New Jersey is the 5th-smallest state in the United States, but it holds many interesting secrets. Interested in the fun facts about New Jersey? This land, nicknamed the Garden State, is the historic battleground where Washington crossed the Delaware River to reverse the Revolutionary War, and the cradle of science and technology where Edison lit the first electric lamp. There’s the classic pier where the Mafia negotiates in The Godfather, and the glow-in-the-dark cove woven with fluorescent plankton. It has the highest population density in the United States, but can switch from skyscrapers to pristine pine forests in 15 minutes; It has given birth to ketchup, reality TV and “zombie culture” and bought off interstate commuters with the lowest gas prices in the US. From dinosaur fossils to space satellites, saltwater toffee to Italian ice, New Jersey is like an angular diamond, with amazing stories reflected on every side. Next, we uncover 40 interesting facts about New Jersey and see how this “mini America” can play big in a small world.
What is New Jersey Known For?
On the East Coast of the United States, New Jersey is a delicate kaleidoscope – even though it is only 8,722 square miles (about 22,591 square kilometers), it is the 5th lowest state in the country. With over 9.3 million population and a density of 1,300 people per square mile, New Jersey is the most densely populated “laboratory of urbanization.” The Garden State, as it is officially nicknamed, is not known for vast farmlands or forests of steel, but for a stunning diversity of identities forged by the collision of history, technology, culture and nature.
Eastern Goldfinch is designated the state bird in 1935, and the bright yellow bird is not only a symbol of agricultural prosperity, but also a witness to the coexistence of urbanization and nature because of its resilience. And the deep purple Viola sororia, the state flower since 1971, echoes New Jerseans’ resilience to “find life in the depths of winter” with its early spring bloom.
With the Northeast Corridor rail and the densest highway network in the U.S., New Jersey is the “central processor” of the East Coast. Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) handles around 46 million passengers a year, while Port Newark-Elizabeth handles 70% of the East Coast’s container traffic. Meanwhile, this hub status has given birth to the unique phenomenon of “bedroom communities” – more than 400,000 residents who work in Manhattan during the day and return to their Hoboken or Jersey City apartments at night.
Economically, New Jersey is based on the pharmaceutical industry, telecommunications and higher education. Companies, like Johnson & Johnson, Merck headquarters, and Verizon headquarters, and the famous universities, like Princeton University and Rutgers University, offer a large number of job opportunities and attract thousands of students from all over the world, and the GDP of New Jersey reached $666.9 billion (2024).
Fun Facts About New Jersey - History
1. New Jersey was also called the crossroads of the Revolutionary War due to the Continental Army led by Washington across the Delaware River to attack Trenton, NJ, and turning the tide of the American Revolutionary War.
2. It is said that Trenton was once the capital of the United States in 1784. However, Trenton only hold this honor less than 2 months.
3. The first professional baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ in 1846.
4. Samuel Prescott Bush was the patriarch of Bush political family which is one of America’s most influential familites. He was also an alumnus of Stevens Institute of Technology.
5. Less well known is that New Jersey is the capital of dinosaur fossils. New Jersey has more dinosaur fossils than any other state, including a hadrosaur on display at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, revealing the prehistoric ecology of the land 75 million years ago.
Interesting Facts About New Jersey - Technology & Inovation
6. New Jersey is arguably Edison’s “invention factory”. In 1879, Edison invented the incandescent light bulb in his Menlo Park laboratory, which has also made the laboratory known as the “birthplace of modern technology.” Besides, more than 1,000 patents such as phonographs and motion picture cameras were also born in NJ.
7. Another fun facts about New Jersey is that Hollywood was also born in this state. In 1903, The Edison Company shot the first ever narrative film, “The Great Train Robbery,” in West Orange, NJ. Interestingly, the footage of the robbers shooting at the camera scared the audience out of the theater. This realistic and interesting scene formed the prototype of the film montage.
8. During the Cold War, Bell Labs in New Jersey developed communications satellites and the UNIX operating system.
9. The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton brings together leading scholars such as Albert Einstein and von Neumann, whose research has directly promoted the development of computers and quantum mechanics.
NJ Fun Facts - Natural Wonders & World's Greatest Wonders
10. Paterson Great Falls is 77 ft located in Paterson, NJ, which is higher than the famous Niagara Falls and is now listed as a World Heritage Site.
11. The Magic of the Glow-in-the-dark Bay is also one of the fun facts for New Jersey. During summer nights, fluorescent plankton in Barnegat Bay glow blue with the waves, beautiful and mysterious. Scientists believe that this is related to the low light pollution and special hydrological environment in the region.
12. The ecological mystery of pine peatland is also the fun facts about New Jersey. The 4,450-square-kilometre Pine Barrens are home to some of the world’s rarest dwarf Pine forests and 40 endangered species, including the Pine Snake, which plays dead. Nowadays, Pine Barrens is a United Nations Biosphere reserve.
13. The Union Watersphere is the tallest water tower in the world, located in Union, NJ.
14. The longest boardwalk in the world is located in Atlantic City, which is called the Atlantic City Boardwalk. It is also the America’s first and oldest boardwalk.
15. The Holland Tunnel, below the Hudson River and between New Jersey and Manhattan, the first mechanically ventilated underwater tunnel in the world.
Fun Facts About New Jersey - Food
16. One of the undeniably interesting facts in New Jersey in terms of food is that NJ has the largest number of diners in the world. It is often referred to as the “Dining capital of the world.”
17. The origins of saltwater taffy can be traced back to Atlantic City in 1880s. It is said that Salt Water Taffy was invented by accident in a candy store due to seawater flooding. The chewy fudge is still a must-try snack on the beachside walkway.
18. In 1837, the J.W. Ray Company of Newark introduced the first bottled ketchup with a recipe that added cinnamon and nutmeg, a radical departure from the modern version.
19. New Jersey is the birthplace of Italian Ice. Immigrants from South Jersey transformed the traditional Sicilian dessert Granita into a delicate Italian ice, and Rita’s sells more than 12 million servings each summer.
20. A salt-cured pork product invented by Trenton businessman John Taylor is the soul of the New Jersey breakfast sandwich. But New Jerseyans still call it “Taylor’s Ham” in North Jersey and “pork rolls” in South Jersey, and the two groups have even sprayed each other with slogans on highway billboards.
Fun New Jersey Facts - Culture & Expressions & Lingo
21. New Jersey is considered the beginning of the reality TV empire. MTV’s groundbreaking “Jersey Shore” transformed the Seaside Heights into a party mecca, and the show’s signature “GTL” (fitness, tanning, laundry) became a buzzword for American youth.
22. Another NJ fun facts is that New Jersey is regarded as the inspiration for zombie culture. Writer George A. Romero is rumored to have been inspired by the Woodbury Cemetery in New Jersey before filming Night of the Living Dead. There is still a local legend of the “Jersey Devil”, a winged creature said to have roamed Pine Barrens for 260 years.
23. Philip Roth’s novel American Pastoral, set in Newark, charts the rise and fall of the Jewish immigrant community.
24. Whitman wrote the final chapter of Leaves of Grass at his home in Camden, New Jersey.
25. “Down the Shore” is a common phrase used by north New Jerseyans to represent their trips to one of South or South-Central New Jersey’s infamous beach towns during weekend or vacations.
26. “The City” is a shorthand also commonly used by New Jerseyans for meaning heading to New York City or Philadelphia. If you are living in North Jersey, “The City” represents New York City, while if you are in South Jersey, it indicates Philadelphia.
27. “WaWa” is not only a gas station in New Jersey nowadays, but also regarded as a convenience store boasting fresh sandwiches, dairy products, snacks, a coffee bar, and clean facilities. Although WaWa is founded in Pennsylvania, New Jerseyans are still willing to regard it as themselves.
Fun Facts About NJ - Tourist Attractions & Entertainment
28. New Jersey is also a shopping paradise. It has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with 7 malls in a 25 square mile radius.
29. The Lambert Castle Museum in Paterson is famous for its a spoon exhibit, with over 5,400 spoons from every state in the United States and almost every country in the world.
30. The street names in the Monopoly board game are named after actual streets in Atlantic City, such as “Boardwalk”, “Park Place”, “Ventnor Avenue”, and “Marvin Gardens”.
31. There is no national parks in New Jersey, however, 50 state parks and forests are there. 7.28% of the state is covered by these parks. Among them, Stephens State Park is the largest one.
32. The Passaic River in Paterson was the site of the first submarine ride in 1878 by its inventor John P. Holland.
33. Liberty State Park nestled in Jersey City is the most popular state park in NJ. During your journey of Liberty State Park, you can get a ferry service to the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island, enjoy the stunning views of the Manhattan skyline, have a visit on the memorial for the Sep. 11th terrorist attacks.
New Jersey Fun Facts - Education & Living Environment
34. New Jersey is regarded as The Ivy League’s “Neighbors”. On the campus of Princeton University, Einstein’s house remains intact. Also Rutgers University, as the eighth oldest university in the United States, produced Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman.
35. New Jersey boasts the nation’s No.1 public school system and it has been ranked the best state for K-12 education by U.S. News & World Report for many years. Meanwhile, its high school AP pass rate is 72%, well above the national average.
36. With its 5th smallest size and highest population density in the U.S., New Jersey is the smallest “metropolis” in the country. This compact layout has spawned a unique “15-minute life circle” – everything from beaches to forests, shopping malls to top universities is only within driving distance.
💰Bonus fact: Via uhomes.com, a popular student housing platform, you can book quality apartments in the college towns, like New Brunswick and Hoboken, as well as other cities, like Jersey City, and Newark, with one click. The platform, which offers rent comparison, VR viewings, roommate matching, and 24/7 professional concultant services, is suitable for both local students and the international students who are new to New Jersey.
Interesting Facts in New Jersey - Transportation
37. Attracting countless interstate drivers to the state for gas is also one of the fun facts about New Jersey. Because of its exemption from gasoline taxes, NJ has maintained the lowest gas prices in the United States, making the birth of gas station culture.
38. New Jersey is the only state in the United States that has a “no self-fueling” law in place. The law, which stems from safety concerns about handling combustible products, has also given rise to unique “gas station socializing,” in which people often chat with gas pumps about the weather or football games.
39. Today, only New Jersey has adopted the traditional European traffic signs of the 1920s, with circular signs such as “Watch for curves” and “School ahead”. Even more bizarre is that some intersections in New Jersey still retain rare “white on blue” road signs, this retro color scheme has been criticized by the Federal Highway Administration for poor reflection, but has become a code for people to identify “authentic New Jersey road.”
40. The “Beehive” design for Newark Airport’s Terminal C is a masterpiece of futuristic architecture from the ’60s, which also echoes the fact that New Jersey’s state bug is the honeybee.
Conclusion on Fun Facts About New Jersey
Now you know more fun facts about New Jersey, enough for you to share with your friends and spark an interesting conversation. Overall, what makes New Jersey so interesting is its perfect blend of seemingly opposing qualities, with the fast pace of Wall Street elite with the pristine tranquillity of Pine Barrens, and it is the cradle of the technological revolution and the hotbed of zombie legends. Simultaneously, New Jersey’s interesting facts also show that it is convenient and inclusive so that anyone can quickly find the fulcrum to integrate into the land and write your own chapter in the Garden State.
FAQs on New Jersey Interesting Facts
What are 5 fast fun facts about New Jersey?
1. Its nickname is “The Garden State”.
2. It has an amazing high population density in the U.S.
3. It was the site of more than 100 battles during the American Revolution.
4. In the state’s history, the highest temperature was 110°F (43.33°C), while the lowest was -34°F (-36.7°C).
5. It boasts large fertile farmland.
What is New Jersey most known for?
New Jersey State is best known for the Jersey Shore, as well as its beautiful nickname “The Garden State” and it is also a crossroads of the American Revolution War.
What are the 3 interesting facts about New Jersey colony?
1. Each part had their own constitution.
2. The border was never firmly established and there were many dispution on it.
3. Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, was the first governor of the royal colony with East Jersey and West Jersey, but was proved to be corrupt.
What is the national dish of NJ?
Pork Roll might be New Jersey’s most iconic food because of its story and popularity.
