Harrisburg

Harrisburg. <1> City (2020 pop. 8,219), seat of Saline co., SE Ill; founded c. 1852. In the mid-19th century, it was a center of woolen and lumber mills, and then later in the century, flour milling and brick and tile making. Coal mining was also a major industry beginning in the mid-19th century, and the area became a major coal shipping point when the railroad reached it in 1872. It reached its peak population and prosperity in the 1920s-1930, then entered a period of decline. A large part of the city was destroyed during the 1937 Ohio River flood, with several mining operations closed. In Feb. 2012, an EF4 tornado leveled much of the city, with 4 people killed and 110 injured.

<2> City (2020 pop. 18,967), Cabarrus co., S central N.C.; founded c. 1765; inc. 1973. The town took its name from founder Robert Harris, and was an agricultural area. It is now a commuting suburb of Charlotte.

<3> City (2020 pop. 50,099), state capital and seat of Dauphin co., SE Pa., on the Susquehanna River; settled c.1710 by John Harris, who established a trading post and operated a ferry there; inc. 1791. It is a commercial, wholesale, administrative, and transportation center. Manufactures include metal products, transportation equipment, processed foods, machinery, electrical and electronic equipment, building materials, and steel. Harrisburg became the state capital in 1812 and grew as an inland transportation center with the opening of the Pennsylvania Canal in 1827 and the arrival of the railroad in 1836.

The sprawling Italian Renaissance state capitol (completed 1906) has a 272-ft (83-m) dome modeled after St. Peter's in Rome. Other notable structures are the education building, which contains the state library; the State Museum of Pennsylvania; the National Civil War Museum; the William Penn Memorial Museum; the John Harris Mansion (1766), headquarters of the county historical society; and the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Bridge. A medical center and Harrisburg Univ. of Science and Technology, campuses of Temple and Widener universities, and the Dixon Univ. Center are in Harrisburg; the Pennsylvania State Univ. Harrisburg campus is in nearby Middletown. The city has numerous parks. To the south is the large Three Mile Island facility, site of a nuclear accident in 1979. The New Cumberland Army Depot, the U.S. Army War College, and the U.S. Naval Supply Depot are also nearby.

<4> City (2020 pop. 6,732), Lincoln co., SE S.D.; est. c. 1879. Initially a stop on stage-coach routes, the town developed after its railroad depot was opened in 1879, and it was formally plotted in 1890. It originally was a center for agriculture and grain exporting. It was also an early banking center, home to the State Bank (1905-40). It is a suburb of Sioux Falls, Idaho.

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