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107-661: The disaster occurred when workers were ordered to dig illegally under the Susquehanna River without proper safety precautions, creating a hole in the riverbed which caused the river to flood into the many interconnected mine galleries in the Wyoming Valley between the right-bank (western shore) town of Exeter, Pennsylvania , and the left-bank (eastern shore) town of Port Griffith in Jenkins Township, near Pittston . Twelve miners were killed. Plugging

214-675: A consolidation of area parishes and listed for sale in July 2008. The property was purchased on January 15, 2009, exactly one week prior to the fiftieth anniversary, by Susan Baloga and John Baloga, the grandson of John Baloga, one of the twelve miners who perished in the event. The property is now the site of Baloga Funeral Home. The fiftieth anniversary also included a special program at the Anthracite Heritage Museum in Scranton , which organized an annual program concerning

321-725: A governor. Massachusetts and New Hampshire also shared a governor for some time. The beginnings of the American Revolutionary War would be in the Northeast, specifically in Massachusetts. The Battles of Lexington and Concord in northeast of Boston would be the first military engagements between the Revolutionaries and the British. Many of the major battles of the revolution would be fought in

428-569: A net height of 1,009 feet (308 m) between basins, requiring the use of more than 100 water locks , which were too expensive to be maintained under the new competition. The Susquehanna River figures in the history of the Latter Day Saint movement . It holds that Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery received the priesthood from heavenly beings at a site along the Susquehanna and performed their first baptisms of Latter Day Saints in

535-570: A result of the disaster, including the mine superintendent, Robert Dougherty; owner Louis Fabrizio; secret owner August J. Lippi, who was also the president of District 1 of the United Mine Workers ; and three union officials. Six served jail time. After the disaster, the widows of the twelve victims did not receive death benefit payments from the Anthracite Health and Welfare Fund for more than four years. January 22, 2009,

642-697: A third major language family, with their peoples occupying much of the middle areas of the interior. Algongquian-speaking peoples predominated in the coastal areas. Iroquoian speakers , such as the Cherokee and Tuscarora peoples , generally occupied areas to the interior near the Piedmont and foothills. In 1615, the river was traversed by the French explorer Étienne Brûlé . In the 1670s the Conestoga, or Susquehannock people, succumbed to Iroquois conquest by

749-515: Is a practical ferry for up to four vehicles and 50 passengers, while the Pride of the Susquehanna , based at Harrisburg, provides a passenger-only pleasure cruise. Most of the canals have been filled in or are partially preserved as a part of historical parks. Dams generally are used to generate power or to provide lakes for recreation. The environmental group American Rivers named the Susquehanna " America's Most Endangered River for 2005 " because of

856-556: Is home to the Northeast megalopolis , which includes many of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, including Boston , New York City , and Philadelphia . The megalopolis makes up 67% of the region's total population of 57,609,148. The gross domestic product of the region was $ 5.1 trillion as of 2022 and contains some of the most developed states based on the Human Development Index , with every state with

963-595: Is now the eastern United States . Among the many tribes inhabiting this area were those that made up the Iroquois nations and the numerous Algonquian peoples . In the United States of the 21st century, 18 federally recognized tribes reside in the Northeast. For the most part, the people of the Northeastern Woodlands, on whose lands European fishermen began camping to dry their codfish in

1070-791: Is regarded by many as one of the premier bass fishing rivers in North America. Canoe races are held annually on various sections of the river, such as the amateur race held in Oneonta, New York . Susquehanna rowing and paddling have a long history. Starting in 1874, rowers from Shamokin Dam, Pennsylvania , raced men from Sunbury . The General Clinton Canoe Regatta, a 70-mile (110 km) flat-water race, takes place each year in Bainbridge, New York , on Memorial Day weekend. Binghamton University Crew and Hiawatha Island Boat Club are also located on

1177-496: The 2020 U.S. census , the population of the region was 57,609,148, representing 17.38% of the nation's total population. With an average of 345.5 people per square mile, the Northeast is 2.5 times as densely populated as the second-most dense region, the South . Since the last century, the U.S. population has been shifting away from the Northeast and Midwest toward the South and West . The region's racial composition as of 2020

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1284-734: The Alleghenian orogeny uplift events, when Africa (as part of Gondwana ) slammed into the Northern part of Euramerica . The Susquehanna basin reaches its ultimate outflow in the Chesapeake Bay . It was well established in the flat tidelands of eastern North America during the Mesozoic era about 252 to 66 million years ago. This is the same period when the Hudson , Delaware and Potomac rivers were established. Both branches and

1391-876: The Atlantic coast of North America , the region borders Canada to its north, the Southern United States to its south, the Midwestern United States to its west, and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The Northeast is one of the four regions defined by the U.S. Census Bureau for the collection and analysis of statistics. The Census Bureau defines the region as including the six New England states of Connecticut , Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , Rhode Island , and Vermont , and three northern Mid-Atlantic states of New Jersey , New York , and Pennsylvania . The region

1498-666: The Atlantic coastal plain , which extends south to the southern tip of Florida . The coastal plain areas include Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Long Island in New York, and most of New Jersey , and are generally low and flat with sandy soil and marshy land. The highlands, including the Piedmont and the Appalachian Mountains, are heavily forested, ranging from rolling hills to summits greater than 6,000 feet (1,800 m), and pocked with many lakes. The highest peak in

1605-770: The Battle of Yorktown in Virginia. The idea of an independent United States of America, with the designs of its government would be created primarily in the Northeast in a series of declarations, constitutions, and documents. The Continental Congresses would meet in Philadelphia, which would produce the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation . Following the American Revolution,

1712-780: The Chemung from the northwest. It makes a right-angle curve between Sayre and Towanda to cut through the Endless Mountains in the Allegheny Plateau of Pennsylvania. It receives the Lackawanna River southwest of Scranton and turns sharply to the southwest, flowing through the former anthracite industrial heartland in the mountain ridges of northeastern Pennsylvania, past Pittston City ( Greater Pittston ), Wilkes-Barre , Nanticoke , Shickshinny , Berwick , Bloomsburg , and Danville , before receiving

1819-548: The Chenango in downtown Binghamton . After meandering westwards, it turns south crossing the line again through the twin towns of Waverly, New York , and Sayre, Pennsylvania , and their large right bank railyard, once briefly holding the largest structure in the United States devoted to the maintenance and construction of railroad locomotives. A couple of miles south, in Athens Township, Pennsylvania , it receives

1926-470: The Chernobyl nuclear accident . The remaining reactor at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station was shut down in 2019. In 2015, a smallmouth bass with a rare, cancerous tumor was caught from the river, raising renewed concerns about toxic materials and water pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency reported, "we do not have sufficient data at this time to scientifically support listing

2033-587: The Civil War 's 1863 Gettysburg Campaign , Union Major General Darius N. Couch , commander of the Department of the Susquehanna , resolved that Robert E. Lee 's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia would not cross the Susquehanna. He positioned militia units under Maj. Granville Haller to protect key bridges in Harrisburg and Wrightsville , as well as nearby fords. Confederate forces reached

2140-564: The English colonial empire . The territory became the colonies of New York and New Jersey . New Jersey was originally split into East Jersey and West Jersey until the two were united as a royal colony in 1702. New England played a prominent role in early American education. Starting in the 17th century, the larger towns in New England opened grammar schools , the forerunner of the modern high school . The first public school in

2247-569: The Lenape (Delaware) word siskëwahane meaning "Muddy River". Alternatively, it may come from the Lenape (Delaware) term Sisa'we'hak'hanna , which means "Oyster River". Oyster beds were widespread in the bay near the mouth of the river, which the Lenape farmed. They left oyster shell middens at their villages. A third account translates "Susquehanna" from the Susquehannock language , of

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2354-511: The Mid-Atlantic states of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. This definition has been essentially unchanged since 1880 and is widely used as a standard for data tabulation. The U.S. Census Bureau has acknowledged the obvious limitations of this definition and the potential merits of a proposal created after the 1950 census, that would include changing regional boundaries to include Delaware , Maryland , and Washington, D.C. with

2461-803: The Monongahela , Allegheny Rivers and their confluence into the Ohio River flowing southwest towards the Mississippi River . The 82-mile (132 km) Union Canal was completed in 1828 to connect the Schuylkill River (flowing southeast towards the Delaware River at Philadelphia ) at Reading westwards to the Susquehanna River above the state capital of Harrisburg . Competition from faster transport via

2568-653: The Ohio River . In 1792, the Union Canal was proposed in order to link the Susquehanna and the Delaware rivers in Pennsylvania along Swatara and Tulpehocken creeks. In the 19th century, many industrial centers developed along the Susquehanna, using its water power to drive mills and coal machinery, to cool machines, and as a waterway for the transport of raw and manufactured goods. Based on colonial charters, both Pennsylvania and Connecticut claimed land in

2675-534: The Susquehanna Gap through the Blue Mountain Ridge , just northwest of Harrisburg . Downtown Harrisburg developed on the east side of the river, which is nearly a mile wide here. Harrisburg is the largest city located on the lower river, which flows southeast across South Central Pennsylvania , forming the border between York and Lancaster counties, and receiving Swatara Creek from

2782-473: The Wyoming Valley along the Susquehanna. Connecticut founded Westmoreland County here and defended its claim in the Pennamite Wars . Under federal arbitration, eventually the state ceded this territory to Pennsylvania. In the 1790s English Lake Poets Robert Southey , Samuel Taylor Coleridge , and Robert Lovell formulated the " Pantisocracy Plan" to marry three sisters and move to the banks of

2889-525: The capital of the newly formed United States would move around in the states of Pennsylvania , New Jersey , and New York . It was based in New York City from 1785 until 1790, when it was moved to Congress Hall in Philadelphia , where it remained for a decade, until 1800, when the construction of the new national capital of Washington, D.C. was completed. The Constitutional Convention

2996-514: The history of the United States . In the 18th century, William Penn , the founder of the Pennsylvania Colony , negotiated with the Lenape to allow white settlement in the area between the Delaware River and the Susquehanna, which was part of Lenape territory. In late colonial times, the river became an increasingly important transportation corridor, used to ship anthracite coal , discovered by Necho Allen , from its upper reaches in

3103-494: The humid subtropical zone ( Cfa/Do ) begins at Martha's Vineyard and extreme SW Rhode Island and extends southwestward down the coastal plain to central and southern Maryland. The oceanic climate zone ( Cfb/Do ) only exists on Block Island , Nantucket , and the far coastal islands of Maine. It is the only area of the Northeast where all months average between 0 and 22 °C (32 and 72 °F). Cape Cod borders this zone and warm-summer humid continental ( Dfb/Dc ). As of

3210-859: The railroad industry by the 1850s resulted in reducing the reliance on the river for transport. Two canal systems were constructed on the lower Susquehanna to bypass the rapids. The first was the Susquehanna Canal , also called the Conowingo Canal or the Port Deposit Canal, completed in 1802 by a Maryland company known as the Proprietors of the Susquehanna Canal. The second was the much longer and more successful Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal . The canals required dams to provide canal water and navigation pools. As

3317-478: The "Northeastern Woodlands" as one of the cultural regions that existed in the Western Hemisphere at the time of European colonists in the 15th and later centuries. Most did not settle in North America until the 17th century. The cultural area, known as the " Northeastern Woodlands ", in addition to covering the entire Northeast U.S., also covered much of what is now Canada and others regions of what

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3424-772: The 1950s–1960s, a wide-ranging rail transportation infrastructure still operates along the river's shores. Also called the Main Branch Susquehanna , the longer branch of the river rises at the outlet of Otsego Lake in Cooperstown, New York . From there, the north branch of the river runs west-southwest through rural farmland and dairy country, receiving the Unadilla River at Sidney . It dips south into Pennsylvania briefly to turn sharply 90 degrees west at Susquehanna and again 90 degrees north at Great Bend hooking back into New York . It receives

3531-519: The 1960s. New York state lost its claim to being the most populated state after it was surpassed by California in the 1970s. Some Northeastern cities, including New York City, have recovered from its decline in the mid-20th century. Many new information and service industries have risen in the northeast, which has led to a boom in the 21st century in some cities in the Northeast like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Some other cities like Hartford , Syracuse, and Buffalo still are declining though in

3638-468: The 21st century, a large industrial decline in the Northeast resulted in a depopulation of many Northeastern cities, many of which had not yet recovered from it into the 21st century. This led to the rise of programs of urban renewal and demolition of large parts of Northeastern cities during the mid and late 20th century. There has also been a large population shift to the Sun Belt states starting in

3745-471: The 21st century. Hurricane Sandy would impact much of the northeast in 2012, severely damaging much of the coast and causing flooding inland. The hurricane would directly impact New Jersey and caused large amounts of flooding in New York City. Although the first settlers of New England were motivated by religion, since the 21st century, New England had become one of the least religious parts of

3852-599: The American involvement in both World Wars, the Northeast would become a large base of war production, with the Brooklyn Naval Yard producing many navy ships. Many worker strikes would occur in the states, including the Homestead strike in 1892. Many of these cities would see a peak population and industrial output in the aftermath of World War II in the 1950s. Starting in the 1950s and continuing into

3959-595: The Appalachians partially protect these locations from the extreme cold coming from the west and the interior of North America. The basic climate of the Northeast can be divided into a colder and snowier interior, including western Maryland, most of Pennsylvania, most of North Jersey , Upstate New York , and most of New England, and a milder coastal plain region from Cape Cod and southern Rhode Island southward, including Long Island , Southern Connecticut , New York City , central and southern New Jersey , part of

4066-534: The English colonies was the Boston Latin School , founded in 1635. In 1636, the colonial legislature of Massachusetts founded Harvard College , the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. In 1681, William Penn , who wanted to give Quakers a land of religious freedom, founded Pennsylvania and extended freedom of religion to all citizens. Penn strongly desired access to

4173-531: The Great Lakes. The English of Pennsylvania referred to the Eroni people of Conestoga as "Susquehannocks" or "Susquehannock Indians", a name derived from the Lenape term. In addition, John Smith of Jamestown , Virginia, labeled their settlement as "Sasquesahanough" on his 1612 map when he explored the upper Chesapeake Bay area. In Virginia and other southern colonies, Siouan -speaking tribes constituted

4280-818: The Iroquoian family, as "the stream that falls toward the south" or "long-crooked-river". The Lenape are an Algonquian-speaking Native American people who had communities ranging from coastal Connecticut through New York and Long Island, and further south into New Jersey and Delaware in the mid-Atlantic area. Their settlements in Pennsylvania included Con'esto'ga ("Roof-place" or "town", modern Washington Boro, Lancaster County ), also called Ka'ot'sch'ie'ra ("Place-crawfish", modern Chickisalunga, Lancaster County), or Gasch'guch'sa ("Great-fall-in-river", modern Conewago Falls , Lancaster County). They were called Minquas ("quite different"), or Sisa'we'hak'hanna'lenno'wak ("Oyster-river-people") by others. The Lenape also called

4387-568: The Mid-Atlantic states, but ultimately decided that "the new system did not win enough overall acceptance among data users to warrant adoption as an official new set of general-purpose State groupings. The previous development of many series of statistics, arranged and issued over long periods of time on the basis of the existing State groupings, favored the retention of the summary units of the current regions and divisions." The U.S. Census Bureau confirmed in 1994 that it would continue to "review

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4494-414: The New York system. Today 200 bridges cross the Susquehanna. The Rockville Bridge , which crosses the river from Harrisburg to Marysville, Pennsylvania , is the longest stone masonry arch bridge in the world. It was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1902, replacing an earlier iron bridge. Two seasonal ferries operate across the Susquehanna. The Millersburg Ferry at Millersburg, Pennsylvania ,

4601-407: The North Branch flowing from the northwest at Northumberland. Downstream from the confluence of its branches in Northumberland , the river flows south past Selinsgrove , where it is joined by its Penns Creek tributary, and cuts through a water gap at the western end of Mahantongo Mountain. It receives the Juniata River from the northwest at Duncannon , then passes through its last water gap,

4708-464: The North Branch of the river. Smith and Cowdery said that they were visited on May 15, 1829, by the resurrected John the Baptist and given the Aaronic priesthood . Following his visit, Smith and Cowdery baptized each other in the river. Later that year, they said they were visited near the river by the apostles Peter , James and John . Both events took place in unspecified locations near the river's shore in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania . During

4815-472: The Northeast and Midwest and would become prominent towards the mid-19th century, these groups advocated the shrinking or banning of slavery in the United States. Some Northeastern states still had small amounts of slaves into the 1850s, though some would ban it during the decade. The election of 1860 led to the start of the Civil War; southern states seceded from the United States in late-1860 and early-1861. States like Maryland and Delaware would remain in

4922-399: The Northeast is Mount Washington in New Hampshire at 6,288 feet (1,917 m). As of 2012 , forest-use covered approximately 60% of the Northeastern states, including Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C., about twice the national average. About 11% was cropland and another 4% grassland pasture or range. There is also more urbanized land in the Northeast (12%) than any other region in

5029-453: The Northeast, and frequent (but brief) thundershowers are common on hot summer days. In winter, the subtropical high retreats southeastward, and the polar jet stream moves south bringing colder air masses from up in Canada and more frequent storm systems to the region. Winter often brings both rain and snow as well as surges of both warm and cold air. In the southern part of the Northeast from coastal Rhode Island southwest to eastern Maryland,

5136-463: The Northeast. The British would evacuate Boston in early-1776 and would move to capture New York City . The revolutionaries were pushed to the Delaware River before suddenly moving forward against the British in the Battles of Trenton and Princeton . A stalemate was reached in 1778, between the British and American Revolutionaries and continued until the end of the war in 1783. The war would move to southern states and eventually conclude with

5243-453: The Northeastern United States in somewhat different ways. The Association of American Geographers divides the Northeast into two divisions: "New England", which is the same as the Census Bureau; and it has the same "Middle States" but adds Delaware. Similarly, the Geological Society of America defines the Northeast as these same states but with the addition of Maryland and the District of Columbia . The narrowest definitions include only

5350-452: The Northeastern region have distinct histories. The first European explorer known to have explored the Atlantic shoreline of the Northeast since the Norse was Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. His ship La Dauphine explored the coast from what is now known as Florida to New Brunswick. The first Europeans to settle and colonize New England were Pilgrims from England , who landed in present-day Massachusetts in 1620. The Pilgrims arrived on

5457-471: The Pennsylvania portion of the Delaware Valley including Philadelphia , Delaware , and most of Maryland . In the latter region the hardiness zone ranges from 7a to 8a. Annual mean temperatures range from the low-to-mid 50s F from Maryland to southern Connecticut, to the 40s F in most of New York State, New England, and northern Pennsylvania. Most of the Northeast has a humid continental climate ( Dfa/Dfb/occasional Dfc/Dc ). The northernmost portion of

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5564-457: The Susquehanna River to start a socialist experiment. They made the marriages but Southey moved to Lisbon, Portugal , to visit an uncle, and they abandoned the plan to move to the United States. In 1833 John B. Jervis began a canal system to extend the Chenango River and connect the waters of the Susquehanna from Chenango Point to the Erie Canal , which ran through the Mohawk Valley of New York , ultimately connecting with Lake Erie through

5671-740: The Three Mile Island accident has not resulted in any harmful radiation effects. The areas in and along a 262-km length of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania were monitored for the presence of radioactive materials. This study began two months after the 1979 Three Mile Island (TMI) partial reactor meltdown; it spanned the next 25 years. Monitoring points included stations at the PPL Susquehanna and TMI nuclear power plants. Monthly gamma measurements documented concentrations of radionuclides from natural and anthropogenic sources. During this study, various series of gamma-emitting radionuclide concentration measurements were made in many general categories of animals, plants, and other inorganic matter, both within and near

5778-483: The U.S. Many parks on a state and national level cover the inland parts of the region. Large parks include the Adirondack Park in northeastern New York, Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, White Mountain Forest in northern New Hampshire, Baxter State Park in northern Maine, Acadia National Park on the eastern coast of Maine, Allegheny National Forest in northwestern Pennsylvania, and Catskill Park in southern New York. There are also some parks closer to

5885-466: The United States (western and Northeastern states) and the Confederacy (southeastern states). The admission of Maine as a free state in exchange for Missouri becoming a slave state as part of the Missouri Compromise in 1820 would settle the final boundaries of the Northeastern states. The Mason-Dixon line would be established as the border of slavery, following the border of Pennsylvania and Delaware/Maryland. Abolitionist movements would start in

5992-465: The United States . By watershed area, it is the 16th-largest river in the United States, and also the longest river in the early 21st-century continental United States without commercial boat traffic. The Susquehanna River forms from two main branches: the North Branch , which rises in Cooperstown, New York , and is regarded by federal mapmakers as the main branch or headwaters, and the West Branch , which rises in western Pennsylvania and joins

6099-453: The United States during the war, conflicts did arise, like the New York draft riots in 1863. The war would end in 1865 with the United States taking back control of Southern states. Following the Civil War, the Northeast would see a large economic boom and would become one of the most industrialized regions in the world. Many technological innovations would be made in the Northeast during this time. The Second Industrial Revolution would see

6206-419: The United States gaining independence in the Revolutionary War, in 1790 Colonel Timothy Matlack , Samuel Maclay and John Adlum were commissioned by the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to survey the headwaters of the Susquehanna river. They were to explore a route for a passage to connect the West Branch with the waters of the Allegheny River , which flowed to Pittsburgh and

6313-587: The United States. The War of 1812 would see less fighting in the Northeast and instead more fighting in western and southern areas. A failed invasion of Canada and the occupation of Maine would be some of the major conflicts during the war. The war would end in 1815 and most of the Northeast has not seen any major conflict since then. The American Industrial Revolution was launched in Blackstone Valley in Rhode Island and Massachusetts , where textile mills spread across New England, and in eastern Pennsylvania , where coal, steel, and industrialization launched

6420-510: The United States. In a 2009 Gallup survey, less than half of residents in Maine , Massachusetts , New Hampshire , and Vermont reported religion as an important part of their daily life. In a 2010 Gallup survey, less than 30% of residents in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts reported attending church weekly, giving them the lowest church attendance among U.S. states. The vast area from central Virginia to northern Maine , and from western Pennsylvania , from Pittsburgh in

6527-493: The West Branch at Northumberland. The origin of the official West Branch is near Elmora, Pennsylvania , in northern Cambria County near the contemporary junction of Mitchel Road and US Route 219 (locally Plank Road). It travels northeasterly through the towns of Northern Cambria , Cherry Tree , Burnside , Mahaffey and Curwensville (where the river is dammed to form a lake), into and through Clearfield , where it receives Clearfield Creek . The West Branch turns to

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6634-471: The Wood Canal. In October 1836, water from the Susquehanna was connected to the Erie Canal at Utica, New York . Water travel was the main form of transportation during that era. The Erie Canal dramatically expanded trade between communities around the Great Lakes and markets in New York and Pennsylvania. With the expansion of construction of railroad lines, canal-transport became unprofitable, as it could not compete in speed or flexibility. Boats had to climb

6741-434: The area Sisa'we'hak'hanna'unk ("Oyster-river-place"). Peoples of the mid-Atlantic Coast included coastal peoples who spoke Algonquian languages , such as the Lenape (whose bands spoke three dialects of Lenape), and Iroquoian languages -speaking peoples of the interior, such as the Eroni and the Five Nations of the Iroquois League , or Haudenosaunee , based largely in present-day New York and upper Pennsylvania around

6848-451: The area became known as New Netherland . In 1625, the city of New Amsterdam (the location of present-day New York City) was designated the capital of the province. The Dutch New Netherland settlement along the Hudson River and, for a time, the New Sweden settlement along the Delaware River divided the English settlements in the north and the south. In 1664, Charles II of England formally annexed New Netherland and incorporated it into

6955-450: The components of the regions and divisions to ensure that they continue to represent the most useful combinations of states and state equivalents." Many organizations and reference works follow the Census Bureau's definition for the region. In the history of the United States, the Mason–Dixon line between Pennsylvania ( the North ) and Maryland ( the South ) traditionally divided the regions, but in modern times, various entities define

7062-417: The disaster in January. Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River ( / ˌ s ʌ s k w ə ˈ h æ n ə / SUSS -kwə- HAN -ə ; Lenape : Siskëwahane ) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, crossing three lower Northeast states (New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland). At 444 miles (715 km) long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of

7169-435: The early 1600s, lived in villages, especially after being influenced by agricultural traditions of the Ohio and Mississippi valley societies. All of the U.S. states making up the Northeastern region were among the original Thirteen Colonies , though Maine and Vermont were part of other colonies before the United States became independent in the American Revolution . The two cultural and geographic regions that form parts of

7276-547: The evacuation of thousands of residents. In September 2011 the Susquehanna River and its communities were hit by Tropical Storm Lee , which caused the worst flooding since Agnes in 1972. The Susquehanna River is important in the transportation history of the United States . Before the Port Deposit Bridge opened in 1818, the river formed a barrier between the northern and southern states, as it could be crossed only by ferry . The earliest dams were constructed to support ferry operations in low water. The presence of many rapids in

7383-401: The exception of Maine above the national average. It is also the most densely populated region in the United States, with 320 people per square mile (120 people/km ). The U.S. Census Bureau defines the Northeast United States as having a total area of 181,324 sq mi (469,630 km ), making it the smallest region of the United States by total area. Anthropologists recognize

7490-399: The excessive pollution it receives. Most of the pollution in the river is caused by excess animal manure from farming , agricultural runoff , urban and suburban stormwater runoff , and raw or inadequately treated sewage . In 2003 the river contributed 50% of the freshwater, 44% of the nitrogen , 21% of the phosphorus , and 21% of the sediment flowing into the Chesapeake Bay . It

7597-433: The hardest-hit communities and the capital Harrisburg was flooded. The Chesapeake Bay received so much fresh water that it altered the ecosystem, killing much of the marine life that depended on saltwater. The Mid-Atlantic Flood of June 2006 , caused by a stalled jet stream-driven storm system, affected portions of the river system. The worst affected area was Binghamton, New York , where record-setting flood levels forced

7704-519: The hole in the riverbed took three days, and mitigation efforts created several new islands between the two towns and altered the western-side flow of the Susquehanna around these. The River Slope Mine, an anthracite coal mine owned by the Knox Coal Company, flooded when coal company management had the miners dig illegally under the Susquehanna River . Tunneling steeply upwards toward the river bed without having drilled boreholes to gauge

7811-587: The industrial age progressed, bridges replaced ferries , and railroads replaced canals. The railroads were often constructed on top of the canal right-of-way along the river. Many canal remnants can be seen; for example, in Havre de Grace, Maryland , along US Route 15 in Pennsylvania, and in upstate New York at various locations. These latter remnants are parts of the upstream divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal , of privately funded canals, and of canals in

7918-462: The introduction to his historical novel The Pioneers (1823). At Athens, Pennsylvania , then known as Tioga or "Tioga Point", Clinton met with General John Sullivan and his forces, who had marched from Easton, Pennsylvania . Together on August 29, they defeated the Tories and warriors of allied Iroquois bands at the Battle of Newtown (near present-day Elmira, New York ). This was part of what

8025-517: The lateral near-parallel array of mountain ridges. The river empties into the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay at Perryville and Havre de Grace, Maryland , providing half of the Bay's freshwater inflow. The bay lies in the flooded valley, or ria , of the Susquehanna. The Susquehanna River is one of the oldest existing rivers in the world, being dated as 320–340 Myr , older than the mountain ridges through which it flows. These ridges resulted from

8132-480: The lower Susquehanna were part of important regional transportation corridors. The river was extensively used for muscle-powered ferries , boats , and canal boat shipping of bulk goods in the brief decades before the Pennsylvania Canal System was eclipsed by the coming of age of steam -powered railways . While the railroad industry has been less prevalent since the closures and mergers of

8239-587: The main branch near Northumberland in central Pennsylvania. The river drains 27,500 square miles (71,000 km ), including nearly half of the land area of Pennsylvania. The drainage basin includes portions of the Allegheny Plateau region of the Appalachian Mountains , cutting through a succession of water gaps in a broad zigzag course to flow across the rural heartland of southeastern Pennsylvania and northeastern Maryland in

8346-403: The main stem of the Susquehanna as impaired ." The Susquehanna River has attracted boaters who watch or fish for its migratory species. Many tourists and local residents use the Susquehanna in the summer for recreation purposes such as kayaking, canoeing, and motor-boating. Due to the high volume of smallmouth bass in the river, it is the host of numerous bass fishing tournaments each year and

8453-463: The mountains to the markets downriver. In 1779 during the American Revolutionary War , General James Clinton led an expedition down the Susquehanna from its headwaters. His party had made the upper portion navigable by damming the river's source at Otsego Lake , allowing the lake's level to rise, and then destroying the dam and flooding the river in order for his flotilla to travel for miles downstream. James Fenimore Cooper described this event in

8560-767: The nation's manufacturing sector. After the end of the War of 1812, industry boomed in the Northeast in the early and middle parts of the 19th century. With the construction of railroad and canals crossing the northeast and the rise of western territories and resources from the south, the Northeast experienced the development of new industries and a fast-growing population. Many of the coastal cities, including Boston , New York City , and Philadelphia , served as ocean trade ports for American goods. Cities, including Allentown , Buffalo , Pittsburgh , Rochester , and Syracuse , were settled and emerged as major industrial centers. By 1860, New York City, based on its present-day boundaries,

8667-462: The northeast grow massively, even more so than before the Civil War. Many cities in the Northeast would explode in population, with cities like Philadelphia and New York climbing over one million people, while other cities like Buffalo, Boston, and Pittsburgh would rise above half a million during this time. New York City eventually grew to become one of the largest cities in the world by 1900. With

8774-406: The northeast. It crosses into northern Maryland approximately 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Baltimore and is joined by Octoraro Creek from the northeast and Deer Creek from the northwest. The river enters the northern end of the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace . Concord Point Light was built here in 1827 to accommodate the increasing navigational traffic. "Susquehanna" may come from

8881-566: The powerful Five Nations of the Iroquois League based in present-day New York, who wanted to control the fur trade with Europeans. The Susquehannock assimilated with the Iroquois. In the aftermath, the Iroquois resettled some of the semi-tributary Lenape in this area, as it was near the western boundary of the Lenape's former territory, known as Lenapehoking . The Susquehanna River has continued to play an important role throughout

8988-554: The region. The climate of the Northeastern United States varies from northernmost state of Maine to its southernmost state in Maryland . The region's climate is influenced by its positional western to eastern flow of weather in the middle latitudes in the United States. Summers are normally warm in northern areas to hot in southern areas. In summer, the building Bermuda High pumps warm and sultry air toward

9095-587: The revolution the Northeast would see small skirmishes like the Whiskey Rebellion in western parts of Pennsylvania. Many northeastern states would continue trading with the British and other European powers. Tensions between the United States and Europe (specifically Britain) would sour in the lead up to the War of 1812 . This caused certain trade merchants to meet in Hartford to propose succeeding from

9202-538: The river at several locations in Cumberland and York counties. In 1972 the remnants of Hurricane Agnes stalled over the New York-Pennsylvania border, dropping as much as 20 inches (510 mm) of rain on the hilly lands. Much of that precipitation was received into the Susquehanna from its western tributaries, and the valley suffered disastrous flooding. Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , was among

9309-572: The river meant that while commercial traffic could navigate down the river in the high waters of the spring thaws, nothing could move up. The Susquehanna was improved by navigations throughout the 1820s and 1830s as the Pennsylvania Canal . Together with facilities of the Allegheny Portage Railroad , loaded barges were transferred from the canal and hoisted across the mountain ridge into the Pittsburgh area with access to

9416-768: The river, in the Southern Tier of New York. The Appalachian Trail passes through Duncannon, Pennsylvania , and crosses the Susquehanna on the Clarks Ferry Bridge . Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast , the East Coast , or the American Northeast ) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau . Located on

9523-483: The river. Sampling began in 1979 before the first start-up of the PPL Susquehanna power plant. Although all species were not continuously monitored for the entire period, an extensive database was compiled. In May 1986, ongoing measurements from several monitoring stations along the river near Three Mile Island, Peach Bottom and Calvert Cliffs detected iodine-131 beta particles attributable to fallout from

9630-421: The rock thickness overhead, the miners came to a section with a thickness of about 6 feet (1.8 m)—35 feet (11 m) was considered the minimum for safety. The insufficient "roof" cover caused the water of the river to break into the mine. It took three days to plug the hole in the riverbed, which was done by dumping large railroad cars, smaller mine cars, culm , and other debris into the whirlpool formed by

9737-583: The sea for the Province of Pennsylvania and leased what then came to be known as the "Lower Counties on the Delaware" from the Duke . Penn established representative government and briefly combined his two possessions under one General Assembly in 1682. By 1704, the province of Pennsylvania had grown so large that their representatives wanted to make decisions without the assent of the Lower Counties and

9844-484: The ship Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony so they could practice religion freely. Ten years later, a larger group of Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston to form Massachusetts Bay Colony . In 1636, colonists established Connecticut Colony and Providence Plantations . Providence was founded by Roger Williams , who was banished by Massachusetts for his beliefs in freedom of religion, and it

9951-679: The shore, though these are usually smaller and squeezed in-between urbanized areas. These include the Palisades Park in New Jersey, Fire Island in Long Island, and the Cape Cod shoreline in Massachusetts. The Northeast has 72 National Wildlife Refuges , encompassing more than 500,000 acres (780 sq mi; 2,000 km ) of habitat and designed to protect some of the 92 different threatened and endangered species living in

10058-629: The southeast and passes Karthaus (at Mosquito Creek), Keating (at Sinnemahoning Creek), Renovo and Lock Haven , where it receives Bald Eagle Creek . At Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, Pine Creek, the largest tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River, is received. Pine Creek has the largest watershed of all the West Branch’s tributaries. It passes Williamsport , where both Lycoming Creek and Loyalsock Creek empty into it, then turns south, passing Lewisburg , before joining

10165-694: The states of New England. Other more restrictive definitions include New England and New York as part of the Northeast United States, but exclude Pennsylvania and New Jersey. States beyond the Census Bureau definition are included in Northeast Region by various other entities: While most of the Northeastern United States lie in the physiographic region of the Appalachian Highlands , some are also part of

10272-628: The twelve who died were never recovered, despite efforts to pump the water out of the mine. The victims were Samuel Altieri, John Baloga, Benjamin Boyar, Francis Burns, Charles Featherman, Joseph Gizenski, Dominic Kaveliski, Frank Orlowski, Eugene Ostrowski, William Sinclair, Daniel Stefanides, and Herman Zelonis. The Knox catastrophe was less deadly than the Twin Shaft disaster in Pittston in 1896, which claimed 58 lives. Ten people were indicted as

10379-433: The two groups of representatives began meeting on their own, one at Philadelphia , and the other at New Castle, Delaware . Penn and his heirs remained proprietors of both and always appointed the same person Governor for their province of Pennsylvania and their territory of the Lower Counties. The fact that Delaware and Pennsylvania shared the same governor was not unique. From 1703 to 1738, both New York and New Jersey shared

10486-580: The union, even with slavery still legal. For the first two years, the eastern theater of the war would remain in Virginia and Maryland, but in 1863 the war would reach its northeastern most extent in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania . The Battle of Gettysburg is considered a turning point in the Civil War, seeing the end of the Confederate push northwards. While all Northeastern states would remain in

10593-501: The water draining into the mine. Eventually, an estimated 10 billion US gallons (38,000,000 m; 8.3 × 10 imp gal) of water filled the mines. Twelve mineworkers died; while 69 others escaped. Amedeo Pancotti was awarded the Carnegie Medal for climbing 50 feet (15 m) up the abandoned Eagle Air Shaft and alerting rescuers, which resulted in the safe recovery of 33 men including Pancotti himself. The bodies of

10700-400: The west to the Atlantic Ocean in the east, have all been loosely grouped into the Northeast. The U.S. Census Bureau 's definition of the Northeast includes nine states: Maine , New York , New Jersey , Vermont , Massachusetts , Rhode Island , Connecticut , New Hampshire , and Pennsylvania . The region is often subdivided into New England , the six states east of New York state and

10807-429: Was 64.42% white , 11.51% African American, 0.51% Native American, 7.25% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 8.17% from other races, and 8.10% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.27% of the population. There were 22,418,883 households and 14,189,719 families in 2021. Of the 22,418,883 households, 27.7% included children under the age of 18. In 2021, the region's the population's age distribution

10914-488: Was designated as one of the American Heritage Rivers in 1997. The designation provides for technical assistance from federal agencies to state and local governments working in the Susquehanna watershed. Another environmental concern is radioactivity released during the 1979 Three Mile Island accident . However, extensive radionuclide studies over a 25-year period from 1979 through 2003, confirm that

11021-522: Was held in Philadelphia, where the new United States Constitution was drafted in 1787. 6 of the first 13 states to ratify the new constitution would be in the Northeast, with the last of the original 13, Rhode Island, ratifying the constitution in 1790. Vermont would be admitted in 1791 as the 14th state. The first Congress would convene in Federal Hall in New York City in March 1789. Following

11128-452: Was known as the "Sullivan-Clinton Campaign" or the " Sullivan Expedition ". They swept through western New York, dominated by the Seneca people , destroying more than 40 Seneca villages, as well as the stores of crops the people had set aside for winter. Many of the Iroquois left New York and went to Canada as refugees; casualties from exposure and starvation were high that winter. Following

11235-758: Was the fiftieth anniversary of the Knox Mine Disaster, with an annual memorial mass at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Pittston, Pennsylvania , and a ceremony at the former St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Port Griffith , which is the site of a commemorative monument and a State Historic Marker erected in 1999 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission . The church was closed in May 2008 owing to

11342-534: Was the first U.S. city to reach a population exceeding one million. Due to the settlement of the Midwest and Great Plains , agriculture would collapse in the Mid-Atlantic and New England, with many farms being abandoned by the end of the century, returning to rural forest. Conflicts with the south over the spread of slavery would become a large factor in the start of the American Civil War, between

11449-564: Was the first colony to guarantee all citizens freedom of worship. Anne Hutchinson , who was also banished by Massachusetts, formed the town of Portsmouth . Providence, Portsmouth and two other towns ( Newport and Warwick ) consolidated to form the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . Henry Hudson explored the area of present-day New York in 1609 and claimed it for the Netherlands. His journey stimulated Dutch interest, and

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