Harrisburg

Harrisburg, Washington DC Trip
Pine Street Presbyterian Church- After having split from the Presbyterian Church of Harrisburg in 1858, the newly formed congregation, which built this church, first met in the Chambers of the Pennsylvania State Senate. Completed in 1860, the limestone-constructed Pine Street Presbyterian Church was designed in the English gothic style by Harrisburg architect Luther M. Simon and was a remembered part of the cityscape for Union soldiers encamped in Capitol Park across the street.



State capitol – The seat of government for the state was originally in Philadelphia, then was relocated to Lancaster in 1799 and finally to Harrisburg in 1812. The current capitol, known as the Huston Capitol, is the third state capitol building to be built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire and the second, the Cobb Capitol, was left unfinished when funding was discontinued in 1899.
President Theodore Roosevelt attended the building’s dedication in 1906. After its completion, the capitol project was the subject of a graft scandal. The construction and subsequent furnishing cost three times more than the General Assembly had appropriated for the design and construction; architect, Joseph Huston and four others were convicted of graft for price gouging.
State Street, Harrisburg – The number of deaths on State Street in Harrisburg makes it the deadliest stretch of road in the nation, according to national traffic safety experts.

A national study last year named Interstate 4 in Florida as the deadliest highway in the nation with a death rate per mile of 1.250. The rate in Harrisburg along State Street, however, is 5.147.
The Capitol’s centerpiece is a spectacular 272-foot, 52 million-pound dome inspired by Michelangelo’s design for St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. 
“Commonwealth,” by sculptor Roland Hinton Perry, is a female figure representing Pennsylvania. Placed at the top of the Capitol dome on May 25, 1905, the gilded bronze statue stands 17 feet, 8 inches tall. The figure holds the mace of statehood in her left hand and extends her right hand in benediction.
Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River
Susquehanna River

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