As of 1812, Harrisburg became the capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Located near the center of the state along the Susquehanna River, the region was known to the local Native Americans as Paxtang, which features prominently in the center of this manhole cover. The city itself is named after John Harris, who was granted 800 acres, from the English…not the Susquehannans. The capital boasts the most beautiful state legislative building in the nation, which is modeled on St. Peter’s and Charles Garnier’s opera house in Paris. It is a massive edifice, to house its oversized legislature. The manhole cover dates from around 1910 as referenced by the use of the typeface Franklin Gothic as well as the fact that the Paxtang Electric Company was acquired by Harrisburg Light in 1915. Paxtang Electric was one of the first utilities to embrace underground conduits in dense urban areas. This cover can be found on the main axis with the capital’s steps and it is ironic that the cover was made by J.G. White in New York, versus any Pennsylvania foundry. The cover’s diamond pattern is altered by an added keystone as a nod to the Keystone State. This cover is also part of the Keystone State coaster set which also includes Philadelphia, Pittsburgh & Erie.