pennsylvania's diverse geography also produces a variety of climates. Straddling two major zones, the southeastern corner of the state posses the warmest climate. Greater Philadelphia lies at the southernmost tip of the Humid continental climate zone, with some characteristics of the Humid subtropical climate that lies in Delaware and Maryland to the south. Moving toward the mountainous interior of the state, the climate becomes markedly colder, number of cloudy days increases, and winter snowfall amounts are greater. Western areas of the state, particular cities near Lake Erie can receive over of snowfall annually, and the entire state receives plentiful rainfall throughout the year.

History

Before the Commonwealth was settled, the area was home to the Delaware (also known as Lenni Lenape), Susquehannock, Iroquois, Eries, Shawnee, and other Native American tribes.
In 1681, Charles II granted a land charter to William Penn, to repay a debt of £20,000 ($20,000,000 in today’s money) owed to William's father, Admiral Penn. This was one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. It was called Pennsylvania, meaning "Penn's Woods", in honor of Admiral Penn.
Penn established a government with two innovations that were much copied in the New World: the county commission, and freedom of religious conviction.
Between 1730 and when it was shut down by Parliament with the Currency Act of 1764, the Pennsylvania Colony made its own paper money to account for the shortage of actual gold and silver. The paper money was called Colonial Scrip. The Colony issued "bills of credit" which were as good as gold or silver coins because of their legal tender status. Since they were issued by the government and not a banking institution, it was an interest-free proposition, largely defraying the expense of the government and therefore taxation of the people. It also promoted generally employment and prosperity since the Government used discretion and did not issue too much to inflate the currency. Benjamin Franklin had a hand in creating this currency, of which he said its utility was never to be disputed, and it also received the high praise of Adam Smith.
After the Stamp Act Congress of 1765, Delegate John Dickinson of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania wrote the Declaration of Rights and Grievances. The Congress was the first meeting of the thirteen colonies, called at the request of the Massachusetts Assembly, but only nine colonies sent delegates. Dickinson then wrote Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania, To the Inhabitants of the British Colonies, which were published in the Pennsylvania Chronicle between December 2, 1767, and February 15, 1768.
When the Founding Fathers of the United States were to convene in Philadelphia in 1774, 12 colonies sent representatives to the First Continental Congress. The First Continental Congress drew up and signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, but when that city was captured by the British, the Continental Congress escaped westward, meeting at the Lancaster courthouse on Saturday, September 27, 1777, and then to York. There they drew up the Articles of Confederation that formed 13 independent colonies into a new nation. Later, the Constitution was written, and Philadelphia was once again chosen to be cradle to the new American Nation.
Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution on December 12, 1787, five days after Delaware became the first.
Dickinson College of Carlisle was the first college founded in the United States. Established in 1773, the college was ratified five days after the Treaty of Paris on September 9th, 1783. The school was founded by Benjamin Rush and named after John Dickinson, President of Pennsylvania and a signer of the Constitution.
For half a century, the Commonwealth's legislature met at various places in the general Philadelphia area before starting to meet regularly in Independence Hall in Philadelphia for 63 years. But it needed a more central location, as for example the Paxton Boys massacres of 1763 had made them aware. So, in 1799 the legislature moved to the Lancaster Courthouse, and finally in 1812 to Harrisburg. The legislature met in the old Dauphin County Court House until December 1821, when the Redbrick Capitol was finished. It burned down in 1897, presumably due to a faulty flue. The legislature met at Grace Methodist Church on State Street (still standing), until the present capitol was finished in 1907.
The new state Capitol drew rave reviews. Its dome was inspired by the domes of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and the United States Capitol. President Theodore Roosevelt called it the "the most beautiful state Capitol in the nation", and said "It's the handsomest building I ever saw" at the dedication. In 1989, the New York Times praised it as "grand, even awesome at moments, but it is also a working building, accessible to citizens ... a building that connects with the reality of daily life."
Pennsylvania accounts for 9% of all wooded areas in the United States
James Buchanan, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was the only bachelor President of the United States. The Battle of Gettysburg — the major turning point of the Civil War — took place near Gettysburg. An estimated 350,000 Pennsylvanias served in the Union Army forces along with 8,600 African American military volunteers.
Pennsylvania was also the home of the first Commercially drilled oil well. In 1859, near Titusville, Pennsylvania, Edwin L. Drake successfully drilled the well. It led to the first major oil boom in United States History.

Politics

Government of the Commonwealth

Pennsylvania has had five constitutions during its statehood: 1776, 1790, 1838, 1874, and 1968. Prior to that, the province of Pennsylvania was governed for a century by a Frame of Government, of which there were four versions: 1682, 1683, 1696, and 1701. The capital of the Commonwealth is Harrisburg. The legislature meets in the new State Capitol there.
The current Governor is Ed Rendell, a former head of the Democratic National Committee who began as a popular District Attorney and mayor in Philadelphia. The other elected officials composing the executive branch are the Lieutenant Governor Catherine Baker Knoll, Attorney General Tom Corbett, Auditor General Jack Wagner, and State Treasurer Robin Weissman.
Pennsylvania has a bicameral legislature set up by Commonwealth's constitution in 1790. The original Frame of Government of William Penn had a unicameral legislature. The General Assembly includes 50 Senators and 203 Representatives. Joseph B. Scarnati III is currently President Pro Tempore of the State Senate, Dominic Pileggi the Majority Leader, and Robert J. Mellow the Minority Leader. Dennis M. O'Brien is Speaker of the House of Representatives, with H. William DeWeese as Majority Leader and Samuel Smith as Minority Leader. The 2006 election resulted in the Democrats regaining control of the House and the balance remaining unchanged in Republicans' favor in the Senate.
Pennsylvania is divided into 60 judicial districts, most of which (except Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties) have magisterial district judges (formerly called district justices and justices of the peace), who preside mainly over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims.
Sales tax provides 39% of Commonwealth's revenue; personal income tax 34%; motor vehicle taxes about 12%, and taxes on cigarettes and alcohol beverage 5%.
Counties, municipalities, and school districts levy taxes on real estate. In addition, some local bodies assess a wage tax on personal income. Generally, the total wage tax rate is capped at 1% of income but some municipalities with home rule charters may charge more than 1%. Thirty-two of the Commonwealth's sixty-seven counties levy a personal property tax on stocks, bonds, and similar holdings.

Representation in the 110th Congress

Pennsylvania's two U.S. Senators in the 110th Congress are Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, Jr..
Pennsylvania's U.S. Congressmen for the term beginning January 2007 are Robert Brady (1^st), Chaka Fattah (2^nd), Phil English (3^rd), Jason Altmire (4^th), John E. Peterson (5^th), Jim Gerlach (6^th), Joe Sestak (7^th), Patrick Murphy (8^th), Bill Shuster (9^th), Chris Carney (10^th), Paul E. Kanjorski (11^th), John Murtha (12^th), Allyson Schwartz (13^th), Michael F. Doyle (14^th), Charlie Dent (15^th), Joe Pitts (16^th), Tim Holden (17^th), Tim Murphy (18^th), and Todd Russell Platts (19^th).

Regional strength

In the past decade, no political party has been clearly dominant in Pennsylvania. This, combined with Pennsylvania's rank of 6th in the country in population, has made it one of the most important swing states. Democrats are strong in urban Philadelphia and the areas of Pittsburgh, Reading, Allentown, Erie, Johnstown, and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Republicans are generally dominant in the vast rural areas that make up the balance of the Commonwealth. Traditionally, Republicans have also fared well in the densely populated and wealthy suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but in the 1990s and 2000s many of these suburbs began to associate more with the Democratic Party.
In the 2004 Presidential Election, Senator John F. Kerry beat President George W. Bush in Pennsylvania 2,938,095 (50.92%) to 2,793,847 (48.42%).

Important cities and municipalities

Municipalities in Pennsylvania are incorporated as cities of several classes, boroughs, as townships of several classes, or under home rule charters. A "Village", often identified by a roadside sign, is unincorporated, and is merely a locale without distinct boundaries. There are 2,567 municipalities in the state.
There is some confusion about the number of "towns" in Pennsylvania. In 1870, Bloomsburg, the county seat of Columbia County was incorporated as a town, and is recognized by state government publications as "the only incorporated town" in Pennsylvania. However, in 1975, McCandless Township, in Allegheny County adopted a home rule charter under the name "Town of McCandless".
The ten most populated cities in Pennsylvania, in order are: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem, Lancaster, Altoona, and Harrisburg.

Recreation

Pennsylvania is home to the nation's first zoo, the Philadelphia Zoo. Other notable zoos include the Allentown Zoo, Claws 'n Paws, Erie Zoo, Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, and ZOOAMERICA. The Commonwealth boasts some of the finest museums in the country. One of the unique museums is the Houdini Museum in Scranton, the only building in the world devoted to the legendary magician. It is also home to the National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh.
All 121 state parks in Pennsylvania feature free admission.
Pennsylvania offers a number of notable amusement parks, including Camel Beach, Conneaut Lake Park, Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom, Dutch Wonderland, DelGrosso Amusement Park, Hershey Park, Idlewild Park, Kennywood, Knoebels, Lakemont Park, Sandcastle Waterpark, Sesame Place, Great Wolf Lodge and Waldameer Park. Pennsylvania also is home to the largest indoor waterpark resort on the East Coast, Splash Lagoon in Erie.
There are also notable music festivals that take place in Pennsylvania. These include Musikfest in Bethlehem (which featured the rock band The Black Crowes in 2007 and routinely draws major music acts), the Philadelphia Folk Festival, Creation Festival, the Great Allentown Fair (which lasts slightly longer than a week in Allentown annually in early September) and Purple Door.
There are nearly one million licensed hunters in Pennsylvania. Whitetail deer, cottontail rabbits, squirrel, turkey, and grouse are common game species. Pennsylvania is considered one of the finest wild turkey hunting states in the Union, alongside Texas and Alabama. Sport hunting in Pennsylvania is a massive boost for the Commonwealth's economy. A report from The Center for Rural Pennsylvania (A Legislative Agency of the Pennsylvania General Assembly) reported that hunting, fishing, and furtaking generated a total of $9.6 billion statewide.
The Boone and Crockett Club shows that five of the ten largest (skull size) black bear entries came from the state. The state also has a tied record for the largest hunter shot black bear in the Boone & Crockett books at and a skull of 23 3/16 tied with a bear shot in California in 1993. The largest bear ever found dead was in Utah in 1975 and second largest was shot by a poacher in the state in 1987. Pennsylvania holds the second most number of Boone & Crockett recorded record black bears at 183 second only to Wisconsin's 299.

Sports

Pennsylvania is home to many professional sports teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball, the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League, the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, and the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League. Among them, these teams have accumulated 6 World Series Championships (Pirates 5, Phillies 1), 14 National League Pennants, 3 pre-Super Bowl era NFL Championships (Eagles), 5 Super Bowl Championships (Steelers), 2 NBA Championships (76ers), and 4 Stanley Cup winners (Flyers 2, Penguins 2).
In baseball, the Philadelphia Phillies Triple A-level team is moving from Ottawa, Ontario, in Canada, to a newly-constructed stadium, Coca-Cola Park in Allentown, beginning with the 2008 season. Because the Lehigh Valley is a core fan base for both the Phillies and the Philadelphia Eagles (who conduct their pre-season training camp on the practice fields of Lehigh University, there are understandably lofty expectations that the new team, called the Lehigh Valley IronPigs (after pig iron, which is an instrumental part in the construction of steel which has been a large part of the local economy for decades, is likely to prove hugely popular among Allentown and Lehigh Valley Phillies fans.
College football is also very popular in Pennsylvania. The Penn State University Nittany Lions are coached by Joe Paterno who led Penn State to two national championships (1982 & 1986) as well as five undefeated seasons (1968, 1969, 1973, 1986 and 1994). Penn State plays its home games in the second largest stadium in the United States, Beaver Stadium, that seats 107,282. In addition, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers have won nine national championships (1915, 1916, 1918, 1929, 1931, 1934, 1936, 1937 and 1976) and have played eight undefeated seasons (1904, 1910, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1920, 1937 and 1976) Pitt plays its home games at Heinz Field, a facility it shares with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Other Pennsylvania schools that have won national titles in football include Lafayette College (1896) and the University of Pennsylvania (1895, 1897, 1904 and 1908)
College basketball is also popular in the state, especially in the Philadelphia area where five universities, collectively termed the Big Five, have a rich tradition in NCAA Division I basketball. National titles in college basketball have been won by the following Pennsylvania universities: La Salle University (1954), Temple University (1938), University of Pennsylvania (1920 and 1921), University of Pittsburgh (1928 and 1930) and Villanova University (1985
In motorsports, the Mario Andretti dynasty of race drivers is from Nazareth. Notable Racetracks in Pennsylvania include the Jennerstown Speedway in Jennerstown, the Lake Erie Speedway in North East, the Mahoning Valley Speedway in Lehighton, the Motordome Speedway in Smithton, the Mountain Speedway in St. Johns, the Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth; and the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, which is home both the Pennsylvania 500 and the Pocono 500.
Also, the Little League World Series is held in Williamsport, where it was founded. Also the first World Series between the Boston Pilgrims (now Boston Red Sox) and Pittsburgh Pirates was played in Pittsburgh.
There are also two motocross race tracks that host a round of the AMA Toyota Motocross Championships in Pennsylvania.High Point in located in Mt. Morris, PA, and Steel City is located in Delmont, PA.
Race courses for horses in Pennsylvania consist of The Meadows Racetrack, south of Pittsburgh, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, in Wilkes-Barre and Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack in Chester which offer harness racing, and Penn National Race Course in Grantville and Philadelphia Park, in Bensalem which offer thoroughbred racing. Smarty Jones, the 2004 Kentucky Derby winner, had Philadelphia Park as his home course.
Arnold Palmer, one of the leading 20th century pro golfers, comes from Latrobe, and Jim Furyk, one of the leading 21-century pro golfers, grew up near in Lancaster. PGA tournaments in Pennsylvania include the 84 Lumber Classic, played at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, in Farmington and the Northeast Pennsylvania Classic, played at Glenmaura National Golf Club, in Moosic.
Philadelphia is home to LOVE Park, once a skateboarding mecca, and across from City Hall, host to ESPN's X Games in 2001 and 2002.

Food

In his book Yo Mama Cooks Like a Yankee, author Sharon Hernes Silverman calls Pennsylvania the snack food capital of the world. It leads all other states in the manufacture of pretzels and potato chips. The Sturgis Pretzel House introduced the pretzel to America, and companies like Anderson Bakery Company, Intercourse Pretzel Factory, and Snyder's of Hanover are leading manufacturers in the Commonwealth. The three companies that define the U.S. potato chip industry are Utz Quality Foods, Inc., which started making chips in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1921, Wise Snack Foods which started making chips in Berwick in 1921, and Lay's Potato Chips, a Texas company. Other companies such as Herr Foods, Martin's Potato Chips, and Troyer Farms Potato Products are popular chip manufacturers. The U.S. chocolate industry is centered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, with Mars and Wilbur Chocolate Company nearby, and smaller manufacturers such as Asher's near Lansdale and Gertrude Hawk of Dunmore. Other notable companies include Just Born in Bethlehem, PA, makers of Hot Tamales, Mike and Ikes, and the Easter favorite marshmallow Peeps, Benzel's Pretzels and Boyer Candies of Altoona, PA, which is well known for its Mallow Cups. Auntie Anne's Pretzels originated in Gap, but their corporate headquarters is now located in Lancaster, PA. Traditional Pennsylvania Dutch foods include chicken potpie, schnitz un knepp (dried apples, hame, and dumplings), fassnachts (raised doughnuts), scrapple, pretzels, bologna, and chochow. Shoofly is another traditional Pennsylvanian Dutch food. Yuengling Brewery, America's Oldest Brewery, has been brewing beer in Pottsville, PA since 1829.
Among the regional foods associated with Pennsylvania are the pierogies, cheesesteak and the hoagie, the soft pretzel, Italian water ice, scrapple, Tastykake, and the stromboli. In Pittsburgh, tomato ketchup was improved by Henry John Heinz from 1876 to the early 1900s. Famous to a lesser extent than Heinz ketchup are the Pittsburgh's Primanti Brothers Restaurant sandwiches. Outside the city of Scranton, in the Borough of Old Forge there are dozens of Italian restaurants specializing in pizza made unique by thick, light crust and American cheese. Sauerkraut along with pork and mashed potatoes is a common meal on New Year's Day in Pennsylvania.
Multi-ethnic cuisine is common, especially in the Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Coal Region areas. Amish, Chinese, Italian, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Pakistani, Persian, Polish, Russian, Thai, Turkish cuisine and many others can be found not only in specialty restaurants but at hundreds of community or religious festivals.

External links

Gov. Andrew Curtin's Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps, Civil War 1861–1864

Official state government site

Penna. Dept. of Transportation

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania State Facts

Official state tourism site

penn>Biography of William Penn from 1829

pennhist>A History of Pennsylvania from 1905

Free Original Documents Online: Pennsylvania State Archives 1600s to 1800s

Miller, Randall M. and William Pencak, Pennsylvania: A History of the Commonwealth

Interactive Pennsylvania for Kids

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development

National Association of Counties (information on each Pennsylvania County)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Making Of A Great City People often ask: What makes a city great? What defines it, both for those who live there and for those who visit? Toronto could easily set itself apart by any number of things:

The spectacular ride up the CN Tower , the world's highest free-standing structure, with its rotating restaurant giving diners a breath-taking view of the city, day or night.

The ferry trip from the Harbourfront across the waters of Lake Ontario to the serene and peaceful Toronto Islands , created by a freak storm.

The more than 7,000 fine dining establishments, bars, cafes, bistros, clubs and dance halls to suit every taste from bohemian to business.

The top-of-the-line professional sports teams— Maple Leafs , Raptors , Blue Jays and Argos—playing at stadiums that are the envy of other cities.

The world-class museums, art galleries, theatres, dance companies, festivals and parades that add creativity and culture to an already vibrant city.

Any of these could serve to define Toronto. But what the city is really all about is the people. And it shouldn't surprise anyone that the name "Toronto" comes from a Huron word meaning "Meeting Place." That's exactly what it is: a multicultural meeting place for more than 4.5 million, home to people of more than 70 different nationalities speaking some 100 languages. That multi-ethnic gathering has given the city an exciting and awesome energy. It has also created a place of wonderful neighbourhoods, each with its defining character and local colour: from Rosedale to Little Italy, from Greektown to Cabbagetown , from one Chinatown to the next.

Canada's Metropolis The biggest city in Canada and the fifth largest in North America, Toronto is located on the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Laid out in a rectangular grid, the city stretches for more than 100 square kilometres. Yonge Street , known as the longest thoroughfare in the world, is the main north-south route. Toronto is an important centre of international commerce, and houses the Toronto Stock Exchange, second only in North America to the New York Stock Exchange.

Architecturally speaking, Toronto is an amalgam of different styles. In the early 19th century, it took much of its architectural inspiration from the Georgian style. By the end of the 19th century, the city opted for the heavier, bulkier lines of Richardsonian Romanesque. At the turn of the 20th century, the Toronto City Council opted not to put a height restriction on downtown construction as many other cities had, thus giving rise to some of the tallest buildings in the British Commonwealth, including the 34-storey Canadian Bank of Commerce . Of course, these buildings have been surpassed in recent years by the silhouettes that give Toronto its unique skyline: the CN Tower , Rogers Centre , Royal Bank Plaza , and the TD Centre , to name a few.

Getting Around Getting around Toronto is easier than 1-2-3. Aside from the numerous cabs that swarm the city, the Toronto Transit Commission ( TTC ) runs a world-class subway system, streetcars and buses. Wherever you end up, there's sure to be an easy way to get to your next destination.

While the city may once have had a reputation as Toronto The Good, a nondescript place which shut down and rolled up the sidewalks at sundown, nothing could be further from the truth today. The city is alive with some of the best theatres, museums and galleries anywhere. For example, Toronto is the third largest centre of English-speaking theatre productions in the world (next to London and New York), with more than 200 professional theatre companies and 10,000 performances a year.

One of the oldest theatre spaces in the city, the Royal Alexandra dates back to the early 20th century. Saved from demolition by bargain store king and impresario "Honest" Ed Mirvish, the theatre was renovated at great expense and brought back to its original splendour, and is now home to some of Broadway's finest productions from "Phantom" to "Cats." The Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario present spectacular exhibits for the entire family, while the National Ballet is a world-class dance troupe.

City Of Stars Similarly, there's a thriving film industry in the city. Often called "Hollywood North," Toronto is sought after for its diversity, locations, excellent production centres and local talent. The Toronto International Film Festival , which takes place annually in September, draws countless filmgoers.

Eating out in Toronto is an experience unto itself. With a plethora of different cultures and neighbourhoods bumping into one another like pieces of tectonic plates, the cuisine is as diverse as the population—and matching any taste and affordability, from the unlimited expense account to those counting their pennies. In fact, while there are plenty of upscale haute cuisineries where price is of no concern, some of the best food Toronto has to offer is tucked away in the small eateries of the city's original Chinatown . Here you will find Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Thai, Indonesian and Japanese dishes to satisfy both the timid and the adventurous. Or check out the Beaches with its lively, pedestrian-filled sidewalks and laid-back neighbourhood character. Greektown and Little India restaurants serve up authentic cuisine, whose aromas waft gently out onto the streets.

This Sporting Life Aside from the Air Canada Centre and the Rogers Centre housing the city's pro sports teams, Toronto is also known for its Woodbine horse track, the largest racing property in North America and home to the Queen's Plate thoroughbred race held each August. And race car fanatics will have no trouble picking up the roar of Molson Indy engines come summer.

While there is so much to see and do, to experience and taste, it's the residents of Toronto who give the city its special cachet. More often than not, people are glad to stop and give you directions. And don't be surprised if they tarry and chat a while, recommending places to go or filling you in on pieces of their city's history. This is what Toronto is all about. Not just a vast, sprawling metropolis. Not just a collection of concrete and cars. But a meeting place. The Hurons gave them the name. They try to do it proud.

It was a very good year The year 1885 was a pivotal year in the life of Niagara Falls, NY, a 16-square-mile city about 25 miles north of Buffalo and on the border between Canada and the U.S. If it weren't for what happened that year, we might not have been able to view the Falls from the U.S. side—at least not without having to pay dearly for the privilege.

Already, by that time, the area around the Falls was being built up with factories, mills, warehouses, taverns, hotels, and other commercial structures. As well, these business people and property owners were blocking access by putting up high fences and other barriers and charging people to see the Falls. And that might have led to the slow death of the town rather than the healthy 55,000-population resort destination it is today.

So, what exactly did happen in 1885? Bowing to pressure from the "Free Niagara" lobby, led by the famous landscape artist Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York City's Central Park, the New York State legislature passed a law creating the 200-acre Niagara Reservation State Park , the first-ever attempt to use public money to preserve natural beauty. The result is what we have today, a zone around the Falls and rapids that is off-limits to commercial development and free to the public, a zone filled with landscaped gardens, parks and woodlands, hiking and biking trails and places for a quiet family picnic.

Cascade and they will come Thanks to these efforts, today's Niagara Falls, incorporated in 1892, is a bustling place with a thriving tourism industry that, with its sister city on the Canadian side, annually attracts between 14 and 18 million people and brings in something like $1 billion a year in revenue for the region. The proximity of the Falls to the metropolitan areas of New York and Toronto put it within easy reach of more than 100 million people.

At the same time, the cheap electrical power generated by harnessing the Niagara River and Falls attracted numerous industries to the area during the early part of the 20th century. Some of these industries, such as Occidental Chemical, EI Dupont, Nabisco, US Vanadium, and Goodyear, remain, providing work for those in the population who aren't connected to the hospitality and tourism trade. Many industries, however, either shut down in the last 30 years or moved to the suburbs or surrounding small towns. After a prolonged economic downturn, the city has been revitalizing its downtown area, thus making it more attractive and viable for both residents and businesses.

But there is no doubt in anyone's mind what the prime pump for the economy is: without the Falls, this city would be simply one more border crossing fallen on hard times due to the collapse of heavy industry and shipping. The Falls form a cascade in more ways than one, including a trickle-down effect for the economy.

High rise to low-slung It is the Falls that supports the 3,000 hotel/motel/bed & breakfast rooms in the region. They allow luxury high rises such as Comfort Inn The Pointe and Holiday Inn at the Falls , low-slung motels such as the 3 Star , and classic Victorian B&Bs such as Rainbow House Bed & Breakfast to fill with guests anxious for a glimpse of the famous cataracts.

It is the Falls that bring 50,000 honeymooners a year (drawn, some say, by the negative ions released by the falling water and believed to be strong aphrodisiacs). And it is thanks to the Falls that attractions such as Cave of the Winds , Maid of the Mist boat ride, and Schoellkopf Geological Museum exist. Not to mention the dozens of tour companies coming from all over North America to deposit tourists to the spot where the "Thunder of Waters" takes place.

Around Niagara Falls proper lie a series of historic towns and villages including: Lewiston, home of the Outdoor Fine Arts Festival and Lewiston Museum, Lockport, with its Erie Canal heritage and Underground Boat Ride , and Youngstown, with Old Fort Niagara where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario.

Geologic shift makes good Niagara Falls has its own international airport , featuring the fourth longest main runway in New York State, as well as the nearby Niagara Aerospace Museum , with displays of rare planes and helicopters. It has a vast, 580-acre public park with an 18-hole golf course, and a massive downtown shopping mall-cum-music plaza right next to the Convention Center with 152,000 square feet of meeting, exhibit and banquet space.

All made possible thanks to a quirky geologic shift 12,000 years ago that sent the Niagara River plunging down the edge of the escarpment.

The city of Niagara Falls, NY, is eternally grateful and shows that gratitude by making sure each and every one of the millions of visitors gets a free and unobstructed look at that Seventh Natural Wonder of the World.

Michael Mirolla

Monstrous Water Conduit Niagara Falls, Ontario: Pop. 79,000. Or should that be 18 million plus 79,000? That's approximately the number of visitors the region gets each year, as they come by plane, train, boat, bus, automobile and sometimes by foot to get a glimpse of what has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

Known simply as the Falls , with the Horseshoe on the Canadian side and the American and Bridal Veil on the U.S. side, these raging cataracts serve as the conduit for shifting water from the four Upper Great Lakes to Lake Ontario and eventually out to the ocean. That's an awful lot of water, as the Great Lakes hold about 20 percent of the world's fresh supply of the precious liquid. The 2,600-foot wide Horseshoe Falls, for example, blast 600,000 gallons per second down their 170-foot face.

Yet, this amazing flow of water (or part of it) has come to a standstill on at least two occasions—once accidentally and once on purpose. On March 30, 1848, an ice jam in the upper river caused the Falls to slow to a trickle for several hours. People actually went out and pulled artifacts from the riverbed. In 1969, the American Falls were deliberately blocked by engineers to see if they could remove some of the rocks at their base but the project was abandoned as too expensive.

More Power to It The Falls aren't just a tourist attraction—it is also the engine for one of the world's greatest generators of hydroelectric power with a combined 4.4 million kilowatts shared by the U.S. and Canada. As an offshoot of this water diversion, the annual erosion rate for the Falls—at one point about one meter a year—has been reduced to three centimetres.

With the late 19th-century Industrial Revolution, this cheap source of electricity brought many industries and manufacturing plants to the region, especially in the Chippawa and Fort Erie areas south of Niagara Falls. It also opened up transportation routes both by land and by sea with the construction of the first Welland Canal in Canada and the Erie Barge Canal in the U.S.

The city of Niagara Falls itself has undergone many changes and facelifts through the years: from being the site of the Seventh Wonder and the Honeymoon Capital to being the present day all-season family vacation destination featuring Marineland and the immensely popular Casino Niagara with 100,000 square feet of gaming space! It is thus a city that rejuvenates itself with almost constant renovation and revitalization, while at the same time respecting the traditions that got it to this point.

Waxing romantic One of the Niagara Falls' traditions is the Clifton Hill area where brand-new luxury hotels vie for space with gaudily-coloured, neon-lit honeymoon motels. Couples step into dark funhouses such as Screamers and NIGHTMARES Fear Factory to see who flinches first. Another tradition is the line up of off-the-wall museums such as Ripley's Believe It Or Not! , Louis Tussaud's Waxworks and Guinness World Of Records that continue to draw the curious.

But any accusations of tackiness are quickly dispelled once you get out into the surrounding countryside. It's no surprise that the first explorers who saw this region thought they'd discovered a new Eden, what with the relatively warm, rich, lush, verdant landscape anchored by those roaring waters!

Today, you'll find fruit trees and vineyards and sun-dappled winding country roads along the river. Jogging and biking paths stretch all the way up to Georgian Bay to the north. Tucked-away bed & breakfasts bear antique furnishings and welcoming hosts. Historical museums and period homes are in mint condition. Not to mention the incredibly beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake that is at the end of it all. If Niagara Falls is all hustle and bustle and humming tourism, this town seems frozen in a Victorian-era time warp, complete with the Shaw Festival with its world-class theatrical tribute to the era of George Bernard Shaw, with the addition of Jacuzzi suites, of course!

Mist Gets in Their Eyes So, while the Falls serve as the obvious focal point in this city straddling the U.S. border, the real secret to this area's success as a resort destination lies in its ability to be all things to all people. Golfers, sailors, fisher folk, campers, hikers, bikers, park and garden aficionados, business travellers, tourists from across the sea, thrill-seekers, wine lovers, history and art buffs, those who enjoy the quiet and reserved and those who revel in loud and tacky—they all meet here in tolerance, bonhomie and misty-eyed wonder.

Okay, okay. So maybe the mist comes from the Falls! But it only goes to show that you can't escape its influence, no matter what your reason for coming here. Maybe those negative ions from the falling water will rub off on all of us so that we, too, will become more tolerant and full of wonder.

Michael Mirolla

Ontario is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, (Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are larger but are not provinces) in total area. Ontario is bordered by the provinces of Manitoba to the west, Quebec to the east, and the American states of Michigan, New York, and Minnesota. Most of Ontario's borders with the United States are natural, starting at the Lake of the Woods and continuing through the four Great Lakes: Superior, Huron (which includes Georgian Bay), Erie, and Ontario (for which the province is named), then along the Saint Lawrence River near Cornwall. Ontario is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes.
The capital of Ontario is Toronto, the largest city in Canada. Ottawa, the capital of Canada, is located in Ontario as well. The 2006 Census counted 12,160,282 residents in Ontario, which accounted for 38.5% of the national population.
The province takes its name from Lake Ontario, which is thought to be derived from ontarí:io, a Huron word meaning "great lake", or possibly skanadario which means "beautiful water" in Iroquoian. Along with New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec, Ontario is one of the four original provinces of Canada when the nation was formed on July 1, 1867 by the British North America Act.
Ontario is Canada's leading manufacturing province accounting for 52 per cent of the total national manufacturing shipments in 2004.

Geography

The province consists of four main geographical regions:

The thinly populated Canadian Shield in the northwestern and the central portions which covers over half the land area in the province, though mostly infertile land, it is rich in minerals and studded with lakes and rivers; sub-regions are Northwestern Ontario and Northeastern Ontario.

The virtually unpopulated Hudson Bay Lowlands in the extreme north and northeast, mainly swampy and sparsely forested; and

The temperate, and therefore most populous region, fertile Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Valley in the south where agriculture and industry are concentrated. Southern Ontario is further sub-divided into four regions; Southwestern Ontario (parts of which formerly referred to as Western Ontario), Golden Horseshoe, Central Ontario (although not actually the province's geographic centre) and Eastern Ontario.

Despite the absence of any mountainous terrain in the province, there are large areas of uplands, particularly within the Canadian Shield which traverses the province from northwest to southeast and also above the Niagara Escarpment which crosses the south. The highest point is Ishpatina Ridge at 693 m above sea level located in Temagami, Northeastern Ontario.
The Carolinian forest zone covers most of the southwestern section, its northern extent is part of the Greater Toronto Area at the western end of Lake Ontario. The most well-known geographic feature is Niagara Falls, part of the much more extensive Niagara Escarpment. The Saint Lawrence Seaway allows navigation to and from the Atlantic Ocean as far inland as Thunder Bay in Northwestern Ontario. Northern Ontario occupies roughly 85% of the surface area of the province; conversely Southern Ontario contains 94% of the population (see article Geography of Canada).
Point Pelee National Park is a peninsula in southwestern Ontario (near Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan) that extends into Lake Erie and is the southernmost extent of Canada's mainland. Pelee Island and Middle Island in Lake Erie extend slightly farther. All are south of 42°N – slightly farther south than the northern border of California.

Climate

Ontario has three main climatic regions. Most of Southwestern Ontario, plus the lower parts of the Golden Horseshoe, has a moderate humid continental climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa), similar to that of the inland Mid-Atlantic States and the lower Great Lakes portion of the U.S. Midwest. The region has hot, humid summers and cold winters. It is considered a temperate climate when compared with most of Canada. In the summer, the air masses often come out of the southern United States, as the stronger the Bermuda High Pressure ridges into the North American continent, the more warm, humid air is drawn northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout the year, but especially in the fall and winter, temperatures are moderated somewhat by the lower Great Lakes, making it considerably milder than the rest of the provinces and allowing for a longer growing season than areas at similar latitudes in the continent's interior. Both spring and fall are generally pleasantly mild, with cool nights. Annual precipitation ranges from 750 mm (30 inches) to 1000 mm (40 inches) and is well distributed throughout the year with a summer peak. Most of this region lies in the lee of the Great Lakes and receive less snow than any other part of Ontario.
The more northern and windward parts of Southern Ontario, plus all of Central and Eastern Ontario and the southern parts of Northern Ontario, have a more severe humid continental climate (Koppen Dfb). This region has warm to hot summers (although somewhat shorter than in Southwestern Ontario) with cold and somewhat longer winters and a shorter growing season. The southern parts of this region lie at the windward side of the lakes, primarily Lake Huron. The Great Lakes also have a moderating effect for shoreline areas. However, the open lakes frequently result in lake effect snow squalls on the eastern and southern shores of the lakes, that affect much of the Georgian Bay shoreline including Killarney, Parry Sound, Muskoka and Simcoe County; the Lake Huron shore from east of Sarnia northward to the Bruce Peninsula, sometimes reaching London. Wind-whipped snow squalls or lake effect snow can affect areas as far as 100 kilometres (62 miles) or greater from the shore, but the heaviest snows usually occur within 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the shoreline. Some snowbelt areas receive an annual average of well over 300 cm (120 inches) of snow annually.
The northernmost parts of Ontario - primarily north of 50°N - have a subarctic climate (Koppen Dfc) with long, very cold winters and short, warm summers and dramatic temperature changes from time to time. In the summer, hot weather occasionally reaches even the northernmost parts of Ontario, although humidity is generally lower than in the south. With no major mountain ranges blocking Arctic air masses, winters are generally very cold, especially in the far north and northwest where temperatures below -40 °C (-40 °F) are not uncommon. The snow stays on the ground much longer in the region as opposed to any other regions of Ontario; it is not uncommon to see snow on the ground from October to May here.
Severe thunderstorms peak in frequency in June and July in most of the province, although in Southern Ontario they can occur at any time from March to November due to the collision of colder, Arctic air and warm, often moist Gulf air. In summer they form from convective heating. These storms tend to be more isolated in nature than those associated with frontal activity. Derecho-type thunderstorms can also occur in summer, often nocturnally, bringing severe straight-line winds over wide areas. These storms usually develop along stationary frontal boundaries during hot weather periods and most areas of the province can be struck. Only the Hudson/James Bay Lowlands region rarely experience one. The regions most prone to severe weather are Southwestern and Central Ontario, due to the effect of the localized Lake Breeze Front. London has the most lightning strikes per year in Canada, and is also one of the most active areas in the country for storms. Tornadoes are common throughout the province, especially in the southwestern/south-central parts, although they are rarely destructive (the vast majority are classified as F0 or F1 on the Fujita Scale). In Northern Ontario, some tornadoes go undetected by ground spotters due to the sparse population; they are often discovered after the fact by aircraft pilots, who observe from the air the sections of destroyed forest left by them.

History

Pre-1867

Before the arrival of the Europeans, the region was inhabited both by Algonquian (Ojibwa, Cree and Algonquin) and Iroquoian (Iroquois and Huron) tribes. The French explorer Étienne Brûlé explored part of the area in 1610-12. The English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into Hudson Bay in 1611 and claimed the area for England, but Samuel de Champlain reached Lake Huron in 1615 and French missionaries began to establish posts along the Great Lakes. French settlement was hampered by their hostilities with the Iroquois, who would ally themselves with the British.
The British established trading posts on Hudson Bay in the late 17th century and began a struggle for domination of Ontario. The 1763 Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years' War by awarding nearly all of France's North American possessions (New France) to Britain. The region was annexed to Quebec in 1774. From 1783 to 1796, the United Kingdom granted United Empire Loyalists leaving the United States following the American Revolution 200 acres (0.8 km²) of land and other items with which to rebuild their lives.
American troops in the War of 1812 invaded Upper Canada across the Niagara River and the Detroit River but were successfully defeated and pushed back by British regulars, Canadian militias, and First Nations warriors. The Americans gained control of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, however, and during the Battle of York occupied the Town of York (later named Toronto) in 1813. The Americans looted the town and burned the Parliament Buildings, but were soon forced to leave.
After the War of 1812, relative stability allowed for increasing numbers of immigrants to arrive from Britain and Ireland rather than from the United States. As was the case in the previous decades, this deliberate immigration shift was encouraged by the colonial leaders. Despite affordable and often free land, many arriving newcomers from Europe (mostly from Britain and Ireland) found frontier life with the harsh climate difficult, and some of those with the means eventually returned home or went south. However, population growth far exceeded emigration in the decades that would follow. Still, a mostly agrarian-based society, canal projects and a new network of plank roads spurred greater trade within the colony and with the United States, thereby improving relations over time.
Meanwhile, Ontario's numerous waterways aided travel and transportation into the interior and supplied water power for development. As the population increased, so did the industries and transportation networks, which in turn led to further development. By the end of the century, Ontario vied with Quebec as the nation's leader in terms of growth in population, industry, arts and communications.
Many in the colony, however, began to chafe against the aristocratic Family Compact that governed while benefiting economically from the regions resources, and who did not allow elected bodies the power to effect change (much as the Château Clique ruled Lower Canada). This resentment spurred republican ideals and sowed the seeds for early Canadian nationalism. Accordingly, rebellion in favour of responsible government rose in both regions; Louis-Joseph Papineau led the Lower Canada Rebellion and William Lyon Mackenzie led the Upper Canada Rebellion. For more on the rebellions of 1837, see History of Canada.
Although both rebellions were put down in short order, the British government sent Lord Durham to investigate the causes of the unrest. He recommended that self-government be granted and that Lower and Upper Canada be re-joined in an attempt to assimilate the French Canadians. Accordingly, the two colonies were merged into the Province of Canada by the Act of Union (1840), with the capital at Kingston, and Upper Canada becoming known as Canada West. Parliamentary self-government was granted in 1848. Due to heavy waves of immigration in the 1840s, the population of Canada West more than doubled by 1851 over the previous decade, and as a result for the first time the English-speaking population of Canada West surpassed the French-speaking population of Canada East, tilting the representative balance of power.
An economic boom in the 1850s coincided with railway expansion across the province further increasing the economic strength of Central Canada.
A political stalemate between the French- and English-speaking legislators, as well as fear of aggression from the United States during the American Civil War, led the political elite to hold a series of conferences in the 1860s to effect a broader federal union of all British North American colonies. The British North America Act took effect on July 1, 1867, establishing the Dominion of Canada, initially with four provinces: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. The Province of Canada was divided at this point into Ontario and Quebec so that each linguistic group would have its own province. Both Quebec and Ontario were required by section 93 of the BNA Act to safeguard existing educational rights and privileges of the Protestant and Catholic minorities. Thus, separate Catholic schools and school boards were permitted in Ontario. However, neither province had a constitutional requirement to protect its French- or English-speaking minority. Toronto was formally established as Ontario's provincial capital at this time.

From 1867 to 1896

Once constituted as a province, Ontario proceeded to assert its economic and legislative power. In 1872, the lawyer Oliver Mowat became premier, and remained as premier until 1896. He fought for provincial rights, weakening the power of the federal government in provincial matters, usually through well-argued appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. His battles with the federal government greatly decentralized Canada, giving the provinces far more power than John A. Macdonald had intended. He consolidated and expanded Ontario's educational and provincial institutions, created districts in Northern Ontario, and fought tenaciously to ensure that those parts of Northwestern Ontario not historically part of Upper Canada (the vast areas north and west of the Lake Superior-Hudson Bay watershed, known as the District of Keewatin) would become part of Ontario, a victory embodied in the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889. He also presided over the emergence of the province into the economic powerhouse of Canada. Mowat was the creator of what is often called Empire Ontario.
Beginning with Sir John A. Macdonald's the National Policy (1879) and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (1875-1885) through Northern Ontario and the Prairies to British Columbia, Ontario manufacturing and industry flourished. However, population increase slowed after a large recession hit the province in 1893, thus slowing growth drastically but only for a few short years. Many newly arrived immigrants and others moved west along the railroad to the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia.

From 1896 to the present

Mineral exploitation accelerated in the late 19th century, leading to the rise of important mining centres in the northeast like Sudbury, Cobalt and Timmins. The province harnessed its water power to generate hydro-electric power, and created the state-controlled Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, later Ontario Hydro. The availability of cheap electric power further facilitated the development of industry. The Ford Motor Company of Canada was established in 1904. General Motors of Canada Ltd. was formed in 1918. The motor vehicle industry would go on to become the most lucrative industry for the Ontario economy.
In July 1912, the Conservative government of Sir James P. Whitney issued Regulation 17 which severely limited the availability of French-language schooling to the province's French-speaking minority. French-Canadians reacted with outrage, journalist Henri Bourassa denouncing the "Prussians of Ontario". It was eventually repealed in 1927.
Influenced by events in the United States, the government of Sir William Hearst introduced prohibition of alcoholic drinks in 1916 with the passing of the Ontario Temperance Act. However, residents could distill and retain their own personal supply and liquor producers could continue distillation and export for sale, which allowed Ontario to become a hotbed for the illegal smuggling of liquor into the United States, which was under complete prohibition. Prohibition came to an end in 1927 with the establishment of the Liquor Control Board of Ontario by the government of George Howard Ferguson. The sale and consumption of liquor, wine, and beer are still controlled by some of the most extreme laws in North America to ensure that strict community standards and revenue generation from the alcohol retail monopoly are upheld. In April 2007, Ontario Member of Provincial Parliament Kim Craitor suggested that local brewers should be able to sell their beer in local corner stores, however, the motion was quickly rejected by Premier Dalton McGuinty.
The post-World War II period was one of exceptional prosperity and growth. Ontario, and the Greater Toronto Area in particular, have been the recipients of most immigration to Canada, largely immigrants from war-torn Europe in the 1950s and 1960s and after changes in federal immigration law, a massive influx of non-Europeans since the 1970s. From a largely ethnically British province, Ontario has rapidly become very culturally diverse.
The nationalist movement in Quebec, particularly after the election of the Parti Québécois in 1976, contributed to driving many businesses and English-speaking people out of Quebec to Ontario, and as a result Toronto surpassed Montreal as the largest city and economic centre of Canada. Depressed economic conditions in the Maritime Provinces have also resulted in de-population of those provinces in the 20th century, with heavy migration into Ontario.
Ontario has no official language, but English is considered the de facto language. Numerous French language services are available under the French Language Services Act of 1990 in designated areas where sizable francophone populations exist.

Government

The British North America Act 1867 section 69 stipulated "There shall be a Legislature for Ontario consisting of the Lieutenant Governor and of One House, styled the Legislative Assembly of Ontario." The assembly has 107 seats representing ridings elected in a first-past-the-post system across the province. The legislative buildings at Queen's Park in Toronto are the seat of government. Following the Westminster system, the leader of the party holding the most seats in the assembly is known as the "Premier and President of the Council" (Executive Council Act R.S.O. 1990). The Premier chooses the cabinet or Executive Council whose members are deemed "ministers of the Crown." Although the Legislative Assembly Act (R.S.O. 1990) refers to members of the assembly, the legislators are now commonly called MPPs (Members of the Provincial Parliament) in English and députés de l'Assemblée législative in French, but they have also been called MLAs (Members of the Legislative Assembly), and both are acceptable. The title of Prime Minister of Ontario, while permissible in English and correct in French (le Premier ministre), is generally avoided in favour of "Premier" to avoid confusion with the Prime Minister of Canada.

Politics

Ontario has traditionally operated under a three-party system. In the last few decades the liberal Ontario Liberal Party, conservative Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, and social-democratic Ontario New Democratic Party have all ruled the province at different times.
Ontario is currently under a Liberal government headed by Premier Dalton McGuinty. The present government, first elected in 2003, was re-elected on 10 October, 2007 (see Ontario general election, 2007).
Federally, Ontario is known as being the province that offers the strongest support for the Liberal Party of Canada. The majority of the party's present 106 seats in the Canadian House of Commons represent Ontario ridings. As the province has the most seats of any province in Canada, earning support from Ontario voters is considered a crucial matter for any party hoping to win a Canadian federal election.

Territorial evolution 1788-1899

Land was not legally subdivided into administrative units until a treaty had been concluded with the native peoples ceding the land (see Royal Proclamation of 1763). In 1788, while part of the Province of Quebec (1763-1791), southern Ontario was divided into four districts: Hesse, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, and Nassau.
In 1792, the four districts were renamed: Hesse became the Western District, Lunenburg became the Eastern District, Mecklenburg became the Midland District, and Nassau became the Home District. Counties were created within the districts.
By 1798, there were eight districts: Eastern, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, and Western.
By 1826, there were eleven districts: Bathurst, Eastern, Gore, Home, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, and Western.
By 1838, there were twenty districts: Bathurst, Brock, Colbourne, Dalhousie, Eastern, Gore, Home, Huron, Johnstown, London, Midland, Newcastle, Niagara, Ottawa, Prince Edward, Simcoe, Talbot, Victoria, Wellington, and Western.
In 1849, the districts of southern Ontario were abolished by the Province of Canada and county governments took over certain municipal responsibilities. The Province of Canada also began creating districts in sparsely populated Northern Ontario with the establishment of Algoma District and Nipissing District in 1858.
The northern and western boundaries of Ontario were in dispute after Confederation. Ontario's right to Northwestern Ontario was determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1884 and confirmed by the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889 of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. By 1899, there were seven northern districts: Algoma, Manitoulin, Muskoka, Nipissing, Parry Sound, Rainy River, and Thunder Bay. Four more northern districts were created between 1907 and 1912: Cochrane, Kenora, Sudbury and Timiskaming.

Early Districts and Counties 1788-1899

List of Ontario counties (current census divisions)

Famous Ontarians

The singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director Neil Young was born in Toronto and spent part of his childhood in Omemee, a town he memorialized in his song "Helpless" (written for Young's band Crazy Horse but most famously recorded on the Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young album Déjà Vu). The first lines of the song read, "There is a town in north Ontario / With dream comfort memory to spare / And in my mind I still need a place to go / All my changes were there."
Other famous artists originating from Ontario include musician Avril Lavigne (Napanee), Rush (Toronto), Sum 41 (Ajax), The Tragically Hip (Kingston), singers Paul Anka, Keisha Chante, and Alanis Morissette all from (Ottawa), Gordon Lightfoot (Orillia), musician Shania Twain (Timmins), comics Jim Carrey, (Newmarket), John Candy, Russell Peters, Mike Myers, music band Barenaked Ladies, and rapper Kardinal Offishall. The formerly mentioned five entertainers either were raised or at one time resided in Scarborough, formerly an incorporated city which now makes up the eastern section of Toronto.

Notes

Sources

Michael Sletcher, 'Ottawa', in James Ciment, ed., Colonial America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, (5 vols., M. E. Sharpe, New York, 2006).

Virtual Vault, an online exhibition of Canadian historical art at Library and Archives Canada

External links

Government of Ontario also at Ontario.ca

Tourism Ontario

Ontario Travel webpage

Historical and Genealogical Resources of Ontario historical census, birth marriage and death records, immigration, settlement, biography, cemeteries, burial records, land records, First Nations and more

Historic Bridges in Ontario. Features numerous photos, detailed information, and maps.

Map

Ontario MPP Contact Information

CBC Digital Archives - Ontario Elections: Twenty Tumultuous Years

An authoritative article on the province of Ontario from The Canadian Encyclopedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Connecticut is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Portions of southwestern Connecticut are also considered part of the New York metropolitan area. Connecticut is the 29th most populous state with 3.4 million residents and ranked 48th in size by area, making it the 4th most densely populated state. Called the "Constitution State," Connecticut has a long history dating from the early colonial times, and was influential in the development of early American government.
While Connecticut's first European settlers were Dutch, the first major settlements were established in the 1630s by the English. Thomas Hooker led a band of followers overland from the Massachusetts Bay colony and founded what would become the Connecticut Colony; other settlers from Massachusetts founded the Saybrook Colony and the New Haven Colony. Both the Connecticut and New Haven Colonies established documents of Fundamental Orders, considered the first constitutions in North America. In 1662, the disparate colonies merged under a royal charter, making Connecticut a crown colony. This colony was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution.
Connecticut enjoys a temperate climate thanks to its long coastline on the Long Island Sound. This has given the state a strong maritime tradition. Modern Connecticut is also known for its wealth. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Connecticut had ready access to raw materials which helped to develop a strong manufacturing industry. In the 19th and 20th centuries, financial organizations flourished: first insurance companies in Hartford, then hedge funds along the Gold Coast. This prosperity has helped give Connecticut the highest per capita income and median household income in the country.

Geography

Connecticut is bordered on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by New York State, on the north by Massachusetts, and on the east by Rhode Island. The state capital is Hartford, and the other major cities include New Haven, New London, New Britain, Norwich, Milford, Norwalk, Stamford, Waterbury, Danbury and Bridgeport. There are 169 incorporated towns in Connecticut.
The highest peak in Connecticut is Bear Mountain in Salisbury in the northwest corner of the state. The highest point is just east of where Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York meet (42° 3' N; 73° 29' W), on the southern slope of Mount Frissell, whose peak lies nearby in Massachusetts.
The Connecticut River cuts through the center of the state, flowing into Long Island Sound, Connecticut's outlet to the Atlantic Ocean.
Despite its size, the state has regional variations in its landscape and culture from the wealthy estates of Fairfield County's "Gold Coast" to the rolling mountains and horse-farms of the Litchfield Hills of northwestern Connecticut. Connecticut's rural areas and small towns in the northeast and northwest corners of the state contrast sharply with its industrial cities, located along the coastal highways from the New York border to New Haven, then northwards to Hartford, as well as further up the coast near New London. Many towns center around a small park, known as a "green," (such as the New Haven Green), Litchfield Green, Simsbury Green, New Milford Green (the largest in the state), and Wethersfield Green (the oldest in the state). Near the green may stand a small white church, a town meeting hall, a tavern and several colonial houses. Forests, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and a sandy shore add to the state's beauty.
The northern boundary of the state with Massachusetts is marked by the distinctive Southwick Jog/Granby Notch, an approximately 2.5 mile (4.0 km) square detour into Connecticut slightly west of the center of the border. Somewhat surprisingly, the actual origin of this anomaly is not absolutely certain, with stories ranging from surveyors who were drunk, attempting to avoid hostile Native Americans, or taking a shortcut up the Connecticut River; Massachusetts residents attempting to avoid Massachusetts' high taxes for the low taxes of Connecticut; Massachusetts' interest in the resources represented by the Congamond Lakes which lie on the border of the jog; and the need to compensate Massachusetts for an amount of land given to Connecticut due to inaccurate survey work.
The southwestern border of Connecticut, where it abuts New York State, is marked by a panhandle in Fairfield County, containing the towns of Greenwich, Stamford, New Canaan and Darien. This irregularity in the boundary is the result of territorial disputes in the late 1600s, culminating with New York giving up its claim to this area, whose residents considered themselves part of Connecticut, in exchange for an equivalent area extending northwards from Ridgefield, Connecticut to the Massachusetts border as well as undisputed claim to Rye, New York.
Areas maintained by the National Park Service include: Appalachian National Scenic Trail; Quinebaug & Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor; and Weir Farm National Historic Site.

Climate

Connecticut has a Humid Continental Climate, with seasonal extremes tempered by its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. Winters are cold, with average temperatures ranging from 31 °F (-1 °C) in the southeast to 23 °F (-5 °C) in the northwest in January. The average yearly snowfall is about 25–100" (64–254 cm) across the state, with higher totals in the northwest. Spring has variable temperatures with frequent rainfall. Summer is hot and humid throughout the state, with average highs in New London of 81 °F (27 °C) and 87 °F (31 °C) in Windsor Locks. Fall months are mild, and bring foliage across the state in October and November. During hurricane season, tropical cyclones occasionally affect the region. Thunderstorms are most frequent during the summer, occurring on average 30 times annually. These storms can be severe, though tornadoes are rare.

History

The name "Connecticut" originates from the Mohegan word quinnitukqut, meaning "place of long tidal river." In fact, the exact spelling "connect I cut", was rendered by Whalley, Goffe, and Dixwell, the three "Regicide Judges" fleeing the persecution by Charles II of England, who came to New Haven in the 17th century. The first European explorer in Connecticut was the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block. After he explored this region in 1614, Dutch fur traders sailed up the Connecticut River (Named Versche Rivier by the Dutch) and built a fort at Dutch Point near present-day Hartford, which they called "House of Hope" (Dutch: Huis van Hoop).
John Winthrop, then of Massachusetts, got permission to create a new colony at Old Saybrook at the mouth of the Connecticut River in 1635. This was the first of three distinct colonies that later would be combined to make up Connecticut. Saybrook Colony was a direct challenge to Dutch claims. The colony was not more than a small outpost and never matured. In 1644, the Saybrook Colony merged itself into the Connecticut Colony.
The first English settlers came in 1633 and settled at Windsor and then Wethersfield in 1634. However, the main body of settlers came in one large group in 1636. The settlers were Puritans from Massachusetts, led by Thomas Hooker. Hooker had been prominent in England, and was a professor of Theology at Cambridge. He was also an important political writer, and made a significant contribution to Constitutional theory. He broke with the political leadership in Massachusetts, and, just as Roger Williams created a new polity in Rhode Island, Hooker and his cohort did the same and established the Connecticut Colony at Hartford in 1636. This was the second of the three colonies.
Because the Dutch were outnumbered by the flood of English settlers from Massachusetts, they left their fort in 1654.
The third colony was founded in March of 1638. New Haven Colony, (originally known as the Quinnipiack Colony), was established by John Davenport, Theophilus Eaton and others at New Haven. The New Haven Colony had its own Constitution, 'The Fundamental Agreement of the New Haven Colony' which was signed on 4 June 1639.
Neither the establishment of the Connecticut Colony or the Quinnipiack Colony were done with the sanction of British imperial authorities, and were independent political entities. They naturally were presumptively English, but in a legal sense, they were only secessionist outposts of Massachusetts Bay. In 1662, Winthrop took advantage of this void in political affairs, and obtained in England the charter by which the colonies of Connecticut and Quinnipiack were united. Although Winthrop's charter favored the Connecticut colony, New Haven remained a seat of government with Hartford, until after the American Revolution.
Winthrop was very politically astute, and secured the charter from the newly restored Charles II; who granted the most liberal political terms.
Historically important colonial settlements included:

Windsor (1633),

Wethersfield (1634),

Saybrook (1635),

Hartford (1636),

New Haven (1638),

Fairfield (1639),

Stratford (1639),

New London (1646),

Middletown (1647)

Its first constitution, the "Fundamental Orders," was adopted on January 14, 1639, while its current constitution, the third for Connecticut, was adopted in 1965. Connecticut is the fifth of the original thirteen states. The original constitutions influenced the US Constitution as one of the leading authors was Roger Sherman of New Haven.
The western boundaries of Connecticut have been subject to change over time. According to The Hartford Treaty with the Dutch, signed on 1650-09-19, but never ratified by the British, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from Greenwich Bay for a distance of 20 Miles "provided the said line come not within of Hudson River. This agreement was observed by both sides until war erupted between England and The Netherlands in 1652. No other limits were specified. Conflict over uncertain colonial limits continued until the Duke of York captured New Netherland in 1664 Most colonial royal grants were for long east-west strips. Connecticut took its grant seriously, and established a ninth county between the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers, named Westmoreland County. This resulted in the brief Pennamite Wars with Pennsylvania.
Connecticut's lands also extended across northern Ohio, called the Western Reserve lands. The Western Reserve section was settled largely by people from Connecticut, and they brought Connecticut place names to Ohio. Agreements with Pennsylvania and New York extinguished the land claims by Connecticut within its neighbors, and the Western Reserve lands were relinquished to the federal government, which brought the state to its present boundaries.

Names and symbols

Connecticut's official nickname, adopted in 1959, is "The Constitution State," based on its colonial constitution of 1638–39. George Washington gave Connecticut the title of "The Provision State" because of the material aid the state rendered to the Revolutionary War effort. Connecticut is also known as "The Land of Steady Habits".
According to Webster's New International Dictionary, 1993, a person who is a native or resident of Connecticut is a "Connecticuter". There are numerous other terms coined in print, but not in use, such as: "Connecticotian" - Cotton Mather in 1702. "Connecticutensian" - Samuel Peters in 1781. "Nutmegger" is sometimes used, as is "Yankee" (the official State Song is "Yankee Doodle"), though this usually refers someone from the wider New England region. Linguist Allen Walker Read reports a more playful term, 'connecticutie.' The traditional abbreviation of the state's name is "Conn."; the official postal abbreviation is CT.
Commemorative stamps issued by the United States Postal Service with Connecticut themes include Nathan Hale, Eugene O'Neill, Josiah Willard Gibbs, Noah Webster, Eli Whitney, the whaling ship the Charles W. Morgan which is docked in Mystic Seaport, and a decoy of a broadbill duck.

Law and government

Hartford has been the sole capital of Connecticut since 1875. Before then, New Haven and Hartford alternated as capitals.

Constitutional history

Connecticut is known as the “Constitution State.” While the origin on this title is uncertain, the nickname is assumed to reference the Fundamental Orders of 1638–39. These Fundamental Orders represent the framework for the first formal government written by a representative body in Connecticut. The government has operated under the direction of four separate documents in the course of Connecticut Constitutional History. After the Fundamental Orders, Connecticut was granted governmental authority by King Charles II of England through the Connecticut Charter of 1662. While these two documents acted to lay the ground work for the state’s government, both lacked essential characteristics of a constitution. The Fundamental Orders and the Connecticut Charter could both be altered simply by a majority vote of the General Assembly. Separate branches of government did not exist during this period, and the General Assembly acted as the supreme authority. A true constitution was not adopted in Connecticut until 1818. Finally, the current state constitution was implemented in 1965. The 1965 constitution absorbed a majority of its 1818 predecessor, but incorporated a handful of important modifications.
Another possible source of the nickname "constitution state" comes from Connecticut's pivotal role in the federal constitutional convention of 1787, during which Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth helped to orchestrate what became known as the Connecticut Compromise, or the Great Compromise. This plan combined the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan to form a bicameral legislature, a form copied by almost every state constitution since the adoption of the federal constitution.

Executive

The governor heads the executive branch. The current Governor of Connecticut is M. Jodi Rell (Republican). The current Lieutenant Governor is Michael Fedele. From 1639 until the adoption of the 1818 constitution, the governor presided over the General Assembly. Connecticut was the first state in the United States to elect a woman as governor without electing her husband first, Ella Grasso in 1974.
There are several executive departments: Administrative Services, Agriculture, Banking, Children and Families, Consumer Protection, Correction, Economic and Community Development, Developmental Services, Education, Environmental Protection, Higher Education, Information Technology, Insurance, Labor, Mental Health and Addiction Services, Military, Motor Vehicles, Public Health, Public Safety, Public Utility Control, Public Works, Revenue Services, Social Services, Transportation, Veterans Affairs. In addition to these departments, there are other independent bureaus, offices and commissions.
In addition to the Governor and Lieutenant Governor, there are four other executive officers named in the state constitution that are elected directly by voters: Secretary of State, Treasurer, Comptroller and Attorney General. All executive officers are elected to four year terms.

Legislative

The legislature is the General Assembly. The General Assembly is a bicameral body consisting of an upper body, the State Senate (36 senators); and a lower body, the House of Representatives (151 representatives). Bills must pass each house in order to become law. The governor can veto the bill, but this veto can be overridden by a two-thirds majority in each house. Senators and representatives, all of whom must be at least eighteen years of age, are elected to two-year terms in November on even-numbered years. The Lieutenant Governor presides over the senate, except when absent from the chamber, when the President Pro Tempore presides. The Speaker of the House presides over the House; James A. Amann is the current Speaker of the House of Connecticut. The Democrats currently hold the majority in both houses of the General Assembly.
Connecticut's U.S. senators are Christopher J. Dodd (Democrat) and Joseph I. Lieberman (Connecticut for Lieberman, Independent Democrat) who is part of the Democratic Caucus. Connecticut currently has five representatives in the U.S. House, four of whom are Democrats.

Judicial

The highest court of Connecticut's judicial branch is the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of Connecticut. The Supreme Court is responsible for deciding on the constitutionality of the law or cases as they relate to the law. Its proceedings are similar to those of the United States Supreme Court, with no testimony given by witnesses, and the lawyers of the two sides each present oral arguments no longer than thirty minutes. Following a court proceeding, the court may take several months to arrive at a judgment. The current Chief Justice is Chase T. Rogers.
Before 1818 the highest court in Connecticut was the General Assembly, and later, the Upper House, with the Governor having the title "Chief Judge". In 1818, the court became a separate entity, independent of the legislative and executive branches. The Appellate Court is a lesser state-wide court and the Superior Courts are lower courts that resemble county courts of other states.

Local government

and several lists: List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, List of towns in Connecticut, List of cities in Connecticut, Borough (Connecticut), List of counties in Connecticut
Connecticut has 169 towns, which serve as the fundamental local political subdivision of the state; the entire state is divided into towns. One, Naugatuck, is a consolidated town and borough.
Unlike most other states, Connecticut does not have county government. Connecticut county governments were mostly eliminated in 1960, with the exception of the sheriff system. In 2000, the county sheriff was abolished and replaced with the state marshal system, which has districts that follow the old county territories. The judicial system is divided, at the trial court level, into judicial districts which largely follow the old county lines. The eight counties are still widely used for purely geographical and statistical purposes, such as weather reports, and census reporting.
The state is divided into 15 planning regions defined by the state Office of Planning and Management. The Intragovernmental Policy Division of this Office coordinates regional planning with the administrative bodies of these regions. Each region has an administrative body known as either a regional council of governments, a regional council of elected officials, or a regional planning agency. The regions are established for the purpose of planning "coordination of regional and state planning activities; designation or redesignation of logical planning regions and promotion of the continuation of regional planning organizations within the state; and provision for technical aid and the administration of financial assistance to regional planning organizations."

Politics

Connecticut is a centrist libertarian-leaning state, allotting its electoral votes to Democratic candidates in the past four presidential elections and to Republican presidential candidates five times in the 1970s and 1980s. Connecticut has a high number of voters who are not registered with a major party. As of 2004, 33.7% of registered voters were registered Democratic, 22.0% were registered Republican, and 44.0% were unaffiliated with any party, with 0.2% registered with a minor party. Voters in the state are more supportive of fiscal conservatives and may be considered to be generally socially liberal.
Many Connecticut towns show a marked preference for moderate candidates of either party. Democrats hold a registration edge especially in the cities of Hartford; New Haven; and Bridgeport, where Democratic machines have held power since the great immigration waves of the 1800s. The state's Republican-leaning areas are the rural Litchfield County and adjoining towns in the west of Hartford County, the industrial towns of the Naugatuck River Valley, and some of the affluent Fairfield County towns near the New York border. The suburban towns of New Canaan and Darien in Fairfield County are considered the most Republican areas in the state, the former being the hometown of conservative activist Ann Coulter. Westport, a wealthy town a few miles to the east, is often considered one of the most loyally-Democratic, liberal towns in Fairfield County. Norwalk and Stamford, two larger, affluent communities in Fairfield County, have in many elections favored moderate Republicans including former Governor John G. Rowland and Congressman Chris Shays, however they have favored Democrats in recent US presidential candidates. Waterbury has a Democratic registration edge, but usually favors conservative candidates in both parties. In Danbury unaffiliated voters outnumber voters registered with either major party. Other smaller cities including Meriden, New Britain, and Middletown favor Democratic candidates.
Democrats hold veto-proof majorities in both houses of the Connecticut General Assembly. In 2006, Republicans were reduced from three out of five to one out of five federal congressional seats. The remaining Republican, Chris Shays, is the only Republican from New England in the U.S. House of Representatives in the current Congress and is also one of the most liberal Republicans in the House. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman are Connecticut's U.S. senators. The senior Dodd is a Democrat while the junior Lieberman serves as an Independent Democrat caucusing with Senate Democrats after his victory on the Connecticut for Lieberman ballot line in the 2006 general election. Lieberman's predecessor, Lowell P. Weicker, Jr., was the last Connecticut Republican to serve as Senator. Weicker was known as a liberal Republican. He broke with President Richard Nixon during Watergate and successfully ran for governor in 1990 as an independent, creating A Connecticut Party as his election vehicle. Before Weicker, the last Republican to represent Connecticut in the Senate was Prescott Bush, the father of former President George H.W. Bush and the grandfather of President George W. Bush. He served from 1953–1963.

Political corruption

Several mayors, state legislators, and government employees have been convicted and imprisoned for crimes ranging from bribery to racketeering. In 2004, Governor John G. Rowland, a Republican, was forced to resign when it was discovered he helped steer state contracts to firms that offered him gifts and free vacations. Following his resignation, he pled guilty to corruption charges and served ten months in federal prison. Former Waterbury Mayor and 2000 GOP Senate candidate Philip Giordano was stripped of power in 2001 after a corruption investigation had to be cut short when phone taps unexpectedly revealed alleged sexual acts with 8- and 10-year-old minor girls and other possible child sex offenses. In 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to 37 years in federal prison. Democrats have been convicted of corruption as well, most notably former Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. The current Mayor of Bridgeport, John Fabrizi admitted to using cocaine while in office, but has stayed on while not running for re-election. In August 2007 Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez announced he had been investigated for ties to a city contractor. And in December 2007 in Enfield, former Mayor Patrick L. Tallarita (D) has been named in a lawsuit over an alleged threatening confrontation with a man at a grocery store
Several state agencies, including the Department of Transportation (DOT), Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), and Department of Children and Families (DCF) have been rocked by scandals over the past decade.
A more recent scandal involved a botched construction project on Interstate 84 near Waterbury. An independent audit of the project in late 2006 revealed that over 300 storm drains installed by the now-defunct L.G. DeFelice Construction Company, were either filled with sand, were improperly installed, or were connected with pipes that led to nowhere. In addition to the faulty storm drains, officials discovered light fixtures with defective mounting brackets when one of the fixtures fell off of its support pole and onto the highway. Inspectors also discovered the structural steel for an overpass was not properly installed, raising serious questions about the bridge's structural integrity. Following the uncovering of this scandal, Attorney-General Richard Blumenthal filed suit against L.G. DeFelice, its bonding company USF&G, and the consultants (the Maguire Group) hired by CONNDOT to oversee the project, resulting in a $17.5 million settlement to fix the problems. A federal grand jury and FBI investigation were also launched into the operations of L.G. DeFelice before the company ceased operations in 2004. Several CONNDOT employees were fired after being implicated in the scandal, and are also subjects of state and federal investigations for allegedly taking bribes in exchange for covering up substandard work on the I-84 project. Finally, the scandal prompted the Connecticut General Assembly to consider contract reform legislation and Governor M. Jodi Rell to order a complete reorganization of CONNDOT.
On June 12007 Connecticut Senate Minority Leader Louis DeLuca (R-Woodbury) was arrested on conspiracy charges after it was discovered he was dealing with a local Mafia boss who is currently facing federal charges stemming from his trash-hauling operations, and allegations that he tried to use these same ties to intimidate the husband of his granddaughter, whom he claimed was abusing her.
Following Rowland's resignation, the state legislature passed a campaign finance reform bill that bans contributions from lobbyists and state contractors in future campaigns.

Education

Connecticut is well-known as the home of Yale University, which maintains a consistent ranking as one of the world's most renowned universities, and has one of the most selective undergraduate programs of any university in the United States (an 8.6% acceptance rate in 2006). Yale is one of the largest employers in the state, and its research activity has recently spun off dozens of growing biotechnology companies.
Connecticut is also the host of many other academic institutions, including Quinnipiac University (1929), Trinity College (1825) and Wesleyan University (1832). The University of Connecticut has been the highest ranked public university in New England for eight years running, according to U.S. News and World Report.
Additionally, the State has many noted boarding schools, such as Miss Porter's School, Choate Rosemary Hall, Hotchkiss, westminster, Pomfret School, Avon Old Farms, Loomis Chaffee, Salisbury School and The Taft School which draw students from all over the world. Also Connecticut has many noted private day schools such as Kingswood-Oxford School located in West Hartford, the Hopkins School, based in New Haven, and the Williams School in New London.
for a comprehensive listing.

Sports

From 1979 to 1997, the National Hockey League had a franchise in Hartford, the Hartford Whalers. Their departure to Raleigh, North Carolina, caused great controversy and resentment. The former Whalers are now known as the Carolina Hurricanes.

Connecticut is a battleground between fans of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and New York Met

In 1876, Hartford had a franchise in baseball's National League known as the Hartford Dark Blues.

In 1926, Hartford had a franchise in the National Football League known as the Hartford Blues.

From 1975 to 1995, the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association played a number of home games at the Hartford Civic Center.

Since 1952, a PGA Tour golf tournament has been played in the Hartford area. Originally called the "Insurance City Open" and later the "Greater Hartford Open," the event is now know as the Travelers Championship.

The Pilot Pen Tennis Tournament is held annually at the Connecticut Tennis Center at Yale University. It is one of the few dual-sex tournaments in professional tennis and is the warm-up tournament to the US Open, played the following week in Queens, New York. The court speed and weather conditions are identical to those at the US Open.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) is the state's sanctioning body for high school sports. Xavier High School (Middletown, CT) claimed the 2005 Class LL football championship. Other state champions in football include Staples (in Westport), Greenwich High School (Greenwich, CT) 2006 state LL champions, Branford, Daniel Hand (in Madison), Woodland Regional (in Beacon Falls), East Lyme High School (in East Lyme), Hyde Leadership (in Hamden), Southington High School (in Southington).

Famous residents

George Walker Bush, the current President of the United States, was born in Connecticut. He is a member of the Bush political family, with roots in the state extending three generations. Other notable figures from the state span American political and cultural history, including Ralph Nader, Eli Whitney, Benedict Arnold, Nathan Hale, Harriet Beecher Stowe, John Brown, Eugene O'Neill, Charles Ives and Katharine Hepburn, and Roger Sherman. The state is often associated with American author Mark Twain, who resided there for a short period of time, although he felt more of a connection to his native Missouri, as demonstrated by his frequent mention of Missouri in his writing. The state is home to many actors, entertainers and business people.

External links

Government

State of Connecticut - Official state website

Connecticut State Register & Manual - updated annually

Directory of Web sites of Connecticut towns and cities

Tourism

CTVisit.com - Official state tourism website

History

www.ctgenealogy.com Connecticut Society of Genealogists (Est. 1968)

Connecticut Historical Society

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Connecticut

U.S. Census Bureau

Connecticut State Facts

Civic and business organizations

Connecticut Junior Chamber (Jaycees)

Connecticut Newspapers

Connecticut Business & Industry Association

The Connecticut Business Hall Of Fame

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 45th by total area, and 43rd by land area at , and has a population of 608,827, making it the second least populous state (second only to Wyoming). The only New England state with no coastline along the Atlantic Ocean, Vermont is notable for the Green Mountains in the west and Lake Champlain in the northwest. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north.
Originally inhabited by Native American tribes (Abenaki, and Iroquois), the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by France but became a British possession after France's defeat in the French and Indian War. For many years, the surrounding colonies disputed control of the area, especially New Hampshire and New York. Settlers who held land titles granted by these colonies were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, which eventually prevailed in creating an independent state. Vermont became the 14th state to join the United States, following a 14-year period during and after the Revolutionary War as the independent Vermont Republic.
It is the leading producer of maple syrup in the United States. The state capital is Montpelier, and the largest city is Burlington.

Geography

Vermont is located in the New England region in the eastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles (24,902 km²), making it the 45th largest state. Of this, land comprises 9,250 square miles (23,955 km²) and water comprises 365 square miles (948 km²), making it the 43rd largest in land area and the 47th in water area. In area, it is larger than El Salvador and smaller than Haiti.
The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border of the state with New Hampshire (the river itself is part of New Hampshire). Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles (256 km). Its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles (143 km) at the Canadian border; the narrowest width is 37 miles (60 km) at the Massachusetts line. The state's geographic center is Washington, three miles (5 km) east of Roxbury.
There are six distinct physiographic regions of Vermont. Categorized by geological and physical attributes, they are the Northeastern Highlands, the Green Mountains, the Taconic Mountains, the Champlain Lowlands, the Valley of Vermont and the Vermont Piedmont.
The origin of the name Green Mountains (French: Verts monts) is uncertain. Some authorities say that they are so named because they have much more forestation than the higher White Mountains of New Hampshire and Adirondacks of New York. Other authorities say that they are so named because of the predominance of mica-quartz-chlorite schist, a green-hued metamorphosed shale. The range forms a north-south spine running most of the length of the state, slightly west of its center. In the southwest portion of the state are the Taconic Mountains; the Granitic Mountains are in the northeast. In the northwest near Lake Champlain is the fertile Champlain Valley. In the south of the valley is Lake Bomoseen.
Several mountains have timberlines with delicate year round alpine ecosystems. These include Mount Mansfield, the highest mountain in the state, Killington Peak, the second highest, and Camels Hump the state's third highest. About 77 percent of the state is covered by forest; the rest is covered in meadow, uplands, lakes, ponds and swampy wetlands.
Areas in Vermont administered by the National Park Service include the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock.

Cities

Cities (2003 estimated population):

Burlington - 39,148

Rutland - 17,103

South Burlington - 16,285

Barre - 9,166

Montpelier - 7,945

St. Albans - 7,565

Winooski - 6,561

Newport - 5, 092

Vergennes - 2,789

Largest towns

Although these towns are large enough to be considered cities, they are not incorporated as such.
Largest towns (2003 estimated population):

Essex, 18,933

Colchester, 17,175

Bennington, 15,637

Brattleboro, 11,996

Hartford, 10,610

Milton, 9,924

Climate

Vermont has a continental moist climate, with warm, humid summers and cold winters, which become colder at higher elevations. It has a Koppen climate classification of Dfb, similar to Minsk, Stockholm and Fargo. Vermont is known for its mud season in spring followed by a generally mild early summer, hot Augusts and a colorful autumn, and particularly for its cold winters. The northern part of the state, including the rural northeastern section (dubbed the "Northeast Kingdom") is known for exceptionally cold winters, often averaging 10 °F (6 °C) colder than the southern areas of the state. Annual snowfall averages between 60 to 100 inches (150–250 cm) depending on elevation, giving Vermont some of New England's best cross-country and downhill ski areas.
In the autumn, Vermont's hills experience an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage displayed on the sugar maple as cold weather approaches. This famous display of color that occurs so abundantly in Vermont is not due so much to the presence of a particular variant of the sugar maple; rather it is caused by a number of soil and climate conditions unique to the area.
The highest-recorded temperature was 105 °F (41 °C), at Vernon on July 4, 1911; the lowest-recorded temperature was -50 °F (-46 °C), at Bloomfield on December 30, 1933.

History

Prehistory and pre-Columbian era

Vermont was covered with shallow seas periodically from the Cambrian to Devonian periods. Lower areas of western Vermont were flooded again, as part of the St. Lawrence Valley "Champlain Sea" at the end of the last ice age, when the land had not yet rebounded from the weight of the glaciers.
Little is known of the pre-Columbian history of Vermont. The western part of the state was originally home to a small population of Algonquian-speaking tribes, including the Mohican and Abenaki peoples. Between 8500 to 7000 BC, at the time of the Champlain Sea, Native Americans inhabited and hunted in Vermont. From 8th century BC to 1000 BC was the Archaic Period. During the era, Native Americans migrated year-round. From 1000 BC to AD 1600 was the Woodland Period, when villages and trade networks were established, and ceramic and bow and arrow technology was developed. Sometime between 1500 and 1600, the Iroquois drove many of the smaller native tribes out of Vermont, later using the area as a hunting ground and warring with the remaining Abenaki. The population in 1500 is estimated to be around 10,000 people.

Colonial

The first European to see Vermont is thought to have been Jacques Cartier, in 1535. On July 30, 1609, French explorer Samuel de Champlain claimed the area of what is now Lake Champlain, giving to the mountains the appellation of les Monts vert (the Green Mountains). France claimed Vermont as part of New France, and erected Fort Sainte Anne on Isle La Motte in 1666 as part of the fortification of Lake Champlain. This was the first European settlement in Vermont and the site of the first Roman Catholic Mass.
During the latter half of the 17th century, non-French settlers began to explore Vermont and its surrounding area. In 1690, a group of Dutch-British settlers from Albany under Captain Jacobus de Warm established the De Warm Stockade at Chimney Point (eight miles or 13 km west of present-day Addison). This settlement and trading post was directly across Lake Champlain from Crown Point, New York (Pointe à la Chevelure).
In 1731, more French settlers arrived. They constructed a small temporary wooden stockade (Fort de Pieux) on what was Chimney Point until work on Fort St. Frédéric began in 1734. The fort, when completed, gave the French control of the New France/Vermont border region in the Lake Champlain Valley and was the only permanent fort in the area until the building of Fort Carillon more than 20 years later. The government encouraged French colonization, leading to the development of small French settlements in the valley. The British attempted to take the Fort St. Frédéric four times between 1755 and 1758; in 1759, a combined force of 12,000 British regular and provincial troops under Sir Jeffrey Amherst captured the fort. The French were driven out of the area and retreated to other forts along the Richelieu River. One year later a group of Mohawks burnt the settlement to the ground, leaving only chimneys, which gave the area its name.
The first permanent British settlement was established in 1724, with the construction of Fort Dummer in Vermont's far southeast under the command of Lieutenant Timothy Dwight. This fort protected the nearby settlements of Dummerston and Brattleboro. These settlements were made by the Province of Massachusetts Bay to protect its settlers on the western border along the Connecticut River. The second British settlement was the 1761 founding of Bennington in the southwest.
During the Seven Years War, locally known as the French and Indian War, some Vermont settlers, including Ethan Allen, joined the colonial militia assisting the British in attacks on the French. Fort Carillon on the New York-Vermont border, a French fort constructed in 1755, was the site of two British offensives under Lord Amherst's command: the unsuccessful British attack in 1758 and the retaking of the following year with no major resistance (most of the garrison had been removed to defend Quebec, Montreal, and the western forts). The British renamed the fort Fort Ticonderoga (which became the site of two later battles during the American Revolutionary War). Following France's loss in the French and Indian War, the 1763 Treaty of Paris gave control of the land to the British.
The end of the war brought new settlers to Vermont. A fort at Crown Point had been built, and the Crown Point Military Road stretched from the east to the west of the Vermont wilderness from Springfield to Chimney Point, making travel from the neighboring British colonies easier. Three colonies, Massachusetts, New York, and New Hampshire, laid claim to the area. The Province of Massachusetts Bay claimed the land on the basis of the 1629 charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Province of New York claimed Vermont based on the early Dutch Charter to the West India Company for lands west of the Connecticut River, and the identical land granted to the Duke of York (later King James II) in 1664. The Province of New Hampshire also claimed Vermont based upon a decree of George II in 1740. In 1741, George II ruled that Massachusetts's claims in Vermont and New Hampshire were invalid and fixed Massachusetts's northern boundary at its present location. This still left New Hampshire and New York with conflicting claims to the land.
The situation resulted in the New Hampshire Grants, a series of 135 land grants made between 1749 and 1764 by New Hampshire's colonial governor, Benning Wentworth. The grants sparked a dispute with the New York governor, who began granting charters of his own for New Yorker settlement in Vermont. In 1770, Ethan Allen, his brothers Ira and Levi, and Seth Warner recruited an informal militia, the Green Mountain Boys, to protect the interests of the original New Hampshire settlers against the new migrants from New York. When a New York judge arrived in Westminster with New York settlers in March 1775, violence broke out as angry citizens took over the courthouse and called a sheriff's posse. This resulted in the deaths of Daniel Houghton and William French in the "Westminster Massacre."

Independence and statehood

In the summer of 1776, the first general convention of freemen of the New Hampshire Grants met in Dorset, Vermont, resolving "to take suitable measures to declare the New Hampshire Grants a free and independent district." On January 18, 1777, representatives of the New Hampshire Grants convened in Westminster and declared the independence of the Vermont. For the first six months of the state's existence, the state was called New Connecticut, after the name of an existing state. During the years prior to acceptance for statehood the legislature met many times at the Cephas Kent tavern in Dorset, Vermont.
On June 2, a second convention of 72 delegates met at Westminster, known as the "Westminster Convention." At this meeting, the delegates adopted the name "Vermont" on the suggestion of Dr. Thomas Young of Philadelphia, a supporter of the delegates who wrote a letter advising them on how to achieve admission into the newly independent United States as the 14th state. Notably, at that time the states of Pennsylvania and Connecticut were in a conflict over a separate territory called New Connecticut called the Pennamite-Yankee War and Congress would not approve the disputed name for what then became Vermont. The delegates set the time for a meeting one month later. On July 4, the Constitution of Vermont was drafted during a violent thunderstorm at the Windsor Tavern owned by Elijah West and was adopted by the delegates on July 8 after four days of debate. This was among the first written constitutions in North America and was indisputably the first to abolish the institution of slavery, provide for universal manhood suffrage and require support of public schools. The Windsor tavern has been preserved as the Old Constitution House, administered as a state historic site.
The Battle of Bennington, fought on August 16, 1777, was a seminal event in the history of the state of Vermont. The nascent republican government, created after years of political turmoil, faced challenges from New York, New Hampshire, Great Britain and the new United States, none of which recognized its sovereignty. The republic's ability to defeat a powerful military invader gave it a legitimacy among its scattered frontier society that would sustain it through fourteen years of fragile independence before it finally achieved statehood as the 14th state in the union in 1791.
During the summer of 1777, the invading British army of General John Burgoyne slashed southward from Canada to the Hudson River, captured the strategic stronghold of Fort Ticonderoga, and drove the Continental Army into a desperate southward retreat. Raiding parties of British soldiers and native warriors freely attacked, pillaged and burned the frontier communities of the Champlain Valley and threatened all settlements to the south. The Vermont frontier collapsed in the face of the British invasion. The New Hampshire legislature, fearing an invasion from the east, mobilized the state's militia under the command of General John Stark.
General Burgoyne received intelligence that large stores of horses, food and munitions were kept at Bennington, which was the largest community in the land grant area. He dispatched 2,600 men, nearly a third of his army, to seize the colonial storehouse there, unaware that General Stark's New Hampshire troops were then traversing the Green Mountains to join up at Bennington with the Vermont continental regiments commanded by Colonel Seth Warner, together with the local Vermont and western Massachusetts militia. The combined American forces, under Stark's command, attacked the British column at Hoosick, New York, just across the border from Bennington. General Stark reportedly challenged his men to fight to the death, telling them that: "There are your enemies. They are ours, or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow!" In a desperate, all-day battle fought in intense summer heat, the army of yankee farmers killed or captured virtually the entire British detachment. General Burgoyne never recovered from this loss and eventually surrendered the remainder of his 6,000-man force at Saratoga, New York, on October 17.
Battles of Bennington and Saratoga are recognized as the turning point in the Revolutionary War because they were the first major defeat of a British army and convinced the French that the Americans were worthy of military aid. Stark became widely known as the "Hero of Bennington", and the anniversary of the battle is still celebrated in Vermont as a legal holiday known as "Bennington Battle Day." Under the portico of the Vermont Statehouse, next to an heroic granite statue of Ethan Allen, there is a brass cannon that was captured from the British troops at the Battle of Bennington.
Vermont continued to govern itself as a sovereign entity based in the eastern town of Windsor for fourteen years. The independent state of Vermont issued its own coinage, called Vermont coppers, from a mint operated by Reuben Harmon in East Rupert (1785-1788) and operated a statewide postal service. Thomas Chittenden, who came to Vermont from Connecticut in 1774, acted as head of state, using the term governor over president. Chittenden governed the nascent republic from 1778 to 1789 and from 1790 to 1791. Chittenden exchanged ambassadors with France, the Netherlands, and the American government then at Philadelphia. In 1791, Vermont joined the federal Union as the fourteenth state–the first state to enter the union after the original thirteen colonies, and a counterweight to slave holding Kentucky, which was admitted to the Union shortly afterward.
Vermont had a unicameral legislature until 1836.
An 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery echoed the Vermont Constitution's first article, on the rights of all men, questioning how a government could favor the rights of one people over another. The report fueled growth of the abolition movement in the state, and in response, a resolution from the Georgia General Assembly authorizing the towing of Vermont out to sea. The mid to late 1850s saw a transition from Vermonters mostly favoring slavery's containment, to a far more serious opposition to the institution, producing the Radical Republican and abolitionist Thaddeus Stevens. As the Whig party shriveled, and the Republican Party emerged, Vermont strongly trended in support of its candidates, first on the state level and later for the presidency. In 1860 it voted for President Abraham Lincoln, giving him the largest margin of victory of any state. This strong lean toward the Republican Party has continued until very recently as evidenced by only electing two senators from other parties since the civil war (Patrick Leahy from the Democratic Party and Bernard Sanders, an independent).

The Civil War

During the American Civil War, Vermont sent more than 34,000 men into United States service, contributing 18 regiments of infantry and cavalry, three batteries of light artillery, three companies of sharpshooters, two companies of frontier cavalry, and thousands in the regular army and navy, and in other states’ units. Almost 5,200 Vermonters, 15%, were killed or mortally wounded in action or died of disease. Vermonters, if not Vermont units, participated in every major battle of the war.
Among the most famous of the Vermont units were the 1st Vermont Brigade, the 2nd Vermont Brigade, and the 1st Vermont Cavalry.
A large proportion of Vermont’s state and national-level politicians for several decades after the Civil War were veterans.
The northernmost land action of the war, the St. Albans Raid, took place in Vermont.

Postbellum era and beyond

The two decades following the end of the American Civil War (1864-1885) saw both economic expansion and contraction, and fairly dramatic social change. Vermont's system of railroads expanded and were linked to national systems, agricultural output and export soared and incomes increased. But Vermont also felt the effects of recessions and financial panics, particularly the 1873 Panic which resulted in a substantial exodus of young Vermonters. The transition in thinking about the rights of citizens, first brought to a head by the 1854 Vermont Senate report on slavery, and later Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in changing how citizens perceived civil rights, fueled agitation for women's suffrage. The first election in which women were allowed to vote was on December 18, 1880, when women were granted limited suffrage and were first allowed to vote in town elections, and then in state legislative races.
Large-scale flooding occurred in early November 1927. During this incident, 85 people died, 84 of them in Vermont. Another flood occurred in 1973, when the flood caused the death of two people and millions of dollars in property damage.
On April 25, 2000, as a result of the Vermont Supreme Court's decision in Baker v. Vermont, the Vermont General Assembly passed and Governor Howard Dean signed into law H.0847, which provided the state sanctioned benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples in the form of civil unions. Controversy over the civil unions bill was a central issue in the subsequent 2000 elections.

Media

See List of television stations in Vermont.
See List of radio stations in Vermont
See List of newspapers in Vermont

Utilities and communication

Broadband coverage as of 2006

Total Coverage = 87%

Cable = 68%

DSL = 69%

Wireless Internet Service Provider = 24%

(Above percentages are of population, not of land area.)
Cell phone coverage in the state, generally, outside of the major metropolitan areas is weak due to interference from mountains, the attempt to serve a small rural population living in a large area rendering investment in improvements uneconomical, and environmentalists opposition to towers. Unicel, focusing on rural areas, has better coverage.
In summer of 2007, Verizon Wireless announced that it would purchase Unicel (Rural Cellular) in Vermont and 14 other states for $2.67 billion dollars during the first half of 2008. Some state officials and Unicel subscribers have opposed this purchase.
In May 2007, Vermont passed measures intended to make broadband (3 mbits minimum) together with cellular coverage universally available to all citizens with the intention of having the first e-state in the Union by 2010.

Law and government

Vermont is represented in the United States Congress by two senators and one representative.
The state is governed by a constitution which divides governmental duties into three branches, typical of a US state: legislative, executive and judicial. All members of the executive and legislative branch serve two-year terms including the governor and 50 senators. There are no term limits for any office. The state capital is in Montpelier.
There are three types of incorporated municipalities in Vermont, towns, cities and villages. Like most of New England, there is slight provision for autonomous county government. Counties and county seats are merely convenient repositories for various government services such as County and State Courts, with several elected officers such as a State's Attorney and Sheriff. All county services are directly funded by the State of Vermont. The next effective governmental level below state government are municipalities. Most of these are towns.

Political

Vermonters are known for their political independence. Vermont is one of four states that were once independent (the others being Texas, California, and Hawaii). It has sometimes voted contrarian in national elections. Notably, Vermont is the only state to have voted for a presidential candidate from the Anti-Masonic Party, and Vermont and Maine were the only states to vote against Franklin D. Roosevelt in his second election.
Vermont's unique history and history of independent political thought has led to movements for the establishment of the Second Vermont Republic and other plans advocating secession. In 2007, about 13% of Vermont's population supported Vermont's withdrawal from the Republic. This is almost double the amount from 2005, which was 8%.
The Vermont government maintains an interventionist stance regarding the environment, social services, and prevention of urbanization. Legislators have recently tended to vote liberal on social issues, and moderate to conservative on fiscal issues.
Republicans dominated Vermont politics from the party's founding in 1854 until the mid-1970s. Prior to the 1960s, rural interests dominated the legislature. As a result, cities, particularly the older sections of Burlington and Winooski, were neglected and fell into decay. People began to move out to newer suburbs.
In the meantime, many people had moved in from out of state. Much of this immigration included the arrival of more liberal political influences of the urban areas of New York and New England in Vermont.
After the legislature was redistricted under one-person, one-vote, it passed legislation to accommodate these new arrivals.
This legislation was the Land Use and Development Law (Act 250) in 1970. The law, which was the first of its kind in the nation, created nine District Environmental Commissions consisting of private citizens, appointed by the Governor, who must approve land development and subdivision plans that would have a significant impact on the state's environment and many small communities.
As a result of Act 250, Vermont was the last state to get a Wal-Mart (there are four, as of November 2007, but only the Williston store was a newly-built store). Vermont was also the last state to have a Lowe's home improvement store built.
Another case involves the recent controversy over the adoption of civil unions, an institution which grants same-sex couples nearly all the rights and privileges of marriage. In Baker v. Vermont (1999), the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that, under the Constitution of Vermont, the state must either allow same-sex marriage or provide a separate but equal status for them. The state legislature chose the second option by creating the institution of civil union; the bill was passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Howard Dean.
Vermont is the home state of the only current member of the United States Congress who does not associate with a political party: Senator Bernie Sanders.
In the early 1960s many progressive Vermont Republicans and newcomers to the state helped bolster the state's small Democratic Party. Until 1992, Vermont had supported a Democrat for president only once since the party's founding - in Lyndon B. Johnson's 1964 landslide victory against Barry Goldwater. In 1992, it supported Democrat Bill Clinton for president and has voted for Democrats in every presidential election since. Vermont gave John Kerry his fourth-largest margin of victory in 2004. He won the state's popular vote by 20 percentage points over incumbent George W. Bush, taking almost 59% of the vote. Essex County in the state's northeastern section was the only county to vote for Bush. Vermont still remains the only state that President Bush has not visited.
On the other hand, Republican Governor Douglas won all counties but Windham in the 2006 election. Vermonters are frequent ticket-splitters.
In 2007, when confronted with an allegedly liberal issue, assisted suicide for the terminally ill, the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives rejected the measure by a vote of 82-63.
Minor parties flourish. Rules which eliminate smaller parties from the ballot in most states do not exist in Vermont. As a result, voters often have extensive choices for general elections.
A political issue has been Act 60, which balances taxation for education funding. This has resulted in the town of Killington trying to secede from Vermont and join New Hampshire due to what the locals say is an unfair tax burden.
A movement favors separating Vermont from the U.S. or making it the 11^th province of Canada. Some suggest the state should join Canada due to its liberal policies as opposed to remaining with the U.S. Conversely, American liberals continually praise Vermont for both its current and historial liberal policies.

Taxation

Property taxes are levied by towns based on fair market appraisal. Rates vary from .97% on homesteaded property in Ferdinand, Essex County, to 2.72% on nonresidents property in Barre City. Statewide towns average 1.77% to 1.82% tax rate. To equitably support education, some towns are required by Act 60 to send some of their collected taxes to be redistributed to school districts lacking adequate support.

State lotteries

Money from state lotteries supply 2% of the annual expenditures for education.

Public health and safety

Vermont was ranked number two in the nation for safety. Crime statistics on violence were used for the criteria. Vermont has some of the least restrictive gun control laws in the country. A permit or license is not required for the purchase or concealed carry of a firearm (including handguns) by any law-abiding citizen.
In 2007 Vermont was ranked number one in the nation as the healthiest place to live for the sixth time in seven years. Criteria included low teenage birth rate, strong health coverage, the lowest AIDS rate in the country, and 18 other factors. In 2007, Vermont was ranked among the best five states in the country for preventing "premature death" in people under 75 years of age. The rate of survival was twice that of the five lowest performing states.
In 2007, Vermont was ranked the third safest state for highway fatalities.
In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency cited Chittenden and Bennington as counties with 70 parts of smog per billion which is undesirable.

Education

Vermont was named the nation's smartest state in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, there was a gap between state testing standards and national which is biased in favor of the state standards by 30%, on average. This puts Vermont 11th best in the nation. Most states have a higher bias.
The state authorized two more pre-K grades to the school system for the benefit of three and four year olds. Entry to these two grades is capped.
According to one study, enrollment in kindergarten through 12th grade has declined by nearly 10 percent during the 1990s. During the same period total staff numbers have increased by more than 20 percent. Per pupil spending grew from $6,073 in 1990 to $13,664 in 2006. A study by the Census Bureau lists Vermont with the fourth highest expenditure per pupil in the country at $11,835 for 2005.

Academies and grammar schools

Vermont's 1777 constitution was the first in English-speaking North America to mandate public funding for universal education. This requirement was first met by elementary-level village schools with sessions held in the cooler months to accommodate farm work. Most schools educated similar numbers of girls and boys. Conditions in these schools varied, and the highest level of instruction was tenth grade. By the end of the eighteenth century, grammar schools, instructing students in English, algebra, geometry, Greek, and Latin, had been established at Bennington, Burlington, Castleton, Middlebury, Montpelier, and Windsor. These grammar schools were of a higher caliber than the smaller villages' schools, and the level of education at some was equivalent to college level.
By the middle nineteenth century, an expansion in settlement and the population of the state, coupled with increased prosperity, brought grammar schools to all corners of Vermont. Even the most remote Northeast Kingdom had established high-school-level instruction in Brownington, Craftsbury, Danville, Hardwick, and Newport. Many of these established grammar schools and academies, though not entirely public, received funds from area town governments in exchange for education of their students. As a system of public funding for primary and secondary education took root, many of these schools became municipal public schools. Several remained private, becoming private high-school-level academies, and several become colleges; the Orange County Grammar School became Vermont Technical College, the Rutland County Grammar School became Castleton State College, the Lamoille County Grammar School became Johnson State College, and the Addison County Grammar School became Middlebury College.

Educating teachers

In the 1860s a shortage of qualified teachers brought the establishment of state "normal schools," a term based on the French term école normale – a school to train teachers. The grammar schools at Castleton, Johnson, and Randolph Center became normal schools, additional normal schools were established in Concord and Lyndonville. Additional post secondary schools instructing students to become teachers were called seminaries. While several were nominally associated with Protestant churches, none were seminaries in the sense of training ministers. These seminars also graduated teachers to staff Vermont's growing number of primary and secondary schools.

The one-room school house

The one-room school house, born of small multi-age rural populations, continued well into the twentieth century. Rural towns without a single central village often built two to a half-dozen school houses across their terrain. Much of this came from a lack of transportation and a need for students to return home by mid afternoon for farm chores. By 1920 all public schools, including the one-room school houses, were regulated by the state government. In the early 1930s state legislation established a review and certification program similar to accreditation. Schools were issued regulations about teacher education and curriculum. Education quality in rural areas was maintained through a program called Vermont Standard Schools. Rural school houses meeting certification requirements displayed a green and white plaque with the Vermont coat of arms and the words "Vermont Standard School."

Higher education

During the period of the Vermont Republic several towns on the east side of the Connecticut River were part of Vermont. This included Hanover, and Dartmouth College. Statehood brought about establishment of the Connecticut River as a natural border. Having lost Dartmouth College, Ira Allen established the University of Vermont (UVM) in 1791 to complement the smaller college at Castleton. By the mid-twentieth century all but one of the state normal schools, and many of the seminaries, had become four-year colleges of liberal arts and sciences. Experimentation at the University of Vermont by George Perkins Marsh, and later the influence of Vermont born philosopher and educator John Dewey brought about the concepts of electives and learning by doing. Today Vermont has five colleges within the Vermont State Colleges system, UVM, fourteen other private, degree-granting colleges, including Middlebury College, a private, co-educational liberal arts college founded in 1800, Champlain College, a Burlington college founded in 1878, the Vermont Law School at Royalton, and Norwich University, the oldest private military college in the United States and birthplace of ROTC, founded in 1819.

Sports

The largest professional franchise is the Vermont Lake Monsters, a single-A minor league baseball of the Washington Nationals, based in Burlington. They were named the Vermont Expos prior to 2006.
The Vermont Frost Heaves, the 2007 national champions, are a franchise of the American Basketball Association (Blue Conference), and have been based in Barre and Burlington since the fall of 2006.
Vermont is home to a semi-professional football team, the Ice Storm, based in South Hero. It plays its home games at the Colchester High School stadium. It is a member of the Empire Football League.
The Vermont Voltage is a USL Premier Development League soccer club that plays in St. Albans.

Cultural pursuits

Vermont festivals include the Vermont Maple Festival, Festival on the Green, the Enosburg Falls Dairy Festival, the Apple Festival (held each Columbus Day Weekend), the Marlboro Music Festival, and the Vermont Mozart Festival. The Vermont Symphony Orchestra is supported by the state and performs throughout the area. The Poetry Society of Vermont publishes a literary magazine called The Green Mountain Troubadore which encourages submissions from members of various ages. Every year they hold various contests - one being for high school age young people. The Brattleboro-based Vermont Theatre Company presents an annual summer Shakespeare festival. Brattleboro also hosts the summertime Strolling of the Heifers parade which celebrates Vermont's unique dairy culture. Montpelier is home to the annual Green Mountain Film Festival.
In the Northeast Kingdom, the Bread and Puppet Theatre holds weekly shows in Glover in a natural outdoor amphitheater.
One of Vermont's best known musical exports was the group Phish, whose members met while attending school in Vermont and played its final concert in the state.

State symbols

State symbols include:

State song - "These Green Mountains,"

Unofficial favorite state song - Moonlight in Vermont

State bird - hermit thrush

State flower - red clover

State fish

the cold-water fish, the brook trout

the warm-water fish, the walleye

State tree - sugar maple

State mammal - Morgan horse

State amphibian - Northern Leopard Frog

State reptile - Painted Turtle

State mineral - talc

State rock - granite, marble, and slate

Pie - apple pie

Soil - "Tunbridge Soil Series"

Beverage - milk

gem - grossular garnet

Fossil - the beluga

Vermont is distinct for being among only three U.S. states with both a state seal and a coat of arms. Vermont is the only U.S. state to have a heraldically correct blazon describing its coat of arms.

Notable Vermonters

Vermont is the birthplace of former presidents Calvin Coolidge and Chester A. Arthur.
The list of famous people from Vermont is an incomplete, alphabetized list of famous people who at one point called Vermont their home.

Notable fictional Vermonters

Vermont was the original home of the fictional villain Simon Legree in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.

Vermont was also the home of Dick Loudon, Bob Newhart's character on the late 1980s sitcom Newhart.

Vermont was the home of Pollyanna and her Aunt Polly in the novel Pollyanna.

Bibliography

Albers, Jan. Hands on the Land: A History of the Vermont Landscape. MIT Press: 2000. ISBN 0-262-01175-1.

Bryan, Frank, and John McClaughry. "The Vermont Papers: Recreating Democracy on a Human Scale." Chelsea Green Publishing: 1989. ISBN 0-930031-19-9.

Cohen, David Elliot, and Rick Smolan. Vermont 24/7. DK Publishing: 2004. ISBN 0-7566-0086-3.

Coffin, Howard. Full Duty: Vermonters in the Civil War. The Countryman Press: 1995. ISBN 0-88150-349-5.

Doyle, William T. "The Vermont Political Tradition and Those Who Helped Make It." Doyle Publisher: 1987. ISBN 0-9615486-1-4.

Duffy, John J., et al. Vermont: An Illustrated History. American Historical Press: 2000. ISBN 1-892724-08-1.

Duffy, John J., et al. The Vermont Encyclopedia. University Press of New England: 2003. ISBN 1-58465-086-9.

Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration for the State of Vermont. Vermont: A guide to the Green Mountain State. Houghton Mifflin: 1937.

Grant, Kim, et al. Vermont: An Explorer's Guide. The Countryman Press: 2002. ISBN 0-88150-519-6.

Klyza, Christopher McGrory, and Stephen C. Trombulak. The Story of Vermont: A Natural and Cultural History. University Press of New England: 1999. ISBN 0-87451-936-5.

Potash, P. Jeffrey, et al. Freedom and Unity: A History of Vermont. Vermont Historical Society: 2004. ISBN 0-934720-49-5.

Meeks, Harold A. Vermont's Land and Resources, The New England Press: 1968. ISBN 0-933050-40-2.

Hunter, Preston. "Religion in Vermont". Adherents.com.

Rodgers, Steve. Country Towns of Vermont. McGraw-Hill: 1998. ISBN 1-56626-195-3.

Sherman, Joe. Fast Lane on a Dirt Road: A Contemporary History of Vermont. Chelsea Green Publishing Company: 2000. ISBN 1-890132-74-8.

Sletcher, Michael. New England. Westport, CT, 2004.

Vermont Atlas & Gazetteer. DeLorme: 2000. ISBN 0-89933-322-2.

External links

Government

Vermont government official website

Vermont State Facts

Vermont League of Cities and Towns

Vermont Independence Movement

Vermont Department of Labor

Vermont Agriculture

Maps and Demographics

USGS real-time, geographic, and other scientific resources of Vermont

Earthquake facts, Vermont

"Vermont QuickFacts" U.S. Census Bureau.

Tourism & recreation

Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing

Culture & history

Vermont Historical Society..

Vermont Arts Council

Online Media

Radio Free Vermont

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia