Pennsylvania Hosts Largest German American Population in US

Porter, Indiana, a small town on Lake Michigan in the state's northwest, is noted for its access to Indiana Dunes National Park, extensive parks and hiking trails, and grew with the arrival of railroads; it is about 50 miles from Chicago, 16 miles east of Gary, and is served regionally by Gary/Chicago International Airport (GYY). Separately, Pennsylvania has the largest German American population in the United States, with about 1.1 million residents reporting 'German only' ancestry and roughly 2.8 million including mixed ancestry—nearly one in four Pennsylvanians. German immigration began in the late 1600s after William Penn encouraged Rhineland settlers, and by the American Revolution roughly 65,000 Germans had arrived. Those settlers founded towns, farms, religious communities, and cultural traditions—pretzel bakeries, Christkindlmarkts and New Year’s celebrations timed to Germany—that persist today in places such as Harmony (founded in 1804 by George Rapp), Bethlehem, Kutztown and Pittsburgh's Deutschtown. Local historians and community leaders say those settlements and cultural events keep German-American roots alive across the state.