Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania

Jefferson County

42-62920

Punxsutawney is a small town with 6,271 inhabitants ( 2000) in Jefferson County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

History

The first white settlement took place on the territory of an abandoned Native American settlement around 1790.

The name Punxsutawney is a reference to the Indian name Ponkuttenick, which means "place of the mosquitoes ."

Groundhog Day

Every year on February 2, Groundhog Day here ( Groundhog Day ) is celebrated on which a woodchuck to predict the progress of winter. According to legend, it stays in the region for at least six weeks of hard winter if the groundhog named Phil sees his shadow at his first view out of its burrow. Does not it look its shadow, spring begins. This custom is similar to the Seven Sleepers.

Each year this event attracts thousands of visitors to the small town that want to be there when Phil is awakened by blows to the dwelling and forced out of his burrow. The detained since 1887 predictions corresponded previously in 39 % of the annual match with reality.

Filming

Punxsutawney and Groundhog Day in 1993 known for the movie Groundhog Day Groundhog internationally. The film, however, was not turned in Punxsutawney, but in Woodstock, Illinois.

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