Welcome to central Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Appalachians.

Oftentimes when people think of Pennsylvania they think of either Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, or possibly the general preception of rural Pennsylvania. However, there is a lot more to Pennsylvania than what many see in the movies, and in central Pennsylvania, there are a lot of great mountain views, towns and cities of different sizes, and lots of parks and recreation. There are also a lot of old coal mines, old factories, and many remanents of central Pennsylvania industry, such as the railroad shops in Altoona and the steel mills in Johnstown. Many small towns outside of those cities are known for their coal mines that kept the city's economy alive and provided coal all over the nation. At one time, Altoona was the railroad capital of the world, where the Main Line ran through, and the Horseshoe Curve was actually on the top of the list of Hitler's targets to bomb.

As a native of central Pennsylvania, Altoona to be specific, I can give you all sorts of information about the area from a first hand perspective. I know a lot of things about Altoona, Johnstown, State College, and all the other little towns in the area that you won't find in any encyclopedia. These are things that you wouldn't even find on Wikipedia, and in many cases, things that you wouldn't even find in reference books written about central Pennsylvania. I can give you a first hand perspective of everything I know about the region, how it really is, and how the different parts compare to one another. For example, there are buildings in Altoona with a lot of history, such as the old Mishler Theatre, that you would have a hard time finding a lot of reference material about. And even more obscure, but still important buildings, such as the building that once housed the massive Gable's Department Store. Gable's was once the largest store between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia before it closed in 1980. In addition, I know of some unique destinations up in the mountains, such as the Drive-In Theaters just west of Altoona. Did you know that there are less than 1000 Drive-Ins left in America, while there were close to 5000 during the peak period of the 1950s and 1960s? Families still go to these Drivs-Ins which have been in business for around 50 years.

Another thing that I can tell you from experience is that there is also a noticable climate variation between some of the cities in the southern part of Pennsylvania, such as Altoona and Johnstown, and some of the mountains in McKean and Potter counties in northern Pennsylvania. Some parts of Pennsylvania, such as Ebensburg, receive over 100 inches of snow in a year, while others, around the Philadelphia area, experience much milder winters. The cooler weather is usually in the mountains or in the north-central part of the state. However, the mountain areas and the areas closest to Lake Erie are the parts of the state that receive the most snow, with most of their snow falling in December and January and more of it coming from lake effect snow off of Lake Erie than from actual snowstorms.

There is also a slight cultural variation between different parts of central Pennsylvania. Some parts of Pennsylvania, such as in the south west-central part of Pennsylvania, share some things in common with the southern states, such as West Virgnia, especially with the regional accent. However, much of the western part of central Pennsylvania shares a lot in common with what's known as the midland, such as the nature of the county fairs and festivals along with the accent, but at the same time, serve things such as funnel cake, which you won't find often in the Midwest. In the eastern part of central Pennsylvania, you'll notice a stronger Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in both the accent and local traditions. Much of this area is known as Amish country due to the high concentration of Amish families. The accent and slang from one part to another also share a lot in common, while varying between regions. In the western portion of central Pennsylvania, the accent is a lot like Pittsburghese with words like "yinz" as a plural of "you", but throughout the entire region, pronounciations such as "warsh" and "Warshington" are common, as are phrases like "red up your room" for "clean your room". There's also what's jokingly called the "pop/soda Mason-Dixon line" where people north of it call it "pop" (common of northerners and midwesterners) and to the south of it call it "soda" (common to the east coast and the northern part of the south).

The purpose of this website is to share some information on different communities and other destinations in central Pennsylvania, including population, climate, and tourist attractions. The picture at the top of the page is the downtown skyline of Altoona, one of the largest communities in central Pennsylvania. The population of Altoona is just shy of 50,000 and is the closest major city to Penn State, which is located in State College, which has some interesting attractions itself. Although the most obvious attraction in State College is the Penn State University main campus, and many things that go with it, such as Beaver Stadium, where Penn State plays football, there are a lot of small shops and there are festivals through the year that attract many people, such as the Arts Festival and in nearby Boalsburg, the People's Choice Festival. Joe Paterno, the legendary head football coach actually lives in a modest house right in State College.