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History Timeline 2 Fun Facts 6 NEW JERSEY Famous Firsts & Faces 10 12 FACTS, Greater Atlantic City Region 16 JUST FOR 19 FUN! Region 23 Region 28 Why is New Jersey called 32 “New Jersey?” How did it get its nickname the “Garden State?” And why does New Jersey SIX REGIONS have a state dinosaur? Skylands: 100/31/0/0 New Jersey makes up Find out here! Plus discover all the funGatewa y: 0/68/100/0 8,204.37 square miles in things to see and do in New Jersey.Delaware River: 78/0/100/2 total area with plenty to see Test yourself on New Jersey’s fun factsShore: 0/33/100/0 and do! It’s divided into six and see how brainy you are. Atlantic City: 1/100/55/6 regions, each with its own Southern Shore: 9/75/100/55personality. Navigate your Check out our kids’ website: way through the state, and www.nj.gov/hangout_nj/ find these fun attractions! Cartoon history, games, Statewide/Purple: 69/93/0/0 stories and more! Shore Region

Greater Atlantic City Region

DISCLAIMER: While every effort is made to ensure information is correct at the Southern Shore Region time of writing, New Jersey Travel and Tourism is not responsible for any errors and omissions contained in the information, or if the information is not current. Any listing in this publication does not constitute an official endorsement by the State of New Jersey or the Division of Travel and Tourism.

Cover Photos: (Left to Right) Morey’s Piers, Mountain Creek Resort, QuickChek New Jersey Festival of Ballooning at Solberg Airport, and

Above Photo: Wetlands Institute Gateway Region

1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 1 1721 NEW JERSEY HAS BIG HISTORY! William Trent was a 1738 successful merchant at Lewis Morris was this time. “Trent’s Town” New Jersey’s first TIMELINE became Trenton, our governor. Lots of state capital. places are named Wow, the state of New Jersey sure has a lot of history! after him: Morris Take a trip back on this timeline of BIG events. County, Morristown and Morris Plains. 1746 Princeton University is founded. Did you know 5000 B.C.E. it was first located in The state’s first Elizabeth? It moved to inhabitants arrived, Princeton in 1756. and later became known as the . 1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano 1766 was the first European Princeton may have to “discover” the been first, but Rutgers New Jersey coast. wasn’t far behind. Have you heard of the Rutgers has grown 1776-1783 Verrazano Bridge? from a small colonial Did you know that It’s the same guy! college to a big New Jersey is called university. Today, it has “The Crossroads of the over 50,000 students ?” and over 10,000 Nearly 300 battles took teachers and staff. place here. General George Washington spent a lot of time in New Jersey, too. He made his famous 1609 crossing of the Delaware was River from another explorer who 1633 to New Jersey on came to New Jersey. Dutch settlers built houses Christmas Day to The in what is now Jersey City. surprise the Hessian is named after him. troops in Trenton. (The Hessian troops were hired by England to fight.) Other important battles were in Princeton and Monmouth — the last big one in the north.

1638 Swedish settlers 1664 built along the The next to take over: Delaware River, the British. John Lord but the Dutch Berkeley and Sir George later took it over. Carteret call the area “New Jersey” after the “Isle of Jersey” in England. (Two New Jersey towns are named after them: Berkeley Heights and Carteret.)

2 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 3 1939-1945 MORE BIG HISTORY! During World War II, New Jersey built 1787 battleships, aircraft 1978 New Jersey became the engines and more for Gambling was legalized the war effort. Visit in Atlantic City. 1791 third state to ratify the new Constitution of the United Battleship New Jersey States. “Ratify” means (America’s most decorated helped to make present- “to make official.” In 1789, battleship) on the Camden day Paterson the first New Jersey became the Waterfront to see how 1994 industrial city in the first state to ratify the sailors really lived! Christine Todd Whitman . Early Bill of Rights! became the first woman manufacturing used governor in New Jersey. the power from the ’s Great Falls. Paterson was nicknamed “Silk City” because it was well known for manufacturing the silky cloth. By the way, do you know who’s on the $10 bill? It’s Alexander Hamilton, who was the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He died in Weehawken Late 1800s after a pistol duel with The Age of Invention 1998 the third Vice President, comes to New Jersey, 2001 The U.S. Supreme Court Aaron Burr. thanks to Thomas A. New Jersey is home ruled that 24 acres of Edison. He invented to more scientists and is actually the light bulb, the first engineers per square in New Jersey. commercial motion mile than anywhere picture camera and so else. A great place much more. The town for STEM students! of Edison honors his contributions.

1912 New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson is 1918 elected President of A German U-boat the United States. 2008 sinks six American Princeton astronomer ships off the coast. Alicia Soderberg became the first person to view a supernova, a star in the act of exploding.

4 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 5 FUN FACTS DID YOU KNOW…

HAIL THE BUFF AND JERSEY BLUE: THE STATE FLAG WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE Adopted in 1896, New Jersey boasts more than 4,100 New Jersey’s flag displays freshwater lakes, ponds, rivers and the state seal in Jersey streams, plus 130 miles of Atlantic blue against a buff Ocean coastline. is background. General the state’s largest lake. George Washington picked these same colors for the uniforms worn by New Jersey soldiers during JERSEY FRESH® the Revolutionary War. It’s easy to get your fruits and veggies in a state nicknamed “the Garden State.” The state boasts 10,300 farms and 730,000 acres of farmland and THE STORY BEHIND THE NEW JERSEY STATE SEAL grows more than 100 types of fruits and vegetables. Pierre Eugene du Simitiere was a patriot, who also Can you name some of New Jersey’s painted portraits. He created the state seal in 1777. top crops? (If you said blueberries, The plows are for farming. The horse’s head stands peaches, bell peppers, squash, for and strength. The tomatoes and cranberries, you’d female figures are “Liberty” get an “A” for asparagus — another (left) and “Ceres”(right), the vegetable New Jersey grows!) Roman goddess of grain. That represents New Jersey’s bounty of produce! The state motto is WILD NEW JERSEY “Liberty and Prosperity.” Thanks to its habitat diversity, New Jersey is home to nearly 500 vertebrate species of , ranging from tiny tree frogs to 400-pound black bears! See WEATHER FORECAST NJ wildlife at: From the highest point in the state (1,803 feet), appropriately named • Lakota Wolf Preserve, Columbia , to the lowest spot, (Wolves and their pups, plus bobcats and foxes) sea level at the Atlantic Ocean, • Edwin B. Forsythe , New Jersey offers a variety of Galloway (At least 322 species of birds have been temperatures. The state enjoys all observed here) four seasons with an average summer •  Bird Observatory: Northwood Center, temperature in July of 74º and an Cape May Point (Weekly bird walks offered) average of just over 30º in January. • Marine Mammal Stranding Center, Rainfall averages 40 to 50 inches Brigantine (Rescues, rehabilitates and releases dolphins, per year, depending on your location. seals, whales and sea turtles)

6 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 7 FUN FACTS WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL STATE…

FRUIT DINOSAUR BLUEBERRY HADROSAURUS New Jersey is Not every state has a home to the state dinosaur. In 1891, first cultivated the first complete blueberry, dinosaur skeleton was thanks to found in Haddonfield. TREE FISH Susan C. White It was proof that dinos of Whitesbog. walked upright! RED OAK BROOK TROUT So pretty in You can tell the fall! by its speckles!

BUTTERFLY DANCE BLACK SQUARE DANCE SWALLOWTAIL Grab a partner ANIMAL INSECT This beauty can be and “do-si-do” to HORSE HONEYBEE found in each of NJ’s official dance. Of course! New Jersey 1/3 of all fruits and the state’s Also known as is home of the U.S. veggies are pollinated 21 counties. the American Equestrian Team. by honeybees! Folk Dance.

BIRD FLOWER TALL SHIP SHELL EASTERN GOLDFINCH VIOLET A.J. MEERWALD KNOBBED Listen for this bright Look for this sweet This WHELK yellow bird. It “whistles” flower growing wild oyster schooner It’s commonly when it sings. in parks and lawns. is also a sailing known as the classroom. conch shell.

8 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 9 NEW JERSEY’S FAMOUS FIRSTS

FAMOUS FIRSTS 1777 First U.S. Flag 1793 AND FACES Legend says First Balloon Betsy Ross sewed it, Flight (Deptford) but Bordentown’s Francis Jean-Pierre Hopkinson, Declaration Blanchard flew New Jersey is the birthplace and of Independence signer, 15 miles from designed it! home of many famous people, to deliver a letter from George Washington. ideas and innovations. 1846 First Organized 1869 Baseball Game (Hoboken) First College Football Using basic rules Game (New Brunswick) DID YOU KNOW… developed by , 6 Alexander Cartwright, Princeton University, 4 the Nine beat the Knickerbockers 1870 23-1 after four innings. First Boardwalk (Atlantic City) Count Basie’s Edwin E. (Buzz) Grover Cleveland 1877 & 1879 Did you know that the musical roots stem Aldrin, Jr. went of Caldwell was the First Phonograph boardwalk favorite, from Red Bank. from his birthplace only President who & Light Bulb (Menlo Park) saltwater taffy, was first This jazz legend in Montclair to be served twice — but Invented by , made at the Jersey was the first one of the first two not in a row! He who also launched the first Shore in the 1870s? African-American to land on was the 22nd and motion picture studio in male to win the the moon. 24th President of 1889 (West Orange). 1883 Grammy Award. the United States. First Town with Electricity 1896 (Roselle) First Pro Basketball Edison’s successful experiment lit a store, a Game (Trenton) HERE ARE JUST A FEW FAMILIAR The Trenton Nationals railroad station, 40 houses were also the first and 150 streetlights. NAMES FROM NEW JERSEY! National Basketball League champions, 1897 Jon Bon Jovi | Singer-Songwriter (Sayreville) out of six teams, First “Condensed” Soup American Music Award, Golden Globe Award in the 1898-1899 (Camden) season. Made by the Joseph Judy Blume | Author (Elizabeth) A. Campbell Preserve Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret; 1898 Company, now the Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing First Navy Campbell Soup Company. Submarine (Elizabeth) Whitney Houston | Singer/Actress (Newark) 1917 2 Emmy Awards, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard John Holland equipped the USS Holland with a First Cranberry Sauce Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards gasoline engine for surface (New Egypt) Elizabeth Lee started the Queen Latifah | Rapper/Actress/Producer (Newark) propulsion and an electric motor while submerged. company known as Ocean Golden Globe Award, Emmy Award Spray when she boiled Shaquille O’Neal | Athlete (Newark) 1933 damaged cranberries NBA LA Lakers, 4 NBA Championships First National Historic instead of tossing them. Park (Morristown) Frank Sinatra | Singer/Actor (Hoboken) Site of General George Academy Award, Golden Globe Award Washington’s and the Continental Army’s Bruce Springsteen | Singer-Songwriter (Freehold) 1961 December 1779 – 20 Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, First Robot (Ewing) June 1780 encampment, George Devol invented Academy Award where they survived the the first digital, coldest winter on record. Dionne Warwick | Singer/Actress (East Orange) programmable robot, 5 Grammy Awards used by General Motors to replace workers.

10 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 11 • From the gaggle of geese that welcome you at the SHORE gate to lions, tigers MORE THAN A DAY AT THE BEACH and black bears, Popcorn Park Zoo Animal Rescue and Sanctuary (Forked Who doesn’t like the Shore Region’s River) welcomes beaches and boardwalks? But you animals needing a can also ride a , safe home. Lots of climb a , watch a happy endings here! Revolutionary War battle scene and more in this region, which extends from the Atlantic’s sandy • Ocean County is home to two amusement parks. coastline to the heart of the state. Here are some Have fun at the arcade or on the Big Wheel popular attractions in the Shore Region. at Fantasy Island (Beach Haven). And hop on your favorites (Tilt-a-Whirl and ) or see what’s new — like the OCEAN COUNTY: Centrifuge, indoor ride at Casino Pier & Breakwater Beach Waterpark (Seaside Heights). Birds, Bugs, Boating and “Old Barney” • In Point Pleasant, see the flightless seabird • Dress up like a pirate, and learn about the people (better known as the penguin) at and traditions of at Tuckerton Jenkinson’s Aquarium, or build Seaport (Tuckerton), a recreated maritime village. a model boat and learn about For more sea tales, sailing at the New Jersey visit the NJ Maritime Museum of Boating. Museum (Beach Haven), where you can find out • Nesting and migrating birds about shipwrecks love and sharks! (Seaside Park). It’s one of the last undeveloped barrier • Go wild at Six Flags Great Adventure & Safari beaches in the northeastern (Jackson). If you’re 54 inches tall, you can ride the United States. Watch for world’s tallest pendulum ride — Wonder Woman osprey (the sea hawk) when Lasso of Truth, standing 17 stories in the air, you walk on the beach. rotating at 75 mph. Or drop into the park’s exotic animal attractions. If you dare! • Did you know that is • Count how many different birds and butterflies nicknamed “Old Barney?” you see at Cattus Island County Park (Toms Climb 217 steps to the top River). The Butterfly Garden is a pretty spot to of this beacon. take a photo!

• Touch a live tarantula, watch the daily life of an ant colony and see the state insect (the honeybee) in action at Insectropolis, New Jersey’s bugseum (Toms River).

12 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 13 • Explore dune trails or play on MONMOUTH COUNTY: the beach at Unit, Gateway National Recreation Area From American History (Highlands). To learn more about to Amazing Coasters the ocean, join one of the summer marine science camps offered by the NJ Sea Grant Consortium, located • See Revolutionary War at Sandy Hook. And a must-see soldiers “act out” a for all future sailors: Sandy Hook big battle, complete Lighthouse. The nation’s oldest with muskets and lighthouse, Sandy Hook still lights cannons, at the the way for boats. annual reenactment at Monmouth Battlefield State Park in Manalapan. • Go back in time at these three places. At Longstreet Farm (Holmdel), help the staff milk cows, collect eggs and feed the livestock, just • See what’s on stage at the Count Basie Theatre, like they did back in the 1890s. You can see how or get your first taste of Shakespeare at Two River one family lived over 200 years ago at Historic Theatre Company­ — A Little Shakespeare is one Walnford (Upper Freehold), or ride a steam of its most popular programs! Both theaters are engine train at the Historic Village at Allaire in Red Bank. (Farmingdale).

• Shhh, it’s a secret…InfoAge • Did you know that the first Pledge of Allegiance Science History Learning Center was said at the Twin Lights of Navesink in (Wall Township) is a former secret Highlands? Visit the double for more laboratory where lots of innovations fun facts. Another NJ lighthouse we use today were first developed. first, go to Sea Girt Lighthouse (Sea Girt), home of the first • Learn about more American heroes at the woman lighthouse keeper in New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial & the U.S. Lighthouse Service. Vietnam Era Museum (Holmdel). Vietnam Veteran volunteers lead the guided tours. Stop by the • For some ancient American history, head over to U.S. War Dogs Memorial to honor the heroism Middletown’s Conservancy to hunt of our four-legged companions. for fossils from the Cretaceous period. You can take up to five fossils home! Or travel to Ancient • For thrills and chills, Egypt in a time machine at Monmouth Museum’s don’t miss iPlay America Becker Children’s Wing (Lincroft). (Freehold), New Jersey’s largest indoor boardwalk, • Watch New Jersey’s complete with rides, state animal games and goodies –– and (the horse) Keansburg Amusement compete at Park & Runaway Rapids Horse Park Water Park (Keansburg), of New Jersey a popular oceanfront in Allentown. attraction since the early 1900s.

14 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 15 • Ralph E. Hunter collected cultural GREATER treasures about the African American ATLANTIC CITY experience. His apartment “museum” A SHORE BET FOR FAMILY FUN turned into the African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey. The Noyes Arts Garage of Welcome to Greater Atlantic City, Stockton University shares the same site of the world’s first boardwalk, space. View artists at work or go to the inspiration for the street an art camp. names in the game Monopoly and the location of the Miss • You can do it! Climb America pageant. This area is 228 steps to the top of famous for its beaches and casinos, for but it’s also home for a large section of a great view. the New Jersey Pinelands, the nation’s first National Reserve. Discover the natural and human-made attractions of the Greater Atlantic City Region. • Remember the heroes of “The Forgotten War” ATLANTIC CITY: at the New Jersey State Hit the ‘Boards for Fun, History Korean War and Weird Wonders Memorial.

• See concerts, sports events and family shows at Boardwalk Hall. And speaking of boardwalks, did you know the Atlantic City Boardwalk was • Like weird things? Go to the Odditorium at first built in 1870 to solve the “sticky” problem of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum to look at guests tracking sand into the seaside hotels? real shrunken heads and the world’s smallest car. For more strange but real • Hurry over to Steel Pier to ride the 227-feet-tall sights, don’t miss the Ferris Wheel, classic and extreme rides, arcade Ocean Oddities exhibit games and fun food. You can go from 0 to at the Atlantic 225 feet in 1.5 seconds on the SlingShot. City Aquarium at Historic Gardner’s Basin. Plan your visit around feeding the stingrays!

• In the summer, join an open house tour to learn about wind and solar energy at the Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm.

16 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 17 JUST OUTSIDE ATLANTIC CITY: SOUTHERN Magical Creatures and More SHORE BETWEEN THE BEACH AND THE BAY

• Explore New Jersey’s amazing Pinelands at (Hammonton). Hike on Located between the Delaware Bay the , which stands for Back to Nature! and the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern You can also see 33 historic buildings, including Shore Region is known for sandy the Mansion and a gristmill at Batsto Village, beaches, sea life, lighthouses which was a bog iron and glassmaking center and Victorian homes. What does from 1766-1867. “Victorian” mean? It was mid-to-late 19th century in American architecture • Watch for bald eagles, that focused on detailed, very decorative wild turkeys, otters style — sometimes called “gingerbread.” Victorian and more at Edwin B. homes look like large dollhouses! Let’s explore the Forsythe National Wildlife things to do and see in the Southern Shore Region. Refuge (Galloway). Much of the refuge is salt marsh, which CAPE MAY COUNTY: is a great nesting habitat. Adventures by the Sea • The Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine has rescued over 4,800 • Honor the bravery of those stranded whales, dolphins, seals and killed in Vietnam at the sea turtles. Learn more by joining one Wildwood Vietnam Veterans of the Center’s summer programs. Remembrance Wall (Wildwood).

• Have nature questions? Ask a naturalist at the • In North Wildwood, Warren E. Fox Nature Center (Mays Landing). tour Hereford Don’t miss the live animal display. Inlet Lighthouse. Plenty of photo • Have fun on the rides at Storybook Land ops in its pretty (Egg Harbor Township). Stop for a treat at seaside garden! The Watering Can, shaped just like its name! • Experience hands-on history in Cape May at • See what’s playing on stage at Stockton Performing Historic Cold Spring Village, which looks just like Arts Center (Galloway) or the Eagle Theatre a real farm village from the past. (Hammonton). Both offer children’s and family productions. • Learn about terrapins (a species of turtle) • See one the world’s greatest and walk across a salt attractions, Lucy the marsh on an elevated Elephant (Margate). She walkway at Wetlands stands six stories high Institute and Museum and is the only elephant in Stone Harbor. you “can walk through and come out alive!”

18 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 19 • Morey’s Piers and Beachfront • ”Doo Wop” is a Waterparks on the Wildwood Boardwalk style of music and is all about classic seaside fun: three architecture from the amusement piers, two waterparks 1950s. See the funky (Raging Waters and Ocean Oasis) and Doo Wop motels in over 100 rides! For more “wild” chills, Wildwood, and learn don’t miss Splash Zone Water Park. more at the Doo Wop Experience. For a • Easy does it as you climb the 199 steps completely different style of house, go to Cape to the top of the . May, home to 600 restored Victorian homes. It’s a shorter climb up Fire Control See what life was like 100 years ago in a Tower No. 23, where you can catch a Victorian mansion at Emlen Physick Estate. great view and learn about its role in harbor defense during World War II. • Take the “Behind the Scenes” tour at Cape May Both are in Cape May Point. County Park & Zoo (Cape May Court House), and learn how the Zoo feeds its 500+ animals, • Theater geeks will like the East Lynne Theater from snowy owls to the dromedary camel. Company (Cape May), which stages summer workshops for ages 10-16, along with year-round • Love wildlife? Walk along one of the trails at the theatrical productions. Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and look for songbirds, turtles and frogs. Watch for egrets and • See real warplanes from World War II herons at Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary (Stone and the Korean and Vietnam wars, Harbor). Go birding at two locations of the Cape plus climb up into an authentic May Bird Observatory (Cape May Court House air traffic control tower at Naval and Cape May Point). See how many different Air Station Wildwood Aviation birds you can count! At the Nature Center of Museum (Cape May Airport). Cape May, go kayaking through a tidal marsh with a naturalist. Or join naturalists from the Cape May Whale Watch & Research Center on a sail to spot • For outdoor fun, go camping at Belleplain State dolphins and whales. Forest (Woodbine) or crabbing at Corson’s Inlet State Park (Strathmere). Belleplain offers • It’s easy to cross the 17 miles of the Delaware Bay fun ways to camp. You can stay that separates New Jersey from Delaware. Just in a yurt or a lean-to! take the Cape May-Lewes Ferry!

• See why Ocean City is called “America’s Greatest • A playground in the trees? Yes, please! Have a Family Resort.” Maybe it has to do with all of the blast on zip lines and obstacle courses at amusements at Gillian’s Tree to Tree Adventure Park Wonderland Pier or splashy (Cape May Court House). rides at OC Waterpark. Another family favorite: the Ocean City Pops, a professional orchestra that performs all summer long on Music Pier.

20 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 21 CUMBERLAND COUNTY: DELAWARE Art, History and More, Down by the Bay RIVER NEW JERSEY’S WESTERN FRONTIER

• Hear a “Tiger Talk”at Cohanzick Zoo, New Jersey’s first zoo. This free zoo in Bridgeton also offers Bordered by the historic, scenic Zoo Camps! Delaware River in the center of the state, this region has something • Stop by Bayshore Center at Bivalve, for everyone. General George take a wetlands walk, learn about Washington made his famous oysters and go sailing on the crossing here. It’s the home of historic A.J. Meerwald. Wear one of the nation’s top universities. an eye patch and tricorn And it’s where you can visit museums, hat for the Pirate Sail! watch a baseball game or a rodeo — and even operate a backhoe! Take a closer look at the attractions of the Delaware River Region. • Watch glassblowers, potters and woodworkers in action, and tour the glass museum at Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center in Millville. BURLINGTON COUNTY:

• Visit Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center Berries, the Barrens and History (Seabrook), the “largest vegetable factory on earth,” and hear the stories of immigrants, • The “front door” of the New Jersey Pine Barrens refugees, migrant workers and relocated (which covers over one million acres) is the Japanese Americans who lived there. Pinelands Visitor Center in Southampton. Learn about its history and the conservation efforts • Learn about the World War II fighter plane called of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance. the P-47 Thunderbolt at America’s first defense airport, now the Millville Army Air Field Museum. • It’s always “berry” season at Whitesbog Village (Browns Mills). Find out about • For Broadway musicals close to home, go to the New Jersey’s role in developing the Levoy Theatre in Millville. blueberry, our state fruit, and stomp around a cranberry bog. • If you spot a bright red roof by the Delaware Bay • The Victorian Christmas tour is a fun way to see near Heislerville, you’ve Smithville Mansion (Eastampton), which is also found the East Point open for public tours May through October. Lighthouse, built in 1849.

• Just for fun: Pretend you’re in a tropical paradise at CoCo Key Water Resort in Mount Laurel with over 55,000 sq. ft. of indoor water park, 150,000 gallons of water. It’s also a hotel, so you can stay overnight!

22 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 23 • Visit the Alice Paul Institute in Mount Laurel for the • The Ritz Theatre (Haddon Township) presents an ultimate girl power display. Suffragist Alice Paul led all-kids production that brings 3rd to 8th graders the final fight to get women the right to vote and together for a fun experience, plus stage musicals is an author of the Equal Rights Amendment. that the whole family will love.

• Is it haunted? No one knows! Get a glimpse of • Ride the Ferris Wheel, float down the Lazy River how a prison operates at the Burlington County or raft down Sky River Rapids at Clementon Park & Prison Museum in Mount Holly. Its doors opened Splash World. For thrills, go on the Sea Dragon, or in 1811 and was a prison for 154 years. chill out at the Big Wave Bay with a “Dive-In”movie.

CAMDEN COUNTY: Earth and Water, Plays and Poetry

• Head to the Camden Waterfront for three cool attractions. Check out the feeding times for the hippos, little blue penguins and stingrays at MERCER COUNTY: Adventure Aquarium. Explore the huge Battleship New Jersey. You can even Barracks, Baseball, Butterflies and More spend the night and live like a sailor! And at the Camden Children’s • Follow the footsteps of General George Garden, don’t miss the Washington at Washington Crossing State Park butterfly house. (Titusville). It marks the famous spot where (Do you know what Washington landed with his troops after crossing New Jersey’s state the Delaware River on Christmas night in 1776. butterfly is?)

• Trenton, the state capital, offers plenty of • Visit a former safe house on the Underground attractions. Start at the 1719 William Trent Railroad: the Peter Mott House in Lawnside. House Museum, and see how different life was in New Jersey was a major route for slaves escaping the 18th century. Imagine the daily routines of a the South for freedom in the North. Mott was a soldier during colonial times at the Old Barracks free black farmer and pastor of the Mount Pisgah Museum. When you walk into the New Jersey A.M.E. church. State House, be sure to look up at the golden dome ceiling. • Learn about the great American poet at the (Camden). Whitman wrote • Don’t miss the New Jersey State a famous poem “Elegy” (a poem that expresses Museum (Trenton), which is really sadness) after the assassination of President Lincoln. four museums in one. Go back in time and look at fossils, or soar through space in the museum’s • For any kid who has watched Bob the Builder, planetarium. The last stop on our Diggerland USA (West Berlin) is the place to go. Trenton tour? Watching the Trenton If you’re 42 inches tall, Thunder play at Arm & Hammer you can operate a digger. Park. Everybody loves the Thunder’s At 48 inches tall, you can “world famous” bat dogs! drive a backhoe or an all-terrain ARGO.

24 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 25 • Art goes outside at Grounds for Sculpture (Hamilton). The 42-acre GLOUCESTER COUNTY: park is full of surprises—from the Stories by the River resident peacocks to 270 sculptures. Did you know a group of peacocks is called a “muster?” Create • Lighthouses aren’t only by the ocean! The Tinicum your own work of art at one of Rear Range Lighthouse (Paulsboro) stands the Young Artist Workshops. along the Delaware River and looks out over Philadelphia.

• See what farm life was like 100 years ago at • Walk near the Howell Living History Farm (Titusville). You can Delaware River help slop the hogs, make butter, harvest honey or and explore just hop on a for old-fashioned fun. the site of a Revolutionary War battle • Take a nature hike, and learn about conservation at Red Bank at in Pennington. Don’t Battlefield miss the annual Butterfly Festival in August! Park (National Park). It’s a • In Princeton, visit , the official pretty spot for home of New Jersey’s governor. Go to Princeton a picnic, too. Battlefield State Park, where General George Washington scored an important victory in 1777. • The Broadway Theatre of Pitman is located in And on the campus of Princeton University, you a historic theater that first opened in 1926. See a can see over 97,000 works of art at the Princeton musical on the main stage, take a summer camp, University Art Museum, or watch a play or or have fun at a children’s show. musical performance at McCarter Theatre. Here’s a fun fact: two former U.S. Presidents called Princeton “home.” Do you know who they were? SALEM COUNTY: (Answer: Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson) Lighthouses and Cowboys

• A mule train helped bring the iron structure from New York State to Pennsville that became the Finns Point Rear Range Lighthouse. It’s located at the Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

• Did you know that the oldest weekly running rodeo in the U.S. is in New Jersey? It’s true! At Cowtown Rodeo (Pilesgrove), you can watch bull riding, steer wrestling, team roping and more!

26 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 27 SKYLANDS WARREN COUNTY: THE HIGHEST POINT OF NEW JERSEY Hiking, Hatching and Howling

• Go on a “Wolf Watch” at Lakota The Skylands is in the northwestern Wolf Preserve in Columbia part of New Jersey. It’s hard to to see (and hear!) these believe that its rolling hills, fascinating animals. rugged hiking trails (including a section of the Appalachian • See what’s on stage Trail), mountain lakes, river valleys at the Centenary Stage and historic small towns are just Company in Hackettstown. 40 miles from . Check out these fun attractions! • Chicks aren’t the only creatures to “hatch.” The Pequest Trout Hatchery and Natural Resource Education Center in Oxford produces up to SUSSEX COUNTY: 700,000 trout each year to stock NJ’s fishing spots.

Mountains, Mines and Monkeys • Go camping, hiking, fishing or kayaking in the National Recreation Area • At (Sussex), climb (Hardwick). Why is it called the “Gap?” The High Point Monument, the state’s highest Delaware River cuts point at 1,803 feet. On a clear day, you can through the Kittatinny see three states (NJ, PA and NY)! Mountains here—nearly 1,400 feet deep and • Go to Allamuchy Mountain State Park 900 feet wide at (Byram) to explore Waterloo Village, water level! a restored 19th-century canal village. Don’t miss the recreated Lenape village.

• There’s a lot to see at Space Farms Zoo & Museum in Beemerville, ranging from 500 live wild animals HUNTERDON COUNTY: (like lions, lemurs and monkeys) to antique cars! The State’s Most Photographed Spot • Dig into the region’s unique geological history at the Franklin Mineral Museum in Franklin and • Stop at the nearby Hunterdon Art Museum and Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg. view modern art in a historic 19th-century stone mill. Did you know fluorescent mineral deposits glow under ultraviolet light? • Want to see the place that unofficially holds the title of “most photographed” in New Jersey? Head over to the Red • For year-round mountain fun, Mill in Clinton. Explore Red Mill head over to Mountain Creek in Museum Village and learn Vernon: ski slopes, snowboarding about life here from park, 52 mountain bike trails, a Colonial times to 1928. water park with 22 rides and the new TreEscape Aerial Adventure Park with 10 rope courses.

28 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 29 MORRIS COUNTY: SOMERSET COUNTY: Music, History and Raptors—Live Geocaching, Golf and the Galaxy, By George • The Morris Museum in Morristown features exhibits on dinosaurs, art, rocks and minerals, • At in and more. But its most unique collection is Hillsborough, you 750 historic mechanical musical instruments and can hike, bike and automata (mechanical figures). Did you know explore nature over that New Jersey was once the home of American 1,000 acres. Try music box production? geocaching, a fun outdoor treasure • A great place hunting game. to see musicals and other live performances • Get to know more about General George is the Mayo Washington at his final Revolutionary War Performing Arts Center in Morristown, and headquarters, Historic Site (Kingston). the Growing Stage, the children’s theater of New Jersey in Netcong. • Take a trip into outer space at the Raritan Valley Community College Planetarium (Branchburg), • Want to know where General George Washington’s and learn more about our solar system, the galaxy army slept? Visit Morristown National Historical and deep space. Park, the site of Washington’s two winter encampments during the Revolutionary War.

• Take a peek into the past at the Museum of Early Trades & Crafts in Madison. See the tools, toys and kitchen gadgets of early New Jersey.

• See cows milked the old-fashioned way at Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in Morristown, learn how flour was made at Cooper Gristmill in Chester, or hop on a train and learn about New Jersey’s railroad history at • Did you know that the oldest sports museum the Whippany Railway Museum. in the nation is in New Jersey? It’s the United States Golf Association (USGA) Museum • Get up close to hawks, eagles, falcons in Liberty Corner. Take a swing on the 9-hole and owls at the Raptor Trust in Pynes Putting Course. Millington. It’s one of the top wild bird rehabilitation centers in the U.S. and a leader in raptor conservation.

• Here’s a museum where you CAN touch the exhibits: Imagine That!!! in Florham Park.

30 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 31 GATEWAY BERGEN COUNTY: THE HUB OF NEW JERSEY History and Nature in Harmony

• Take a hike, explore a reconstructed Revolutionary Do you like to explore museums, War encampment and get an awesome cliff-top see musicals, or watch your view of the New York City skyline at Fort Lee favorite pro football team play? Historic Park. The Gateway Region is the place to go! Located in the • Time travel to prehistoric times. northeastern part of the state, this See over 30 life-sized animatronic region also features historic sites, dinosaurs at Field Station: beautiful gardens and more. Here Dinosaurs (Leonia). are a few of its many attractions. • Imagine what life was like for General George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette and PASSAIC COUNTY: Alexander Hamilton at a house they all visited: Legends, Labor and Natural Wonders Hermitage Museum in Ho-Ho-Kus.

• Did you know you could see a jousting match • Did you know that the 77-foot-high Great Falls in New Jersey? Just go to Medieval Times in helped power the Industrial Revolution in New Lyndhurst for dinner and a show. For something a Jersey? Learn more at Paterson Great Falls little more modern, go to Bergen Performing National Historical Park. Arts Center (Englewood) for dance, theater, comedy or theatrical performances. • Yogi Berra is a baseball legend. Find out more about the Yankees catcher at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center on the Montclair State University campus.

• At , the New Jersey State Botanical Gardens (Ringwood) is a great spot for a family hike. Be sure to stop and smell the flowers!

• Many immigrants settled in New Jersey. You can learn about their working life at the American Labor Museum in Haledon.

• Go see New Jersey’s castle! • Discover more about nature and our feathered A Paterson silk tycoon built friends at Lorrimer Sanctuary in Franklin Lakes. Take a bird walk! to look like an English • Learn more about ecology with hands-on programs castle. at the Meadowlands Environment Center in Lyndhurst. A fun way to explore is on a pontoon boat or a canoe!

32 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 33 • Hear Edison’s talking doll recordings at the ESSEX COUNTY: Thomas Edison National Historical Park in Everything from A(rt) to Z(oo) West Orange. Tour his home (Glenmount) and lab, and see a silent movie from 1903!

• What’s the state’s largest museum? If you said •  in West Newark Museum, good for you! It has 80 galleries Orange cares for over for art and science, plus a planetarium and a 200 different species from sculpture garden. around the world, from the very tall (giraffe) to • At , you and your family cute and small (prairie dogs). will find lots to do—like the Family Learning A must-see: two very rare Lab and Drop-In Studio, where you can create animals threatened with your own artwork! extinction, the Amur leopard and the red panda. Stop by • Why is Presby Memorial Iris the Treetop Adventure Gardens in Upper Montclair called Course next door—the “ on a Hill?” Answer: It junior courses offer boasts over 10,000 irises producing 15 unique challenges! over 100,000 blooms!

• Sports fans can find plenty to cheer for HUDSON COUNTY: in Essex County: The Giants and the Jets Gateway to Liberty NFL teams play at MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford), while the (NHL) and Seton Hall’s men’s • Want to learn more about immigrant stories in basketball team play at Newark’s the United States? Catch the ferry at Liberty State . Park in Jersey City to the or Ellis Island, where more than 12 million immigrants • Like plays and concerts? The New Jersey passed through the Great Hall, the “Gateway to Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark, one Freedom.” The park also offers a bike trail, kayak “Empty Sky” 9/11 Memorial of the largest performing arts centers in the nation, eco tours, the offers everything from dance performances to and a historic train station. pop artists. The South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) also offers live concerts, as well • Experiment with science and technology at Liberty as an annual performance of The Nutcracker ballet. Science Center. The offers And you don’t have to go to New York City to see plenty of fun hands-on exhibits on inventions, Broadway shows—the in the environment, health and more. Millburn presents popular plays and musicals. • Cheer the when they take the field at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, or race around the track in an electric go-kart at RPM Raceway indoor karting in Jersey City.

34 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE 1-800-visitnj • www.visitnj.org 35 UNION COUNTY: American History and Local Flora CONNECT • Learn how firefighters put out fires 200 years ago the DOTS at Liberty Hall Museum on the campus in Union. You can also see two centuries of American history through the experiences of one family.

• See the home where our Founding Fathers visited. 49 Both President George Washington and Alexander 48 Hamilton were guests at in Elizabeth. 47 • What’s growing in Union County? Take a free

Saturday guided tour (May-October) through 46 50 the gardens and woodlands of the Reeves-Reed Arboretum in Summit, and find out! 45 43 44 51 MIDDLESEX COUNTY: 52 42 41 1 2 4 Monuments to Genius and the Arts N 40 39 3 5 W E 38 • Concerts, Broadway shows, family events and 37 even movies—there’s always something on stage S 36 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick. 35 6 10 33 34 • Discover the world’s first research and 30 9 development lab. At the Thomas Edison Center 32 31 11 7 at Menlo Park, you can listen to sound recordings 29 from 100 years ago and see the newly renovated 12 memorial tower. 28 13

• Take a look at the permanent exhibit of 27 8 14 illustrations from American children’s books at 15 Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University 26 (New Brunswick). You might see some favorites! 25 22 16 24 23 17 21 TRAVELING TO AND THROUGH NEW JERSEY 18 19 Train, bus, ferry or plane? Catch them all in New Jersey. 20 Take NJ TRANSIT buses and trains all through the state, PATH trains from Lower , and ferries into from Manhattan and Delaware into Cape May. Plus fly into two international airports: Newark Liberty and Atlantic City.

36 NEW JERSEY Fun & Facts GUIDE /Pauline St. Denis

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