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The Commemorative Quarter for Pennsylvania





Welcome to Harrisburg ...

The city of Harrisburg is located in Dauphin County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Pennsylvania.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Harrisburg, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1803.

When the people of Harrisburg refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Harrisburger<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Harrisburg has a population of 49,241 people<3> (see below for details).

Harrisburg is 340 feet [104 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Harrisburg lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Area Codes for Harrisburg: 717 & 223<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Harrisburg had an population of 49,241 people. This is a decrease of 0.58% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.59% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Harrisburg had a population of 49,528 people (or 18.46% of the total population of Dauphin County). This makes Harrisburg the county's most populous community.

The population of Harrisburg represents 0.39% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 9th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 49,528 people, the population of Harrisburg increased 1.18% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 48,950 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Harrisburg.

Communities Also Named Harrisburg ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Pennsylvania communities named Harrisburg: This one is located in Dauphin County and the other is located in Philadelphia County.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there are 44 communities that are also named Harrisburg - they are located in Alabama (2), Arizona (2), Arkansas, California, Colorado (2), Florida, Georgia (3), Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Maryland, Michigan, Missouri (2), Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (3), North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio (4), Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (2), Utah and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Harrisburg.

Websites for Harrisburg ...

Official Website: www.harrisburgcity.com/

Communities near Harrisburg ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Harrisburg.

  • Carlisle
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Elizabethtown
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
    • Elizabethtown is located in Lancaster County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,494 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabethtown <6>
  • Middletown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Mechanicsburg
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Palmyra
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmyra have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
    • Palmyra is located in Lebanon County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,528 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmyra <6>
  • Hummelstown
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hummelstown have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hummelstown
    • Hummelstown is located in Dauphin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hummelstown <6>
  • Manchester
    (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Dillsburg
    (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillsburg
    • Dillsburg is located in York County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,579 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dillsburg <6>
  • Millersburg
    (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
    • Millersburg is located in Dauphin County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,514 people
    • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millersburg <6>
  • Highspire
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Harrisburg. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Harrisburg.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Harrisburg. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Harrisburg.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Harrisburg. Our list includes 176 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Harrisburg.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Harrisburg ...

Looking for more information about Harrisburg? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Harrisburg, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Harrisburg.

Adding Harrisburg to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Harrisburg in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Harrisburg was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

We also found Harrisburg in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Harrisburg.

The official website for Harrisburg: www.harrisburgcity.com/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Pennsylvania's counties, including Dauphin, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Harrisburg refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Harrisburg may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different.
<3>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Harrisburg.
<4>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Harrisburg - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<5>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 717 code has been Overlayed with the 223 area code. New phone numbers in the Harrisburg area will be assigned with one of these codes: 717 or 223. As a result, placing a call in the Harrisburg area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<6>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<7>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<8>An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace.




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025