While on vacation last week, we were with Vinay's colleagues from all over the country. When I mentioned that we live in New Jersey. People always get the same look in their eye. In their mind they are imagining how we could set up our lives in that garbage dump of a state like NJ. Sadly NJ gets a bad rap. Although some of the generalizations are a little true in certain parts of the state, for the most part it is a beautiful state. Here are some interesting facts about the great state of New Jersey.
New Jersey is a peninsula.
Highlands , New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida .
New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.
New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky .
New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi.) than Havana , Cuba .
New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US .
New Jersey has the highest cost of living.
New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.
New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.
New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."
New Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club
(no, not Spam): Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.
Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage w/peppers and onions.
North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.
New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.
New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.
New Jersey has the most stri ngent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.
New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.
Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.
New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production (and here you thought Massachusetts ?)
Here's to New Jersey - the toast of the country! In 1642, the first
brewery in America , opened in Hoboken.
New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.
New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first.
New Jersey is home to one of the nation's busiest airports
(in Newark ), Liberty International.
George Washington slept here. Several important Revolutionary War battles were fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George Washington.
The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion picture
projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory.
We also boast the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs.
The first seaplane was built in Keyport , NJ .
The first airmail (to Chicago ) was started from Keyport, NJ.
The first phonograph records were made in Camden , NJ
New Jersey was home to the Miss America Pageant held in
Atlantic City .
The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic City .
And, Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world,
not to mention salt water taffy.
New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.
The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the
Watchung Mountains.
New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world. ( Union, NJ !!!)
New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey City.
The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.
NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Hudson
(Holland Tunnel).
The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.
The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889 ( Rutgers College played Princeton ).
The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden, NJ ,
(but they're all gone now!).
New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S" pro football teams!
The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson , NJ .
The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ, by Maj. Thomas Armstrong.
All New Jersey natives: Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis, Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Budd Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Whitney Housto n, Eddie Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Joe DePasquale, Robert Blake, John Forsythe, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, JerryHerman, Gor den McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral Wm. Halsey,Jr, Dave Thomas (Wendy's), William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson, Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, Kelly Ripa, and, of course, Francis Albert Sinatra, "Uncle Floyd" Vivino and Marion McMahon, Bruce Springsteen
The Great Falls in Paterson, on the Passaic River, is the 2nd highest waterfall on the East Coast of the US .
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3 comments:
Great Post!
From,
Diane
A Guate Mom in Sayreville
60 years in Jersey and now 2 plus years in Florida.
I do miss:
Paterson,my birthplace and home for my children until their adult years -but I miss the way is use to be as sadly time had turned it into an urban nightmare.
Beautiful Fall colors,crisp air and apple/pumpkin picking. Here they pile pumpkings on the churches grass and the kids go pumpking picking.
Winter snowflakes and staying snuggled inside with hot choc.
Jersey Tomatoes,Taylor Ham, Chili dogs from Hot Grill in Clifton,Real Italian Pastries from Lodi and on and on!
Relatives & friends still there,but they can visit!!
I LOVE FLORIDA so far-despite our horrid unemployment rate and pay scale;
The sky is almost always blue,clouds seldom last for long even in our rainy season. You can see stars almost every night and you can see forever-not too many moutains here! Our town is Spring Hill and there isn't the hing of a hill in the entiree town that I have found! Lots of ant hills!
People live differently- much less stressed,less crowded, minor traffic,and for most parts "southern" style friendly.Everybody talks to you and they don't run you over in the parking lots-they stop for you-took alot for me to get use to!
The Gulf is calm or has waves depending on the weather,winter means it is in the low 50's! Summers are hot,humid, but offset with swimming,boating,fishing,or if need be huddled in air conditioning.
New Jersey is a great state with a huge diverse population exposing one to the world all in one state! I do miss it a little bit!! Les-Bene's Mom
Born and lived in NJ for 26 years and didn't know all those things. Did know how expensive it was and about the sports and history (been to Washington's Headquaraters in Morristown). Cute facts. Thanks for sharing.
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