New Jersey is an amazing state with an incredible history, thriving industry, and some truly unbelievable facts. Get ready for trivia night and learn something new about the Garden State.
- New Jersey has more acres of FARMLAND than Hong Kong has acres of land.
Flickr/Nicholas A. Tonelli We have 715,000 acres of farmland. This comes out to about 1117 square miles. The country of Hong Kong has 1106 square miles of land.
- We produce over 65 Boeing 747’s worth of cranberries each year.
Flickr/Vilseskogen A Boeing 747 ranges in weight from 735,000 - 970,000 pounds. New Jersey produces nearly 63 million pounds of cranberries each year, and is the third largest producer of cranberries in the nation.
- Land in Beechwood was once offered as part of a newspaper promotion.
Flickr/Shawn Perez The lovely land in this photo could have been yours! If only you had subscribed to the New York Tribune. In November of 1914, the newspaper, in cooperation with the founder of Beachwood, presented the following offer: “Subscribe to the New York Tribune and secure a lot at Beautiful Beachwood. Act at once, secure your lot in this Summer Paradise now!” This was the greatest premium offered by a newspaper - nothing equal to it was ever attempted in the United States. It seems the plan worked, as subscriptions jumped and Beechwood was settled.
- New Jersey has more racehorses than Kentucky.
Flickr/Paul And more horses (racing or otherwise) per square mile than any other state.
- 80% of all goods shipped to the U.S. by boat come through New Jersey.
Wikipedia/PublicDomain The largest seaport in the United States is located in Elizabeth. The dollar value of all cargo that moved through the port in 2014 exceeded $200 billion. That’s enough money to buy iPads for every student in the country.
- New Jersey is home to the only boardwalk in the U.S. long enough to host a 5K.
Flickr/Ismo A 5 Kilometer race is 3.1 miles. The Atlantic City boardwalk is currently over 4 miles long. The second longest boardwalk in the U.S. is in Ocean City, Maryland, which comes in at 3.0 miles.
- The Union Watersphere is taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
WIkipedia/Unidyne It is also the tallest water tower in the world, at 212 feet. The Leaning Tower of Pisa stands 183 feet tall.
- The largest Striped Bass ever caught in New Jersey weighed more than a Labrador Retriever.
Flickr/John Garghan At 78 pounds, 8 ounces, it set a world record. The bass was caught by Al McReynolds in 1982 at the Vermont Avenue Jetty in Atlantic City.
- The largest brown bear in New Jersey weighed more than a Geo Metro.
Flickr/Andrew Nicholson Also the largest brown bear in the world, Goliath was over 12 feet tall and weighed over 2000 pounds. A Geo Metro, one of the lightest cars in recent memory, came in at around 1600 lbs. Goliath has sadly passed, but he can still be seen, stuffed, at Space Farms.
- The 4 U.S. time zones were developed by a New Jersey railroad engineer.
Flickr/LeoPlus William F. Allen of South Orange devised the time zones to help make train transportation more uniform.
- USS New Jersey is longer than 2 football fields.
Flickr/Kevin Harber The battleship is 888 feet in length, two football fields would be 720’. It is the largest and most decorated battleship still fully intact. It can be visited in Camden.
- The first copper mine in America was right here in New Jersey.
Wikipedia/Dmadeao It was built in the Kittatinny Mountains by Dutch Settlers circa 1640. Though it is no longer in existence, Sterling Hill Mining Museum, pictured, is a great place to learn about mining and minerals in New Jersey.
Which of these is your favorite fact? What other New Jersey facts would you add to this list?
Flickr/Nicholas A. Tonelli
We have 715,000 acres of farmland. This comes out to about 1117 square miles. The country of Hong Kong has 1106 square miles of land.
Flickr/Vilseskogen
A Boeing 747 ranges in weight from 735,000 - 970,000 pounds. New Jersey produces nearly 63 million pounds of cranberries each year, and is the third largest producer of cranberries in the nation.
Flickr/Shawn Perez
The lovely land in this photo could have been yours! If only you had subscribed to the New York Tribune. In November of 1914, the newspaper, in cooperation with the founder of Beachwood, presented the following offer: “Subscribe to the New York Tribune and secure a lot at Beautiful Beachwood. Act at once, secure your lot in this Summer Paradise now!” This was the greatest premium offered by a newspaper - nothing equal to it was ever attempted in the United States. It seems the plan worked, as subscriptions jumped and Beechwood was settled.
Flickr/Paul
And more horses (racing or otherwise) per square mile than any other state.
Wikipedia/PublicDomain
The largest seaport in the United States is located in Elizabeth. The dollar value of all cargo that moved through the port in 2014 exceeded $200 billion. That’s enough money to buy iPads for every student in the country.
Flickr/Ismo
A 5 Kilometer race is 3.1 miles. The Atlantic City boardwalk is currently over 4 miles long. The second longest boardwalk in the U.S. is in Ocean City, Maryland, which comes in at 3.0 miles.
WIkipedia/Unidyne
It is also the tallest water tower in the world, at 212 feet. The Leaning Tower of Pisa stands 183 feet tall.
Flickr/John Garghan
At 78 pounds, 8 ounces, it set a world record. The bass was caught by Al McReynolds in 1982 at the Vermont Avenue Jetty in Atlantic City.
Flickr/Andrew Nicholson
Also the largest brown bear in the world, Goliath was over 12 feet tall and weighed over 2000 pounds. A Geo Metro, one of the lightest cars in recent memory, came in at around 1600 lbs. Goliath has sadly passed, but he can still be seen, stuffed, at Space Farms.
Flickr/LeoPlus
William F. Allen of South Orange devised the time zones to help make train transportation more uniform.
Flickr/Kevin Harber
The battleship is 888 feet in length, two football fields would be 720’. It is the largest and most decorated battleship still fully intact. It can be visited in Camden.
Wikipedia/Dmadeao
It was built in the Kittatinny Mountains by Dutch Settlers circa 1640. Though it is no longer in existence, Sterling Hill Mining Museum, pictured, is a great place to learn about mining and minerals in New Jersey.
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