John Harris, Jr. offered to give 4 acres (2 ha) and 21 square perches (5,717 ft2; 531 m2) of land near the banks of the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania to the state, provided that it be eventually used as the site of the capital.[4][7] Harris also laid out a city in 1785, near his plot of land, and named it in honor of his father.