Fast Facts

Geography (A Study in Contrasts)

• NJ has the most diverse ecosystem of any state with mountains, seashore, farmland, forests and wetlands.
• NJ is 9^th in population (8.1 million people in 1998)
• NJ is 46^th in size among states with 8,224 square miles (166 miles top to bottom, 57 miles across)
• NJ is the first state to be designated entirely metropolitan.
• NJ has the highest population density in the US (1,034 people/sq. mile) and is more densely populated than most of the world’s nations yet…
• 43% of New Jersey is open space; 2/3 of the state is farmland or forest.
• There are 1,985,000 acres of forest in NJ
• The Pine Barrens, which is 2000 square miles, takes up 25% of New Jersey’s land mass. It is home to 54 threatened plant species and 34 threatened animal species. It also has a 17 trillion gallon lake under it called the Cohansey Aquifer, a vital source of drinking water for NJ.
• NJ has the largest wilderness area east of the Mississippi
• NJ has 319 square miles of inland water and 130 miles of sandy coastline
• NJ’s coastal plain takes up 4500 square miles
• NJ has 800 lakes and ponds and 1400 miles of prime trout streams
• The Great Falls of Passaic is the 2^nd largest in the US at 77 feet.

• Hudson County is the most densely populated in NJ; Burlington County has the largest land area; Bergen County has the largest population;

• 70 miles of the Appalachian Trail runs through NJ.
• The highest point along the east coast, at 266 feet, is Mount Mitchill (near Sandy Hook).

• NJ is the site of the largest gathering of migratory shorebirds;
• There are 270 species of birds in the Hackensack Meadows.

Agriculture (City in a Garden)

• NJ is 1^st in average value of farmlands/acre ($8,290)
• NJ is 2^nd in the US for blueberry production, with 30 million pounds produced per year. It’s also second for potatoes!
• NJ is 3^rd in the US for cranberry production (behind MA and WI) with 250,000 barrels per year
• NJ is 4^th in the nation for production of tomatoes, green peppers, spinach and peaches.
• NJ is one of the nation’s largest wholesalers of seedlings.
• NJ is 9^th nationwide in wine production.
• Atlantic City is the #1 tourist destination in the US with 33 million visitors/year!

Economy

• NJ is 2nd in the US in per capita income.
• If NJ were a country, it would have the world’s 24^th largest GNP.
• 26 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in New Jersey
• Tourism in NJ is a $23 billion business, making NJ 4^th in tourism revenue (behind CA, FL and TX)
• NJ has 89,000 hotel and motel rooms.
• Bergen County were a state, there would be eight states with less population; four European countries have less people than NJ.
• NJ ranks 5^th for number of millionaires (59,000)
• 71% of New Jerseyans own their own home; the average home in NJ costs $201,600.
• NJ is 3^rd nationwide for number of corporate headquarters with 26 Fortune 500 companies. (Morris County alone has 20). AT & T is the largest private sector employer with 29,000 employees in NJ.
• Bergen County is the second wealthiest county in the nation.
• Prudential Insurance Company in Newark is the nation’s largest.

• The average daily total casinos win in Atlantic City is $5 million.

Entertainment

• Fort Lee was original home of the motion picture industry.
• The music industry got its start in NJ with the development of transcription disks, LPs and microphones.
• Rock and roll got its start in NJ with Bill Hailey and the Comets.
• The first drive-in movie theater in the U.S. was in New Jersey (then called Automotive Movie Theaters)
• Famous entertainers from NJ include: Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, James Gandolfino, Lauryn Hill, Eddie Murphy, Connie Frances, Jack Nicholson, Jon Bon Jovi, Frankie Valli, Joe Piscopo, Alan Alda, Sarah Vaughn, Danny DeVito, Melba Moore, Jerome Kern, Annie Oakley, Liberace, Joe Pesci, Jimmy Roselli, Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Dee, Dick Buttons, Brooke Shields, Bill Haley, Abbott and Costello, Eva Marie Saint, Count Basie, George Segal, Bruce Willis, Susan Sarandon, Tom Cruise, Christopher Reeve, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, John Travolta, Ricky Nelson, Debbie Boone, Mike Tyson

History

• The first non-native to lay eyes on New Jersey (Nova Caesarea) was daVerazano, a Florentine, in spring 1524, near Sandy Hook.
• NJ is called "the cockpit of the Revolution" because most of the eight-year struggle with the British took place here with over 100 battles and skirmishes.

• The first American victory in the Revolutionary War took place in Trenton, December 26, 1776.

• Thomas Paine’s rousing words "These are the times that try men’s souls" were written on the top of a drum on the retreat from Fort Lee to Trenton in 1776.

• New Jersey’s 1776 constitution was the first in the world to grant women’s suffrage. This freedom was later revoked in 1807.
• Five New Jerseyans signed the Declaration of Independence: Abraham Clark, John Hart, Francis Hopkinson, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon.

• Trenton was once considered the site for the nation’s capital (in 1784)

• Swedes and Dutch originally settled NJ.

• NJ was the third state to enter the union on December 18, 1787
• NJ was the first state to ratify the "Bill of Rights"
• In 1800, there were 12,422 slaves in NJ. Not until 1846 was slavery banned.
• Three Underground Railroad routes passed through NJ. 50,000 slaves were led to freedom through NJ before the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
• The only NJ native to become President of the US was Grover Cleveland (from West Caldwell). He was the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms.
• The only NJ resident to become President was Woodrow Wilson, who was president of Princeton University.

• Long Branch, on the shore, was considered the "Summer White House" for seven U.S. Presidents.

• The Hindenburg dirigible, the first to offer trans-Atlantic passenger service, burned in Lakehurst, NJ in 1937.
• Historic residents (born, raised or lived here) include Aaron Burr, Thomas Paine, Walt Whitman, suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul and Lucy Stone,

Government

• NJ has a home rule form of government
• NJ has 13 members of the House of Representatives
• NJ ranks 1^st in property tax in the nation

• There are 566 municipalities in NJ of which 36% have less than 5,000 people.
• NJ has 300 local authorities and 180 fire districts.
• In 1997 NJ paid $64 billion in Federal taxes and received $39.5 billion in Federal money. NJ is #49 on rate of return.

Education

• There are 616 school districts in NJ. 40% have fewer than 249 students.
• NJ ranks 1^st in the nation in per student spending ($10,800)
• NJ ranks 3^rd in the nation for teacher’s salaries (average is $49,000)

• Clara Barton started the first public schools in NJ in Bordentown.

• NJ has 52 institutes for higher education.

Ethnicity

• NJ ranks 5^th in international migration
• NJ has the most diverse mix of national origins of any state in the union
• 85% of New Jerseyans are Christian (of those 40% are Roman Catholic), 4.3% Jewish (#2 in US), .6% Muslim (#2 in US),
• NJ has fourth largest Asian population in US; the seventh largest Hispanic population
• 1 in 5 New Jerseyans is of Italian descent.
• The one-square mile Ironbound district in Newark is home to 35,000 Portuguese immigrants.

Health

• NJ is the Medical and Pharmaceutical Research Center of the World. Among companies headquartered here are Johnson & Johnson, Schering Plough, Hoffman LaRoche, Carter Wallace, CIBA, Merck, Squibb and Sandoz.
• Among the pharmaceutical firsts are Ether (Dr. Squibb), Sulfas (Merck), Penicillin (Squibb), Synthetic Cortisone (Merck), Streptomycin, Valium and Librium (Hoffman LaRoche).
• NJ is the leading producer of pharmaceuticals, detergents, and toiletries.
• NJ is 50^th in suicide rates in the U.S.
• NJ is 4^th for number of AIDS cases

Transportation

• The first airport in the US was Bader Field, in Atlantic City, in 1918.
• NJ is the nation’s leader in highway design, with the first traffic circle in 1925, the first cloverleaf in 1929 and the first center divider (the Jersey Barrier) in 1949. The jughandle is also a product of New Jersey.
• The New Jersey Turnpike, at 148 miles long, is the nation’s (and perhaps the world’s) busiest road with 200 million vehicles per year. It’s also considered the safest road in the U.S. (The Garden State Parkway is 174 miles long).
• 46 million vehicles per year cross the George Washington Bridge inbound to Manhattan.
• NJ has the highest density in rail mileage, highway traffic and intensity of transportation networks.

• Fort Lee has more traffic per day per capita than any town in the US.

• NJ has more helipads than any other state.
• NJ has 5.8 million drivers.

Technology

• NJ is the "Research Center of the World," largely due to Bell Labs in Murray Hill, one of the foremost research labs in the world. With 26,000 patents, it has averaged one per day since it was founded in 1926. Among them are the artificial larynx (1929), stereo sound (1933), the transistor (1947), solar battery (1954), the laser (1958), the 1^st orbiting communication satellite (1962), UNIX (1969), C++ (1983), the first transatlantic fiberoptic cable (1988) and the first touch tone phone (1964)

• Thomas Edison had 1,093 patents, including the light bulb, phonograph, movie camera and nickel-iron battery in New Jersey.

Industry

• In the 18^th century, the Pine Barrens was the industrial center of NJ and the US.
• Paterson produced 80% of America’s locomotives by 1880.

• In 1910, Paterson produced 1/3 of the nation’s silk, with 25,000 workers in 350 plants
• NJ’s chemical industry (largest industry in the state) is second only to Texas.
• NJ’s ports are #2 in the U.S.; the first container port in the U.S. is Elizabeth.
• The northern end of the Turnpike goes through one of the world’s largest oil refineries.

Sports

• The first game of baseball was played in Hoboken, in the Elysian Fields, in 1846.
• The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1869, between Princeton and Rutgers.
• The first professional basketball game was played in Trenton in 1896.
• The first play-by-play radio broadcast of a baseball game was October 5, 1921 by WJZ in Newark. The teams were the NY Yankees vs. the NY Giants.
• The first baseball game that broke the color line was played in Jersey City in 1946 with Jackie Robinson.

And More…

• NJ is 1^st in # of state and local police per population: 39.1 per thousand.

• NJ is 1^st in the nation for hazardous waste sites (190)

There are five daily newspapers in New Jersey:

• Jersey Journal (Jersey City)
• Newark Star Ledger (Newark)
• Herald News (Passaic County)
• Bergen Record (Hackensack)
• Philadelphia Inquirer

Made in New Jersey:

• Cranberries, Blueberries, Tomatoes and Eggs
• Lenox China (Trenton)
• Trent Tiles (Trenton)
• Wire Rope used for Brooklyn, Golden Gate and Niagara Bridges
• Campbell’s Soup (Camden)
• Franco American Spaghetti (Camden)
• Salt Water Taffy (Atlantic City)
• Crystal (Flemington)
• Mason Jars (Millvillle) at Wheaton Glass Factory
• Monopoly game (Atlantic City)
• Welch Grape Juice (Vineland)
• Textiles (Passaic)
• Bricks (Perth-Amboy)
• Locomotives (Paterson)
• Heavy Machinery (Jersey City)
• Flexible Flyer Sled (Moorestown)
• Singer Sewing Machines (Elizabeth), Clark Cotton Thread
• Personal Care products from Colgate, Polident, Johnson & Johnson, Mennen
• Home products (Frigidaire, Benjamin Moore paints, Congoleum flooring, Marcal paper)
• Haagen-Daz ice cream
• Roebling Steel
• Sunshine Biscuits
• Trojan Condoms
• RCA Victor televisions
• Faber Castell pencils
• Diners
• Caviar (Delaware Bay in the late 19^th century)
• Drakes Cakes, 1881
• Esso Oil (Standard Oil of New Jersey)
• Wheatena
• 3-in-1 Oil
• Laird’s Apple Jack
• Transistor (Bell Labs)

Trivia:

• NJ is the "Diner Capital of the World"

• Welch grape juice was invented in Vineland, NJ by T.B. Welch, a teetotaler, as an alternative to communion wine.
• Barnegat Light is the "Tile Fish Capital of the World."
• Hammonton is the "Blueberry Capital of the World."
• Vineland is the "Dandelion Capital of the World."
• Leamings Run Gardens in Swainton is the "Hummingbird Capital of the World"
• The most varieties of iris in one garden in the world is the Presby Garden in Mountainside Park, Montclair with 6,000 varieties.

Firsts in New Jersey:

• The first brewery in the U.S. was in Hoboken, 1642.
• The first log cabins in the US were built in southern New Jersey, by the Swedes.
• The first glass company in the US was in Millville in 1739.
• The first Indian reservation in the U.S. was in Burlington County in 1758.
• NJ was the first state to ratify the "Bill of Rights" in 1789.
• The first balloon flight in America took place in NJ in 1793, carrying a message from George Washington.
• The first ferry service in the world was between Hoboken and Manhattan, in 1811.
• The first patent leather was developed by Seth Boyden in Newark, in 1815.
• John Stevens developed the first working steam locomotive in Hoboken, in 1824.
• The first repeating firearm, the Colt revolver, was made in Paterson, 1836.
• The first telegraph was sent in Speedwell, NJ on January 6, 1838 by Samuel Morse.
• The first game of baseball was played in Hoboken, in the Elysian Fields, in 1846.
• America’s first planned suburb was Llewellyn Park in West Orange, in the 1850’s. The nation’s leading inventors lived there.
• The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1869, between Princeton and Rutgers.
• The first incandescent light was invented by Thomas Edison in Menlo Park, 1870.
• The first boardwalk in the world was Atlantic City, 1870.
• The first celluloid was developed in Newark, in 1870, by John Wesley Hyatt.
• The first use of asphalt for street paving was in Newark, in 1870.
• The first formula for root beer was developed by Charles Hires in 1876.
• The first phonograph was played in Menlo Park by Thomas Edison in 1877.
• The first electric light was developed by Edison in Menlo Park in 1879.
• The first submarine was invented in 1878, by John Holland in Passaic.
• The first salt water taffy was produced in Atlantic City in 1880.
• Roselle was the 1^st city in the world to be lit by incandescent lights in 1883.
• The first motion picture was developed in 1889, by Thomas Edison, in West Orange.
• The first "picture postcards" were produced in Atlantic City, in 1895.
• The first professional basketball game was played in Trenton in 1896.
• The first condensed soup was made in Camden, New Jersey in 1897 by Joseph Campbell. He won a gold medal for excellence at the Paris Exhibition. In 1915 came Franco American spaghetti, in 1932 came Cream of Tomato soup, and in 1934, cream of mushroom soup.
• The first ferris wheel was built in Atlantic City in 1891, by Willilam Somers.
• The first demonstration of wireless transmission was in Navesink, in 1899, by Gugielmo Marconi
• The first frozen foods for mass consumption were made at Seabrook Farms in 1913. Quick freezing was done in the 1930’s.
• The first public art museum in NJ was the Montclair Art Museum, in 1914.
• Blueberries were first cultivated for commercial use in Whitesbog, in 1916.
• The first official airport in the US was Bader Field in Atlantic City, in 1918.
• The first airplane passenger service was from Atlantic City in 1919.The first Miss America was chosen in Atlantic City in 1921.
• The first Bandaid was produced by Johnson and Johnson in 1921. They were first mass-produced in 1924.
• The first air conditioner was developed in Newark in 1922 by Willis Haviland Carrier.
• The first play-by-play radio broadcast of a baseball game was October 5, 1921 by WJZ in Newark. The teams were the NY Yankees vs. the NY Giants.
• The golf tee was invented in NJ in 1921, in Maplewood, by William Lowell.
• The 1^st traffic circle in the US was at Airport Circle in 1925 in Camden County. At their peak in the 1970’s there were 67 in the state. Now there are 40.
• The first station to televise a human image was WRNY in Coytesville, 1928.
• Woodbridge was the first town in the US to have a cloverleaf intersection in 1929.
• The first guide dog school (Seeing Eye dogs) was created in Morristown in 1929.
• The first drive-in movie was in Camden, 1933. (In the 1950’s there were more than 5000 in the U.S. NJ’s last one closed in 1991)
• The first National Historic Park was in Morristown in 1933.
• The first FM radio was developed in 1933 by Edwin Howard Armstrong. The 1^st FM station was in Alpine in 1940.

• The first nuclear chain reaction was initiated by Enrico Fermi of Leonia.
• The first Teflon was developed by Dr. Roy Plunkett in 1938, at DuPont in Deepwater.

• The first submarine sandwich was served in Atlantic City in the 1940’s, at White House Sub Station
• The first baseball game that broke the color line was played in Jersey City in 1946 with Jackie Robinson.
• The first transistor was developed in 1947 at Bell Labs in Murray Hill by William Shockley.
• The first highway center divider in the US (the Jersey Barrier) was developed in 1949.
• The first rock and roll was performed in NJ in the early 50s by Bill Haley and the Comets in the Twin Bar.
• The first bar code (universal pricing code) was developed in Atlantic City by Joseph Woodland in 1952.
• The first direct distance calling, coast to coast, was from Englewood in 1951.
• The first scientific paper on communication with extraterrestrials was written in 1959 by Philip Morrison.
• The first robot used to replace human workers was at GM in Ewing Township in 1961.
• NJ was the first state to establish an endangered species project in 1973.
• NJ was first state in U.S. to allow gay couples to adopt children in 1997.

Other Firsts

• The first tomato in the new world was eaten in New Jersey (they were thought to be poisonous)
• The first "road" in the US was in NJ, the Old Mine Road, which ran from the Hudson Valley to the Delaware Valley.
• The first commercial fertilizer was marketed in NJ.
• The Pine Barrens is America’s 1^st National Reserve.
• The first American flag to be woven from a loom was created in Paterson.

• The first documented dinosaur discovery in the New World was in New Jersey, the Hadrosaurus, NJ’s first state bird.

• The first fiberoptic trans-Atlantic cable is in Tuckerton.
• The first cow to be artificially inseminated was in Readington Township.
• The first talcum powder was developed in Newark by Gerhard Mennen.

Only in New Jersey

• The Miss America Pageant
• Lucy, the giant elephant, at Margate City. She is 6 stories high and 38 feet long. Now it is a museum.
• Popcorn Park Zoo, 1977, for abused animals
• The Trash Museum in Lyndhurst, 1989
• Daytime harness racing, Freehold Raceway
• Paterson is the only industrial district designated as a National Historic Landmark, 1976.
• Elsie the Cow, from Plainfield, was first exhibited at the 1939 World’s Fair. She traveled all over the country promoting milk from 1932 to 1941. She died in a car crash in 1941.

Oldest

• NJ has the oldest seaside resort: Cape May, a national historic landmark

• Union City’s Passion Play is the oldest in the nation, formed in 1931.
• The oldest log cabin in the U.S. is C. A. Nothnagle Log House in Gibbstown, built between 1638 and 1643 by Swedish immigrants.
• Sandy Hook Lighthouse is the oldest operating one in the nation.
• Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn is the oldest continuously operating non-profit theater in the U.S.
• Atlantic City’s boardwalk is the oldest and most popular in the world.
• The oldest continuously operating winery in the US is Renault Wineries in Egg Harbor (1870’s)
• The oldest county park system in the US is in Essex County.

Of Note

• The famous Lindbergh kidnapping took place in Hopewell.
• Santa Claus as we know him was created by NJ cartoonist Thomas Nast, for Harper’s Weekly, in 1863. He also created the donkey and elephant caricatures for the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as Uncle Sam.
• The Governor’s summer mansion is on Island Beach.
• Route 9 was originally a Lenni Lenape Indian Trail. It was later called "The King’s Highway."
• In the movie "War of the Worlds," martians landed in Grovers Mill, NJ, west of Princeton.
• The first Atlantic City Boardwalk was built in 1870 to keep the sand out of the ladies shoes.

Largest

• The world’s largest bottle is in Millville, at the Wheaton Glass Factory.
• The world’s largest stone museum is in Monroe, at Display World.
• The world’s largest golf museum, with 13,000 volumes, is in Far Hills (Golf House)
• The largest selection of cut glass in the world is in Flemington, at the Cut Glass Factory.
• The world’s largest campus for the study of Hasidic Judaism is in Morristown-the Rabbinical College of America.

• NJ is the poultry center of the east coast, the "egg basket of the nation" and has the largest egg co-op in the world.

• The largest miniature railway in the world is in Flemington, at Northlandz.
• The largest pipe organ in the world, with 32,913 pipes, is in the Atlantic City Convention Hall.
• The largest American holly farm in the US is in Millville.
• The Franklin-Ogdensburg area of eastern Sussex County has yielded a greater variety of minerals than any place on earth.
• Newark’s Branch Brook Park has 2700 cherry trees, making it’s springtime display larger than Washington D.C.’s. The famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead designed the park.
• Newark’s Cathedral of the Sacred Heart has the largest rose window in the Western Hemisphere.
• The longest viaduct in the world is the Pulaski Skyway at seven miles, built in 1928.
• The Sheraton Atlantic City has the largest collection of Miss America memorabilia.
• The largest performing arts organization in New Jersey is the Paper Mill Playhouse.
• New Jersey’s largest town green is in Bloomfield.
• Seabrook Farms is one of the largest agricultural farms in the world, with 60,000 acres.
• The largest rodeo on the east coast is in Woodstown, known as "Cowtown"
• The largest lake in NJ is Lake Hopatcong.
• Vernon Valley/Great Gorge has world’s largest snowmaking facility
• The Salem Oak tree, in Salem, is estimated to be 500 years old, is 30 feet in circumference.
• Paterson Falls is one of the largest east of the Mississippi
• The Franklin-Ogdenburg area of eastern Sussex County has yielded a greater number of species 340) and varieties (360) of minerals than any other place in the world. (Franklin Minerals)

Famous New Jerseyans

• Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, James Gandolfino, Lauryn Hill, Eddie Murphy, Connie Frances, Jack Nicholson, Jon Bon Jovi, Frankie Valli, Joe Piscopo, Alan Alda, Sarah Vaughn, Danny DeVito, Melba Moore, Jerome Kern, Annie Oakley, Liberace, Joe Pesci, Jimmy Roselli, Whitney Houston, Dionne Warwick, Jerry Lewis, Sandra Dee, Dick Buttons, Brooke Shields, Bill Haley, Abbott and Costello, Eva Marie Saint, Count Basie, George Segal, Bruce Willis, Susan Sarandon, Tom Cruise, Christopher Reeve, Tommy Dorsey, Glenn Miller, John Travolta, Ricky Nelson, Debbie Boone, Mike Tyson, Allen Ginsberg, Buzz Aldrin, Ben Franklin, Clara Barton, Richard Nixon, Yogi Berra, Doris Duke, Eugene O’Neill, Ed Koch, Ann Morrow Lindberg, Charles Lindberg, Admiral Halsey, Milton Friedman, Judy Blume, Vince Lombardi, Althea Gibson, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Mary Higgins Clark, Charles Addams, Stephen Crane, Cecille DeMille.b

Architectural Wonders

• The Pulaski Skyway
• Edison’s Lightbulb Museum, Menlo

Nobel Prize Winners

• 1956—Physics, 3 Bell Labs employees (for the transistor)

Great Hot Dogs in NJ

• Cousin Freddies Gourmet: Jersey City, Since 1957 (100 combinations including anchovies, curry, peanut butter, etc.)
• Windmill Restaurant—Long Beach Island, Long Branch
• Hot Dog Johnnies—Buttzville
• Max’s—Long Branch
• Old Homestead—Irvington
• Callahan’s—Fort Lee

Roadside BBQ

• Big Eds in Old Bridge
• The Kingfish in Richland (Rte 40)

Railroad Rides

• Allaire State Park, Pine Creek Railroad 732-938-2371 (STEAM)
• Black River and Western Railroad, (roundtrip betw. Ringoes and Flemington, 70 minutes) 908-782-9600 (STEAM)
• Cape May Seashore Lines, 4 26-minute round trips daily between Cape May and Tuckahoe (summer only), 609-884-5300

Victorian Homes

• Cape May (600)
• Salem (60)
• Flemington
• Ocean Grove
• Lambertville
• Phillipsburgh
• Spring Lake
• Island Heights
• Ocean City
• Long Beach Island

Antiques and Flea Markets

• Flemington
• Hopewell
• Lambertville
• Mullica Hill (near Swedesboro)
• Boonton
• Red Bank Antique Center
• Collingswood Auction (Tinton Falls)
• Englishtown Flea Market
• Lafayette Mills Antique Center
• Allaire
• Manasquan
• Point Pleasant
• Neshanic Station
• Smithville Antiques Center
• Howell Flea Market (Rte 9)
• Barnegat
• Keyport Antique Emporium
• Route 9 north of Cape May
• Point Pleasant Antiques Emporium

Ethnic Origins

• Germans settled in Hoboken and Irvington in the 1840’s
• Irish settled in Jersey City, to work on railroads and canals
• Scotch settled in Kearny and Harrison (mills)
• Swiss settled in West New York and Union City (embroidery)
• Germans also settled in Sussex County and the northwest mountain and lake district, which reminded them of Bavaria
• Hessians (descendents from the Revolutionary War) settled in the Pinelands
• Russians also settled in the Pinelands
• Russian Jews settled in Vineland and set up farms and clothing factories

Famous Diners

• Roadside Diner, Asbury Park
• Truckstop Diner, Kearny
• White Circle Diner, Bloomfield
• White Diamond Diner, Westfield
• White Manna, Hackensack
• Bendix Diner, Hasbrouck Heights
• Forked River Diner, Route 9
• Harris Diner, E. Orange
• Salem Oak Diner, Salem
• Miss America Diner, Jersey City
• Excellent Diner, Westfield
• The Shore Diner, Rio Grande
• Mom’s Diner, East Windsor
• Key City Diner, Phillipsburg
• Nicks Loop Luncheonette, Maplewood
• White Star Diner, Plainfield
• Kless’s Diner, Irvington
• North Arlington Diner
• Short Stop Diner, Bloomfield

Amusement Parks

• Keansburg Amusement Park (Bay Shore)
• Fantasy Island Amusement Park, Long Beach Island
• Wildwood Boardwalk
• Clementon Amusement Park
• Great Adventure
• Vernon Valley/Great Gorge
• Jenkinson’s South Amusement Park, Point Pleasant
• Bowcraft Amusement Park
• Asbury Park Boardwalk

Boardwalks

• Long Branch
• Atlantic City
• Asbury Park
• Ocean Grove
• Belmar
• Spring Lake
• Seaside Heights
• Point Pleasant
• Wildwood

Carousels

• Floyd L. Moreland Carousel, Seaside Heights, Casino Pier
• Historic Dentzel/Looft Carousel, Clementon (80 years old)

Covered Bridges

• Green Sergeants Bridge, Route 604, Sergeantsville (1872)
• Scarborough Covered Bridge (1959)

Boat Rides

• Riva Belle (Mississippi River Paddle Boat), Manasquan River and Barnegut Bay, 732-528-6620
• Miss Barnegat Light, (whale watching cruise), 609-494-2094
• Black Whale III, Beach Haven to Atlantic City, 609-492-0333

Nude Beaches

• Sandy Hook (South of Battery Gunnison)

Ferry Service

• Seastreak, 9 trips daily from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands to Manhattan, 1-800-BOATRIDE
• Cape May Ferry, 1-800-64FERRY
• Ferry to Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island (Liberty Park)
• Ferry to Manhattan from Guttenberg

Lighthouses

• Conover Beacon, Bayshore/Sandyhook, 1856
• Twin Lights, Highlands
• Sandy Hook Lighthouse
• Barnegat Lighthouse, LBI
• Sea Girt

Apple Orchards and Pumpkin Patches

• Delicious Apple Orchards, Colts Neck, Rte 34,
• Matarazzo Farm and 3 Sisters Winery, Belvidere, 908-475-3671
• Mood’s Farm Market, Mullica Hill, 609-478-2500
• U-Pick, Mullica Hill, 609-478-2864
• Patane’s Farm, Gibbstown, 609-423-2726
• Crest Fruit Farm, Freehold, 732-462-5669
• Casola Farms, Colts Neck, 732-946-8885
• Shwahla Farm, Howell, 732-542-5404
• Menzel Brothers, Holmdel, 732-946-3060
• Earth Friendly Organic Farms, Millstone, 732-259-9744
• Battleview Orchards, Monmouth, 732-462-0756
• Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck, 732-542-5404

Historic Museums

• Waterloo Village,
• Wheaton Village, Millville, 609-825-6800
• Fosterfields Farm
• Village of Greenwich, 609-455-4055
• New Sweden/Farmstead Museum, Bridgeton, 1-800-319-3379
• Ocean City Historical Museum, 609-399-1801
• Museum of Early Trades and Crafts
• Hunterdon Historical Museum
• Howell Living History Farm, Titusville, 609-737-3299
• Old Barracks Museum, Trenton, 1758, 609-396-1776
• Historic Allaire Village, Allaire State Park, 732-938-2371
• Monmouth Battlefield State Park, Allaire, 1520 acres, 732-462-0616
• Barclay Farmstead, Cherry Hill, 609-795-6225
• Batsto Village, Hammonton, 609-898-2300
• Ocean County Historic Museum, 732-341-1880
• Long Beach Island Historic Museum, 609-492-0700
• Twin Lights Museum, Highlands, 732-872-1814
• Lonstreet Farm (300 years old), Holmdel, 732-946-3758
• Monmouth County Historical Association Museum, Freehold, 732-462-1466
• Spy House Museum, Port Monmouth, 732-787-1807
• Historic Cold Spring Village, Cape May, 69-898-2300
• Leaming’s Run Garden and Colonial Farm, 609-465-5871
• Tom’s River Maritime Museum, 732-349-9209

Open Space

• Island Beach State Park, 3,002 acres
• Great Swamp (26 miles west of NYC), 7400 acres
• Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, 60 miles long, 25 yards wide, 732-873-3050
• Pine Barrens, Greenwood Wildlife Management Area, 27,298 acres, 609-259-7954
• Hut Cheson Memorial Forest, East Millstone, 400 acres (trees average 235 years old), 732-932-3388
• Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary, Cape May, 10 miles long, 732-793-0506
• Wetlands Institute, Stone Harbor, 6000 acres, 609-368-5102
• Wharton State Forest, 110,000 acres, 609-561-3262
• Cape May Natl. Wildlife Refuge, 16,700 acres, 609-463-0994
• South Mountain Reservation, Greater Newark, 2047 acres
• Mettler’s Woods, 64 acres of uncut forest

Racetracks

• Raceway Park, Old Bridge (drag racing), 732-446-6331
• Wall Stadium, Wall (stock car racing), 732-681-6400

For Kids

Wineries

Canoe Rental

Public Golf Courses

• Overpeck Park, Teaneck
• Spring Meadow Golf Course, Allaire, 732-449-0806

Places to Go Clamming

• Barnegat Bay
• Little Egg Harbor
• Reed’s Bay

Historic Home Tours

Sports

Produce Farms

Ski Areas

websites

• You've been seriously injured at Action Park.
• You know that the only people who call it "Joisey" are from New York

(usually The Bronx) or Texas.

• You don't think of citrus when people mention "The Oranges."
• You know that it's called "Great Adventure," not "Six Flags."
• You've ordered a hard roll with butter for breakfast.
• You've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.
• You've eaten at a diner, when you were stoned or drunk, at 3 am.
• Whenever you park, there's a Camaro within three spots of you.
• You remember that the "Two Guys" were from Harrison.
• You know that the state isn't one big oil refinery.
• You have at least three people in your family who still love Springsteen
• You know what town Jon Bon Jovi is from.
• You know what a "jug handle" is.
• You know what a WaWa is.
• You know that the state isn't all farmland.
• You know that there are no "beaches" in New Jersey - there's "The

Shore,"

• You know that the road to the shore is "The Parkway" not "The Garden State Highway."
• You know that a "Piney" isn't a tree.
• Your school cafeteria actually made very good Italian subs.
• You call them "subs" not a "submarine sandwich" or worse yet, a "hoagy" or a "hero."
• You remember the song from the Palisades Park commercials.
• You know how to properly negotiate a Circle.
• You knew that the last question had to do with driving.
• You know that "Acme" is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros.

creation.

• You know that this is the only "New..." state that doesn't require

"New" to identify it (like, try . ..Mexico, ...York, ...Hampshire (doesn't

work, does it?).

• You know how to translate this conversation: "Jeet yet?" "No, Jew?"
• You only go to New York City for day trips, and you only call it

"The City."

• You know that a "White Castle" is the name of BOTH a fast food chain AND a fast food sandwich.
• You consider a corned beef sandwich with lettuce and mayo a

Sacrilege.

• In the 80's you wore your hair REALLY high.
• You don't think "What exit" (do you live near?) is very funny.
• You know that the real first "strip shopping center" in the country

is Route 22.

• You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little different."
• You know that no respectable New Jerseyian goes to Princeton - that's for out-of-staters.
• The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bar.
• You live within 20 minutes of at least three different malls.
• You can see the Manhattan skyline from some part of your town.
• You refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.
• Every year, you had at least two kids in your class named Tony.
• You know the location of every "clip" shown in the Sopranos opening credits.
• You've gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of Willowbrook

Mall.

• You've eaten a Boardwalk cheesesteak with vinegar fries.
• You have a favorite Atlantic City casino.
• You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.
• You know that "youse" is not a synonym for utilize but for y'all.

And finally...

• You've never pumped your own gas.

1. You don't understand why there aren't more 24-hour diners elsewhere in the country.
2. You know what a Wawa is, and know the location of at least 15 of
them.
3. You think a mountain is that big freakin' hill in Atlantic
Highlands.
4. You know Asbury Park is no longer the mecca of East Coast resort
towns.
5. Even though there's a new Walmart in your town, you still go to the
Englishtown Auction for cheap stuff.
6. You can name all the flavors of salt water taffy.
7. Your car is covered with yellow-green dust in April and May.
8. You buy Shop-Rite brand food at Shop-Rite.
9. You can smell and know when it's low tide.
10. The Jets/Giants game has started fights at your school and/or
local bar.
11. There are no self serve gas stations and you like it that freakin'
way... "yous gotta problem wit dat?"
12. You've had sex on the beach, and I'm not talking about the
beverage.
13. You know how to successfully handle a traffic circle.
14. You know what skeeball is and you can get three 50's in a row.
15. You think the Olive Garden is crap and should have never opened any restaurants in New Jersey.
16. You've run out of money on the Parkway.
17. You're Italian.
18. You know where to get the best bagel.
19. Donald Trump is mentioned at least daily in your local paper.
20. You say "water" weird. (Wadder, Cawfee, Dowg, wadever)
21. Even your school made good Italian subs.
22. You've lived through hurricanes, nor'easters and fires, but have
never seen a tornado, earthquake, tsunami or volcano.
23. You can't believe MTV went to Seaside Heights.
24. You know that ACME is an actual store, not just a Warner Bros.
creation.
25. You only go to New York City for day trips.
26. You know what a "jug handle" is.
27. You have mandatory recycling. Enforced by law.
28. You've eaten a pork roll and cheese on a hard roll...and like it.
29. You go to at least one parade at the boardwalk each year.
30. You've pondered, "Maybe basketball would be more popular in New Jersey if the Nets didn't blow,"
31. You can go bowling at 1:30 A.M. (with automatic scoring)!
32. In high school, you worked at a Friendly's.
33. Route 18 doesn't freak you out at night.
34. Because your town was founded before 1776, all the restaurants,
taverns, and shops have "ye," "olde," and "colonial" in their names.
35. You don't have to go to red lobster to get fresh seafood.
36. You once said, "It smells like New York in here,"
37. You've waited for the goddamn drawbridge for more than 20 damn minutes.
38. At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen.
39. There's a fruit and vegetable stand down the road.
40. "Anyone who makes bad pizza can go to hell" is your attitude.
41. You always use a minimum of 10 variations of the word "damn" while
driving.
42. You don't take any shit from anybody. Especially from someone from New York, because you live here for Christ's sake and just who the hell do they think they are anyway? Invading our damn beaches and bars, they're just here for the damn summer and they think they own the damn place and....
43. You've gone to the race track with twenty different daily double
bets from twenty different people
44. You've spent St. Patrick's Day in Belmar.
45. You know that there are bakeries which are not part of a
supermarket, but actual individual stores.
46. You've ordered a "hard roll with butter" for breakfast.
47. One time, a sea gull crapped on your head.
48. You've eaten at a Windmill, drunk off your ass, at 3am at least a
dozen times.
49. You know what a "benny" is and can pick one out at the beach.
50. You've planned a local trip around ensuring you pass at least one
Dunkin' Donuts.
*51. You don't think of citrus when people mention "The Oranges"
*52. You know that it's called "Great Adventure"... not "Six Flags",
dammit!
*53. When people ask you where you live, you tell them your
Parkway/Turnpike exit number.
*54. You watched "Mallrats" and said "I've been to that mall!"
*55. At least half the people you knew in high school went to Rutgers.
*56. You know where Jimmy Hoffa is buried.
*57. Your big class trip in elementary school was to Morristown.
*58. You long for the days when the Devils wore Christmas colors.
*59. You know that the only people that call it "Joisey" are from New
York.
*60. You're radioactive and proud of it.