Discover the Garden State: Top 16 Fun and Fascinating Facts About New Jersey

1. Fruit Salad Central

If New Jersey were a fruit salad, it'd be the main ingredient in America's fruit basket: As the proud nest where over 9,800 farms spread across 790,000 acres of farmland, it's among the top suppliers of blueberries, cranberries, bell peppers, peaches, and head lettuce in the nation.
Source => state.nj.us

2. Pump-Free Drivers

In the land of "Jersey Shore," where pumping iron may be a way of life, pumping gas is still strictly off the menu: New Jersey remains one of the only two states in the U.S. that requires attendants to pump gas for customers, a law enforced since 1949 due to concerns about safety and rising costs for consumers.
Source => cnbc.com

Did you know NYC has about 4 million pigeons with incredible homing and distance-trekking skills? But beware, they might also carry diseases! Discover more fun facts about the Big Apple.

=> Fun Facts about New-York

3. Gas Butler State

In New Jersey, you'll never have to worry about getting gas at a self-pump — they've got personal gas butlers on standby for your automotive indulgences: New Jersey law prohibits residents from pumping their own gas, requiring gas stations to have attendants who manage the task for customers – and this law has been going strong for many years.
Source => wobm.com

4. Birthplace of Baseball

Batter up, history buffs! You'd have a "field day" knowing that the Garden State was home to America's favorite pastime's real MVP: New Jersey was the playground for the first-ever recorded baseball match played by modern rules! On the hallowed grounds of Hoboken's Elysian Fields in 1846, the New York Nine faced off against Alexander Cartwright's Knickerbockers, making this match-up a true home run in baseball history. Swing by the vintage 1859 Hoboken Base Ball Club's website to learn more about this legendary game and catch a thrilling time-traveling ballgame between April and October!
Source => hobokenmuseum.org

5. Blueberry Royalty

In a world where Violet Beauregarde's blueberry dreams come true: New Jersey reigns as the "Blueberry Capital of the World," producing 41 million pounds on 7,500 acres in 2021. But beware, the 2022 season has been a frosty foe, slashing the crop by 25% to 50% after three icy days – leaving farmers more than a little blue themselves.
Source => lancasterfarming.com

6. Edison's Genius Grounds

In a shocking twist of events, Thomas Edison didn't just "come up with ideas," he actually plugged them in and made them work – just ask New Jersey: It was in the Garden State's town of Menlo Park that Edison built the world's first research and development facility, where he perfected some of his most electrifying inventions like the phonograph, incandescent light bulb, and electric-powered railroad. Now, Menlo Park illuminates Edison's genius, with a memorial tablet shedding light on the site where his home once stood, reminding us that even Mad Scientists need somewhere to recharge.
Source => menloparkmuseum.org

7. Drive-In Movie Pioneers

Before Netflix and chill, there was park and stare: New Jersey saw the birth of the first drive-in movie theater in 1933, thanks to the innovative mind of Richard Hollingshead in Pennsauken. Surprisingly, he managed to combine a 1928 Kodak projector and a radio to bring movies to the automobile audience. This idea later became an American icon with over 5,000 drive-in theaters in the 1950s and 60s, but today, we're left with fewer than 500, as real estate prices and competition have driven them to near extinction.
Source => history.com

8. First Boardwalk Fun

If you thought New Jersey was only famous for its tomatoes and turnpike, you're only seeing half the shore: The Garden State is also home to the nation's first boardwalk, the bustling Atlantic City Boardwalk, which has been entertaining beach-goers and seagull sidekicks since 1870 with its four-mile stretch of casinos, eateries, shops, and amusement park rides.
Source => a-z-animals.com

9. Singing Gangster

Who says gangsters can't hold a tune? Picture this: Joe "Funny-how?" Pesci laying down tracks and belting out melodies like a wise guy on Broadway: Born in Newark, New Jersey, Pesci initially embarked on a music career, recording three albums including one inspired by his beloved "My Cousin Vinny" character, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini. From the stage to the mic, this tough guy's still got some pipes!
Source => en.wikipedia.org

10. Prohibition Applejack Saga

You could say Prohibition left the Garden State "apple-y ever after" – underground, at least: Amidst the legal decline of New Jersey's applejack industry during Prohibition, the Ralston Cider Mill continued to produce illegal applejack for speakeasies in Newark and New York, smuggling operations through hidden basements and cunning truck placements, ultimately accounting for around 400 of the 4,768 arrests made in the state for alcohol violations.
Source => ralstoncidermill.org

11. Taffy Mystery Solved

Hold on to your sea legs, landlubbers! Ever munched on a chewy delight called salt water taffy and worried about the implications of devouring actual ocean waves?: Fear not, for salt water taffy doesn't really contain sea water; it's a candy concoction that adds salt and freshwater to achieve that briny flavor. Legend credits David Bradley, who jokingly named thse sweets "salt water taffy" after his boardwalk store in 1880s Atlantic City was swamped with salty sea foam, leading this squishy treat to make waves throughout beaches and beyond.
Source => taffytown.com

12. Rival Elephant Buildings

In a colossal twist of fate, America's favorite pachyderm buildings have quite an elephantine rivalry: it turns out Lucy the Elephant in Margate City, New Jersey once had a supersized counterpart called the Elephantine Colossus in Coney Island, New York. Designed by the same visionary architect James V. Lafferty, ol' Colossus boasted seven floors of rooms and legs with a monstrous 60-feet circumference, before tragically going up in flames in 1896, leaving Lucy standing tall as the sole elephantine architectural marvel.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

13. Ice Cream Cone Encounter

In a tale of scrumptious serendipity, when two dessert pioneers met their creative cravings, a tasty legend was born – or should we say, "cone"jured? : Italo Marchiony created the first patented ice cream cone in New York City in 1896, and later, at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, Syrian concessionaire Ernest A. Hamwi independently introduced his own version when he folded his waffle-like pastry into a cone to help a neighboring ice cream vendor who had run out of dishes.
Source => idfa.org

14. Sky-High Roller Coaster

Jetting out of New Jersey like an over-caffeinated squirrel on a bad hair day, comes the world's tallest roller coaster, disguised as the superhero we never knew we needed: Kingda Ka: Towering at a whopping 465 feet, this record-breaking behemoth resides within the famed Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ, part of a sprawling theme park that boasts adrenaline-pumping rides and a wild menagerie of over 1,200 animals to boot.
Source => 6abc.com

15. Bill of Rights Debut

In the land where "Jersey Shore" became a phenomenon and Snooki rose to fame, another historic event had already made its mark: New Jersey was the first state to sign the Bill of Rights, hosting the monumental moment in its State House – the second oldest functioning state house in America.
Source => homewarrantyreviews.com

16. Submarine Origins

What does one sub and the Passaic River have in common? They're both just fishin' for a good time in New Jersey: On May 22, 1878, local inventor John Philip Holland successfully launched the Holland Boat No.1 in the waters of Paterson, crafting the foundations of submarine design and eventually leading to the U.S. Navy's purchase of his Holland VI for a cool $165,000 in November 1899.
Source => drumthwacket.org