and Maryland. Its central location on the Eastern Seaboard is sometimes said to be the source of its nickname, the Keystone State. It does not, however, touch the Atlantic Ocean at any point. Water nonetheless has been nearly as crucial in the state’s growth as the wealth of its earth.

In the northwest a small panhandle separates Ohio and New York and forms a 40-mile (65-km) waterfront on Lake Erie, giving the state access to the iron ore barges and other commerce of the Great Lakes.