Commonwealth (statue)

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania began in 1684 as the Provincial Court, and casual references to it as the "Supreme Court" of Pennsylvania were made official in 1722 upon its reorganization as an entity separate from the control of the royal governor. Today, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania maintains a discretionary docket, meaning that the Court may choose which cases it accepts, with the exception of mandatory death penalty appeals, and certain appeals from the original jurisdiction of the Commonwealth Court. This discretion allows the Court to wield powerful influence on the formation and interpretation of Pennsylvania law.

The Pennsylvania State Capitol is the seat of government for the U.S. state of Pennsylvania located in downtown Harrisburg which was designed by architect Joseph Miller Huston in 1902 and completed in 1906 in a Beaux-Arts style with decorative Renaissance themes throughout. The capitol houses the legislative chambers for the Pennsylvania General Assembly, made up of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the Harrisburg chambers for the Supreme and Superior Courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor. It is also the main building of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex. The seat of government for the state was initially 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 built in Harrisburg. The first, the Hills Capitol, was destroyed in 1897 by a fire. 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. The Pennsylvania State Capitol is often referred to as a "palace of art" because of its many sculptures, murals, and stained-glass windows, most of which are Pennsylvania-themed or Pennsylvanian-made. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006; the boundaries of the designation were expanded to include the Capitol Complex in 2013 with the capitol as a contributing property.

The Buckshot War was the outbreak of unrest in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that transpired after the Pennsylvania gubernatorial and legislative elections in 1838 when both the Whig and Democratic parties claimed control over the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four-year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the seats are contested at each election. Even numbered seats and odd numbered seats are contested in separate election years. The president pro tempore of the Senate becomes the lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania in the event of the sitting lieutenant governor's removal, resignation or death. In this case the president pro tempore and lieutenant governor would be the same person. The Pennsylvania Senate has been meeting since 1791. The president of the Senate is the lieutenant governor, who has no vote except to break a tie vote.

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts.It is the largest full-time state legislature in the country. The New Hampshire House of Representatives is larger but only serves part-time.

Pennsylvania State Capitol sculpture groups are a pair of larger-than-life, multi-figure groups by American sculptor George Grey Barnard, that flank the west entrance to the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Barnard was commissioned to create the sculptures in 1902, and modeled them in clay and plaster over several years in France. Piccirilli Brothers carved them in white Carrara marble in New York City, and installed the finished sculptures at the Capitol in 1911.The south group is titled The Burden of Life: The Broken Law, and is overseen by a heroic size bas relief of Adam and Eve. It portrays life struggles and negative emotions – widowhood, toil, grief, despair – but with the possibility of consolation and hope. The north group is titled Love and Labor: The Unbroken Law, and is overseen by a heroic size bas relief of a prosperous farmer and his wife. It portrays life accomplishments and positive emotions – familial love, education, parenthood, religion – and the promise of the future generation.

The Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex is a large complex of state government buildings in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Set on more than 50 acres (20 ha) of downtown Harrisburg, it includes the Pennsylvania State Capitol and a landscaped park environment with monuments, memorials, and other government buildings. It is bounded on the north by Forster Street, the east by North 7th Street, the south by Walnut Street, and the west by North 3rd Street. Most of this area (bounded on the north by North Street) is a National Historic Landmark District, recognized in 2013 as a fully realized example of the City Beautiful movement landscape and planning design of Arnold Brunner.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania is a non-profit museum at 300 North Street in downtown Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It is run by the state through the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and was created to preserve and interpret the region's history and culture. It is a part of the Pennsylvania State Capitol Complex. While it is officially named the State Museum of Pennsylvania, members of the public, as well as official publications, sometimes refer to the facility as the William Penn Memorial Museum; the museum's central hall features a large statue of Penn.

The Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives is a think tank based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It develops and advances fiscally conservative and libertarian public policies. The organization's stated mission is to "transform free-market ideas into public policies so all Pennsylvanians can flourish."

Tanner's Alley, also called Tanner's Lane, was used to describe an area in Harrisburg by 1811. Many of the city's population of free blacks lived along or near Tanner's Alley, a 500-foot section of the road. It is located along the present-day Capital Park. By 1850, 900 free blacks, making up 12% of the city's population lived in Harrisburg. Residents of the ally were more likely to be the poorest residents. Churches, restaurants, dance halls, and business were also in the Tanner's Alley. The Wesley Union African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, founded in 1816, was located there, as well as other Underground Railroad stations in the homes of free black men and women. The Black Masonic Hall was also located there.Located at Commonwealth and Walnut streets in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania was central to the Underground Railroad and the abolitionist movements of the 19th century. It was along a route that blacks took to get to Canada. The houses of Joseph Bustill and Dr. William Jones, nicknamed "Pap," were stations there. A historical marker at Walnut Street near 4th Street in Harrisburg notes its significance: In the 1850s, this area, known as Tanner's Alley, was important on the Underground Railroad. Fugitive slaves hid at Joseph Bustill's & William Jones' houses, a block apart. Frederick Douglass & William Lloyd Garrison spoke at Wesley Union AME Zion Church nearby.

The State Library of Pennsylvania is one of the largest research libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Until 1971 it was known as the Pennsylvania State Library The Office of Commonwealth Libraries, within the Pennsylvania Department of Education, has holdings in almost every area of human concern. It provides information and materials from its collections and automated resources to state government, state institutions and the general public. It is also charged with maintaining a definitive collection of publications of all agencies of the Commonwealth and serves as a Regional Depository for United States Government Publications. Mission: "The State Library provides information for State Government and citizens while collecting and preserving our written heritage through materials published for, by and about Pennsylvania."

The Ronald Reagan Federal Building and Courthouse at 228 Walnut Street in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania is a twelve-story courts facility located in the central business district of the city. The building, built in 1966, is named for former President Ronald Reagan. It was officially renamed on March 9, 2004. The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania, is housed within the building.