30 Fun Facts About New Jersey

Melanhy Navarro, Giana Innocenti, and Rachael Konyak
January 29, 2018

Despite the horribly cold winters and scorching hot summers the state of New Jersey has a lot to offer and a very interesting history. There are many unknown facts about our Garden State, here are some fascinating ones:                        

 

  1. New Jersey has the highest population density in the U.S.
  2. New Jersey is the only state where all its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.
  3. The streets in Monopoly are actual streets in Atlantic City.
  4. The honeybee is New Jersey’s state bug.
  5. New Jersey has 108 toxic waste dumps. Which is the most in any one state in the nation.
  6. The longest boardwalk in the world is in Atlantic City.
  7. The first baseball game was played in Hoboken.
  8. The Lambert Castle Museum in Paterson has a spoon exhibit with over 5,400 spoons from every state and almost every country in the world.          
  9. New Jersey is referred to as the diner capital of the world, and has the most diners than any other state.
  10. North Jersey has the most malls in one area in the world.
  11. New Jersey is one of the most expensive states to live in.
  12. Salt water taffy’s origins can be traced back to Atlantic City in 1883.  
  13. New Jersey has the highest water tower in the world.
  14. There are more than 800 lakes and ponds.
  15. The first drive in theater was in Camden.
  16. The state motto is liberty and prosperity.   
  17. The world’s first boardwalk was created in Atlantic City in 1870.
  18. Parsippany has been named Tree City USA for 24 consecutive years.
  19. Jack Nicholson was born in Neptune.
  20.  The state flower is a Violet.                                       
  21. The state seashell is the knobbed whelk which is found on all beaches and bays of New Jersey.                     
  22. The state dinosaur is a Hadrosaurus Foulkii.
  23. New Jersey has 21 counties.
  24. New Jersey was the site for more than 100 battles during the fight for America’s independence.       
  25. New Jersey has a state dance, the square dance.
  26. Mr. Van Winkle was born here in 1968.                  
  27. Passaic River was the site to the first submarine ride.           
  28. New Jersey is the top state for car theft.
  29. New Jersey was the first state to sign the Bill of Rights.
  30. Cheer leading started in Princeton in 1869.