Draw Pennsylvania Outline from Memory
How well do you know The Keystone State? Draw Pennsylvania from memory and score 0–100 based on how accurately you sketch its distinctive outline.
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Why Pennsylvania Looks the Way It Does
Pennsylvania's charter was a longitude with no map. In 1681, William Penn was granted lands bounded on the east by the Delaware River and extending "five degrees of longitude" west — a measurement that worked on paper and produced, eventually, a state whose west border is one clean meridian. The Mason-Dixon line fixed the southern edge in 1767, and the 42nd parallel closed the north: Penn's rectangle was complete, minus its wiggle where the river ran.
The Erie Triangle was a late purchase, not a birthright. The 1780s border commission put Pennsylvania's northwest corner short of the lake — until the state realized it would touch none of the Great Lakes, and Congress sold it the triangle of land around Erie in 1792 for about $150,000. That small notch gave Pennsylvania its port, its naval access, and its place in the Great Lakes system.
The Delaware River border wiggles because rivers did, and Philadelphia — the largest city of the young republic — sits exactly where the wiggle meets the fall line. Pennsylvania is the colonial map's keystone in fact as in name: its straight lines anchor the geometry of the Mid-Atlantic, and its arcs and wiggles are the seams where royal grants had to be reconciled with real terrain.
Quick Facts: Pennsylvania
- Capital
- Harrisburg
- Nickname
- The Keystone State
- Statehood
- 1787
- Area
- 115,883 km²
- Borders
- New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio
What is "Drawing Pennsylvania Outline from Memory"?
Drawing Pennsylvania from memory means sketching the Keystone State's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the state's distinctive features and overall proportions — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
Pennsylvania became a state in 1787 and is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. When you hit Reveal, your sketch is scored 0–100 against the real border, so every attempt teaches you something about the outline.
Pennsylvania is a rectangle with one long wiggle: the north (42nd parallel), south (Mason-Dixon), and west lines are dead straight, while the Delaware River saws down the entire eastern side. At the top-left corner, the small Erie Triangle pokes northwest to give the state its only Great Lake shoreline.
How to Draw Pennsylvania from Memory
Step 01
Draw the rectangle first: wider than tall, with three clean straight sides — the 42nd parallel on top, the Mason-Dixon line on the bottom, and a straight meridian on the west. The shape's rectangular core is what "Keystone" geometry rests on.
Step 02
The east edge is the Delaware River: one long, wiggly vertical line sawing down from the New York border to Philadelphia, then continuing southeast along the river's course toward Delaware. Give it steady, spaced meanders.
Step 03
Add the Erie Triangle: at the top-left, a small rectangle extending northwest past the main 42nd-parallel line to touch Lake Erie. It's a modest notch, but it's Pennsylvania's only window onto the Great Lakes.
A keystone-shaped rectangle: straight lines on the top, bottom, and west, with the Delaware River carving one long wiggle down the right side — plus a small notch at the top-right for Lake Erie.
How Pennsylvania Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against Pennsylvania's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Drawing large and roughly centered is the single fastest way to raise your score — a small sketch tucked in a corner overlaps less of the true border, so it scores lower. For Pennsylvania, keep the whole outline in frame and let the distinctive parts do the work.
FAQ
- What makes Pennsylvania's outline distinctive?
- Pennsylvania is a rectangle with one long wiggle: the north (42nd parallel), south (Mason-Dixon), and west lines are dead straight, while the Delaware River saws down the entire eastern side. At the top-left corner, the small Erie Triangle pokes northwest to give the state its only Great Lake shoreline.
- How hard is it to draw Pennsylvania from memory?
- Pennsylvania is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. You can score your attempts immediately and watch your accuracy climb with practice.
- Which states border Pennsylvania?
- Pennsylvania shares its border with 6 US states — New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio are on this site. Drawing a neighbor right after Pennsylvania helps anchor both outlines in your memory.
- How is my Pennsylvania drawing scored?
- Your sketch is compared with Pennsylvania's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Matched is the share of the border you covered, Extra is how much of your drawing fell outside it, and Missed is the border you didn't reach. The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score.
- Can I draw Pennsylvania on mobile?
- Yes — Pennsylvania works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.