History
Once inhabited by the tribes of the Lenape, the first Europeans to settle
the region were the Dutch in the early 1600's, who formed a settlement at
present-day Jersey City. At the time, much of what is now New Jersey was
claimed as part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, which also included
parts of present-day New York State and had its capital at New Amsterdam,
now known as New York City. Some of southwestern New Jersey was also settled
by the Swedes in the mid-1600's as part of the Swedish colony of New Sweden,
which included parts of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. These
territories were taken by the Dutch in 1655 and incorporated into New
Netherland.
The entire region became a territory of Britain in 1664 when a British fleet
under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what is today New
York Harbor and took over the colony. They met minimal resistance, perhaps
because of the unpopularity of the Dutch colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant.
The newly taken lands were divided by King Charles II of England, who gave
his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II) the region between New
England and Maryland as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony).
James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River
(the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had been loyal
through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord John Berkeley.
Settlement for the first ten years of English rule was in the Hudson River
region and came primarily from New England. On March 18, 1673 Berkeley sold
his half of New Jersey to Quakers in England (with William Penn acting as
trustee for a time) who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker
colony. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and
East Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. In 1702 the two
provinces were united under a royal, rather than a proprietary, governor.
New Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted against British
rule in the American Revolution. On November 20, 1789 the state became the
first in the newly-formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights. Ironically, on
February 15, 1804 New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish
slavery.
New Jersey suffered heavy casualties in the September 11 Terrorist Attacks.
Of the 3,000 people who died in September 11 2001, over 650 were commuters
and air travelers (United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark Airport)
from New Jersey. This meant the state lost more people in the attacks than
any other state except New York.
Law and government
The capital of New Jersey is Trenton. The governor of New Jersey is James E.
McGreevey (Democrat) and its two U.S. senators are Frank R. Lautenberg (Democrat)
and Jon Corzine (Democrat). On August 12, 2004, Governor McGreevey resigned
his office, effective November 15, 2004. The State Senate President will
serve as Acting Governor for the remaining year of McGreevey's term; at
present, the State Senate President is Richard Codey. New Jersey has 13
Congressional Districts.
Geography
New Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: they are North
Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. North Jersey is within New York
City's general sphere of influence, with many of its residents commuting
into the city for work. Central Jersey is a largely suburban area, while
South Jersey is within Philadelphia's general sphere of influence. Such
geographic definitions are broad, however, and there is often dispute over
where one region begins and another ends.
High Point in Sussex County is the highest elevation in the state.
New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by New York, on the east
by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Delaware, and on the west by
Pennsylvania (the latter two across the Delaware River.) Prominent
geographic features include:
Delaware Water Gap
New Jersey Meadowlands
The Palisades
Passaic River
Pine Barrens
Rancocas River
Raritan River
Sandy Hook
Economy
New Jersey's 1999 total state gross product was $332 billion, placing it 8th
in the nation. Its 2002 per capita personal income was $39,453, the second
highest in the nation. [1] (http://www.bea.doc.gov/bea/regional/statelocal.htm)
Its agricultural outputs are nursery stock, horses, vegetables, fruits and
nuts, seafood, and dairy products. In particular, cranberries and eggplants
are two of the state's largest crops. Its industrial outputs are
pharmaceutical and chemical products, food processing, electric equipment,
printing and publishing, and tourism. New Jersey's economy has a large base
of industry and chemical manufacturing. Although the state is certainly not
defined by these activities, their existence and visibility to those passing
through the state along some of its major highways does contribute to many
jokes about pollution and ironic plays on the state's nickname, the "Garden
State."
Demographics
As of the 2000 census, the population of New Jersey is 8,414,350. Its
population grew 8.6% (666,600) from its 1990 levels. According to the 2000
census, 72.6% (6,104,705) identified themselves as Caucasian, 13.6%
(1,141,821) as African-American, 13.3% (1,117,191) as Hispanic or Latino,
5.7% (480,276) as Asian, 0.2% (19,492) as American Indian or Alaska Native,
0.04% (3,329) as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander 5.4% (450,972) as other,
and 2.5% (213,755) identified themselves as belonging to two or more races.
6.7% of its population were reported as under 5, 24.8% under 18, and 13.2%
were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51.5% of the population.
Newark and Camden are two of the poorest cities in the U.S., but the state
has the highest household income in the nation.
New Jersey is also noted for being the most densely populated state in the
nation.
Culture
Musician Bruce Springsteen has sung of New Jersey life in many of his most
popular songs, including "Atlantic City," "Freehold," "Jersey Girl" (written
by Tom Waits), "Jungleland," "Spirit in the Night" and others. Fellow
musician Jon Bon Jovi has also written many songs about New Jersey and even
named one of his albums after it.
Motion pictures and televisions shows also have been set in New Jersey. The
popular television drama "The Sopranos" depicts the life of a New Jersey
organized crime family and is filmed on location at various places thoughout
the state.
Many believe in a creature called the Jersey Devil, an evil demon born to a
human mother who terrorizes the population of the Pine Barrens. It is also
known sometimes as the Leeds Devil. New Jersey is also home to several other
urban legends, such as the ghost of Annie's Road in Totowa, Migdetville in
Edgewater, Albino Village in Clifton, and the haunted and demon-possessed
Clinton Road in Milford. A well-known New Jersey campground was also the
setting of the original Friday the 13th movie, which was partially based on
real murders that have occurred near the campground, in the state's very
rural northwest. Such horror stories were the inspiration behind the now
nationally-famous WeirdNJ magazine and website.
The properties in the board game Monopoly are named after the streets of
Atlantic City.
Transportation
The New Jersey Turnpike is one of the best-known roadways in New Jersey.
This toll road carries interstate traffic between Delaware and New York.
Commonly referred to as simply "the Turnpike," it is also known for its
numerous rest-areas named after prominent New Jerseyans as varied as
inventor Thomas Edison; United States Secretary of the Treasury Alexander
Hamilton; U.S. President Grover Cleveland; writers James Fenimore Cooper,
Joyce Kilmer, and Walt Whitman; patriot Molly Pitcher; Red Cross advocate
Clara Barton, and football coach Vince Lombardi.
The Garden State Parkway, or just "the Parkway," carries more in-state
traffic, and runs from the town of Montvale along New Jersey's northern
border with New York to the southernmost tip of the state at Cape May. It is
somewhat true that some New Jersey residents who live near the Parkway or
the Turnpike locate their hometowns according to their respective highway
exits, though very few New Jerseyites living anyhere else in the state will
do so. It also acts as the trunk that connects the New York metropolitan to
Atlantic City (AC). (Atlantic City Expressway connects A.C. to
Philadelphia).
The New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) operates extensive rail and
bus service throughout the state. NJ Transit is a state-run corporation that
began with the consolidation of several private bus companies in North
Jersey. In the early 1980s, it acquired the commuter train operations of
CONRAIL that connect towns in northern and central New Jersey to New York
City. In 1989, NJ Transit began service between Atlantic City and
Lindenwold, extending it to Philadelphia in the 1990s.
New Jersey has interstate compacts with all three neighboring states. The
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Delaware River Port Authority
(with Pennsylvania), and the Delaware River and Bay Authority (with
Delaware) operate most of the major transportation routes into and out of
New Jersey. Tolls for the bridges are charged in one direction - it's free
to get into New Jersey, but you have to pay to get out. The Scudders Falls
bridge on I-95 near Trenton is still free as of this writing.
Important cities and towns
Major cities (and their populations):
Newark - 273,546
Jersey City - 240,055
Paterson - 149,222
Elizabeth - 120,568
Edison - 97,687
Woodbridge - 97,203
Trenton (state capital) - 85,403
Camden - 79,904
Clifton - 78,672
East Orange - 69,824
Passaic - 67,861
Union City - 67,088
Bayonne - 61,842
Vineland - 56,271
Parsippany - 50,649
New Brunswick - 48,573
Hackensack - 42,677
Atlantic City - 40,517
Montclair - 38,977
Hoboken - 38,577
Morristown - 18,544
Princeton - 14,203
Cape May - 4,034
Education
Although some problems exist in certain inner city neighborhoods, New Jersey
overall is considered to have one of the best public education systems in
the United States. In addition, 54% of high school graduates continue on to
college or university, tied with Massachusetts for the second highest rate
in the nation (North Dakota holds first place at 59%
Colleges and universities
Institution Name, Location
Berkeley College, various campuses
Bloomfield College, Bloomfield
Caldwell College, Caldwell
Centenary College, Hackettstown
The College of New Jersey, Ewing Township
College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown
Drew University, Madison
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park-Madison & Teaneck-Hackensack
campuses
Felician College, Rutherford & Lodi campuses
Georgian Court College, Lakewood
Kean University, Union-Elizabeth
Monmouth University, West Long Branch
Montclair State University, Montclair
New Jersey City University, Jersey City
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark
Princeton University, Princeton
Ramapo College, Mahwah
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona, New Jersey
Rider University, Lawrenceville
Rowan University, Glassboro
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Rutgers, New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus
Rutgers, Camden Campus
Rutgers, Newark Campus
Rutgers School of Law, Camden and Newark
Saint Peter's College, Jersey City
Seton Hall University, South Orange
Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken
Thomas Edison State College, Trenton
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark
William Paterson University, Wayne
In addition to the above institutions, there are 19 community colleges,
serving the 21 counties in the state.
Institution Name, Location
Atlantic Cape Community College, Mays Landing
Bergen Community College, Paramus
Brookdale Community College, Lincroft
Burlington County College, Pemberton
Camden County College, Blackwood
County College of Morris, Randolph
Cumberland County College, Vineland
Essex County College, Newark
Gloucester County College, Sewell
Hudson County Community College, Jersey City
Mercer County Community College, Trenton
Middlesex County College, Edison
Ocean County College, Toms River
Passaic County Community College, Paterson-Wanaque-Wayne
Raritan Valley Community College, North Branch
Salem Community College, Carneys Point
Sussex County Community College, Newton
Union County College, Cranford
Warren County Community College, Washington
Professional sports teams
New Jersey Devils, National Hockey League
New Jersey Nets, National Basketball Association
MetroStars, Major League Soccer
New Jersey Pride, Major League Lacrosse
National Football League
New York Giants
New York Jets
Minor League Baseball teams
Atlantic City Surf
Camden Riversharks
New Jersey Cardinals (Augusta, NJ)
Newark Bears
Lakewood BlueClaws
Somerset Patriots
Trenton Thunder
Miscellaneous Information
State Bird: American Goldfinch
State Animal: Horse
State Flower: African Violet
State Tree: Red Oak
State Song: None
