DELAWARE WATER GAP
Warren County
The Delaware Water Gap, located in the northwestern part of New Jersey, is the result of millions of years of extremes in weather. The Delaware River cut through the Kittatinny Mountains, resulting in a 150 foot wide Delaware River bed flanked by the rock lifts of the Kittatinnies. This is one of the Seven Wonders of New Jersey.

Created - 1824 Total Square Miles - 364.65 23 Municipalities County Seat - Belvidere

PALISADES
Bergen County
The face of the Palisades, which is partly located in Bergen County, was created millions of years ago when molten lava boiled through the cracks in the rocks. When the lava cooled the rocks settled into a long row of vertical columns as high as 500 feet. Late in the 19th century, quarry crews began to strip away the cliff side to provide paving blocks for construction of New York streets. This angered the women in New Jersey so much so that in 1896 the members of the State Federation of Women's Clubs protested in Trenton, and in 1900 the women were successful and Palisades Interstate Park Commission was created to save the Palisades.

Created - 1683 Total Square Miles - 246.31 70 Municipalities County Seat - Hackensack

SKYLANDS MANOR
Passaic County
Skylands Manor is located in Ringwood State Park. The 51 room mansion has been the home of Robert Erskine, geographer, Surveyor General for the Continental Army (1770 - 1780), the Ryersons (1807 - 1853), and the Cooper and Hewitt families (1857 - 1930). Skylands is now a museum.

Created - 1837 Total Square Miles - 198.39 16 Municipalities County Seat - Paterson

ACORN HALL
Morris County
Acorn Hall, named for one of the largest oak trees in New Jersey, is an Italianate Victorian mansion that was built in 1853. It has been the home of only two families. Today it serves as the home of the Morris County Historical Society.

Created - 1739 Total Square Miles - 480.95 39 Municipalities County Seat - Morristown

LIBERTY STATE PARK
Hudson County
This 1,114 acre park faces the Hudson River at Jersey City near the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. You can take the ferry to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Liberty State Park.

Created - 1840 Total Square Miles - 60.48 12 Municipalities County Seat - Jersey City

GROVER CLEVELAND
Essex County
Grover Cleveland, born in Caldwell, New Jersey on March 18, 1837, was the only native New Jerseyan chosen Chief Executive. He served as the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland died in 1908 and is buried in Princeton.

Created - 1683 Total Square Miles - 129.52 22 Municipalities County Seat - Newark

BOXWOOD HALL
Union County
Built in 1751 in Elizabeth, Boxwood Hall is a national landmark. Elias Boudinot lived here. He was President of the Continental Congress and initiator of the Congressional a resolution that led President Washington to proclaim Thanksgiving Day - Thursday, November 26, 1789 - as a national holiday. In 1789 George Washington met the Committee of Congress here. Jonathon Dayton, signer of the U.S. Constitution, also resided at Boxwood Hall.

Created - 1857 Total Square Miles - 104.94 21 Municipalities County Seat - Elizabeth

CLINTON HISTORICAL MUSEUM
Hunterdon County
The old red gristmill, built in 1763, has been restored and is now a museum that contains four floors of 18th and 19th century American rural artifacts and rooms that recreate New Jersey from 1690 to 1900. The ten acre country village has a blacksmith shop, school house, general store, and post office.

Created - 1714 Total Square Miles - 439.06 26 Municipalities County Seat - Flemington

U.S. GOLF ASSOCIATION GOLF HOUSE
Somerset County
Golf House, a red brick building of Georgian colonial architecture, was built in 1919. It was designed by John Russell Pope, who also designed the National Archives Building, the Jefferson Memorial, and the American Battle Monument in France. Originally built for residence, the Golf House was acquired by the U.S.G.A. in 1972, where it now houses their administrative offices, museum, and library. There are some 260 golf courses located in New Jersey.

Created - 1688 Total Square Miles - 304.58 21 Municipalities County Seat - Somerville

WOODROW WILSON
Monmouth County
Although Woodrow Wilson was not born in New Jersey, he is still considered one of our most famous residents. In 1902 Wilson was named President of Princeton University where he served in that capacity for eight years. In 1910, he was offered the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey; he accepted and was easily elected. In 1912, Wilson was a prominent, though not leading, candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination; on the 46th ballot at the national convention, he was nominated. The split in the Republican Party enabled him to gain the largest Electoral College victory up to that point, although he failed to win a majority of the popular vote. Wilson spent two terms in the White House, after which he retired to a small house in Washington D.C. where he remained out of public life until his death in 1924.

Created - 1683 Total Square Miles - 538.11 53 Municipalities County Seat - Freehold

NEW JERSEY SHORELINE
Ocean County
New Jersey has many things, but one of the most precious natural resources is the New Jersey shore. It covers 127 miles from Sandy Hook in Monmouth County to the tip of Cape May. It is one of the most versatile spots in New Jersey. You can play games, go on rides, or watch parades and fireworks on the boardwalk. You can relax in the sun, go fishing on one of the many piers, or search for seashells or Captain Kidd's buried treasure.

Created - 1850 Total Square Miles - 750.26 33 Municipalities County Seat - Toms River

TRENT HOUSE
Mercer County
This colonial mansion was built in 1719 by William Trent, a wealthy merchant, political leader, and Chief Justice of New Jersey. It was used three times as the official residence of the governor of the state.

Created - 1838 Total Square Miles - 228.28 13 Municipalities County Seat - Trenton

JAMES FENIMORE COOPER
Burlington County
Cooper was born on September 15, 1789 in Burlington, New Jersey. In 1802 he entered Yale where he excelled in Latin, but was expelled for a prank in his third year. He became an apprentice seaman in 1806, and in 1808, after a training voyage to Europe, he was commissioned as a midshipman in the Navy where he continued to serve for three more years. At the age of thirty, in response to certain financial reverses, but also, according to legend, to his wife's challenge of his claim that he could write a better novel than the popular English one she was then reading, he began his literary career in 1820 with "Precaution," a conventional effort that, despite its poor reception, encouraged him to continue writing. The years to follow brought many successful books, including "The Spy" (1821, "The Pioneers" (1823), "The Pilot" (1823), "The Last of the Mohicans" (1826), and "The Prairie" (1827). Cooper died in 1851.

Created - 1681 Total Square Miles - 827.75 40 Municipalities County Seat - Mount Holly

WALT WHITMAN HOUSE
Camden County
Built in 1840, the Walt Whitman House was home to New Jersey's greatest poet. He lived here from 1884 until his death in 1892. Walt Whitman, born in 1819, published his first book of poetry in 1855 at his own expense. The book, "Leaves of Grass," was a failure with the public and drew a mixed critical response. It was not until after his death that the book became successful.

Created - 1844 Total Square Miles - 225.22 37 Municipalities County Seat - Camden

HOLLYBUSH HOUSE
Gloucester County
Hollybush was built in 1847 by Thomas Whitney for his private use. The Italian villa is a stone-built structure, designed to last for centuries. The Whitney heirs sold the estate in 1916, and in 1923 the state of New Jersey opened a normal school on the property. Since then, the mansion has been used as a home for the president of the school. On June 23 and 25, 1967, Hollybush was the site of the world famous Lyndon Johnson-Aleksei Kosygin Summit Conference. Hollybush was chosen for the conference because it was of equal distance between New York and Washington where the two world leaders were staying. This summit was very important to future peace policies. In 1971, the then president of the college decided that Hollybush would be put to better use as a conference center rather than the president's house. Since then, it has been in use almost every day by one or more groups for meetings, receptions, and formal functions. Hollybush became a historic site in 1973.

Created - 1686 Total Square Miles - 339.50 24 Municipalities County Seat - Woodbury

WHEATON VILLAGE
Cumberland County
Wheaton Village is a charming reconstruction of an 1888 glass town. Within the boundaries of this village are the Museum of American Glass, which traces the roots of the glass industry, and a working 1888 glass factory, where a visitor can watch while glassmakers work. The first successful glass factory in America was located in nearby Salem County, founded by Casper Wistar, a German button maker, in 1739.

Created - 1748 Total Square Miles - 669.44 14 Municipalities County Seat - Bridgeton

FORT MOTT
Salem County
A highlight of Salem County is Fort Mott, a 104 acre park located northwest of the town of Salem. The land, originally known as Finn's Point, was acquired in 1838 by the federal government to help fortify the mouth of the Delaware River. In 1863, two acres were set aside as a cemetery for Confederate prisoners of war who died while in the prison camp. On December 16, 1897, a War Department general order was issued designating the fort in honor of Major-General Gersham Mott, a native New Jerseyan. General Mott served with distinction during the Civil War, possessing qualities of the highest order. His division was known for efficiency, courage, and endurance of its men. In 1865, Mott received a promotion to the rank of full Major-General of Volunteers, becoming the first New Jersey officer to receive this rank. General Mott resigned his commission in 1866. From 1866 to 1882 General Mott held several appointment positions, among them being Treasurer of New Jersey, Keeper of the New Jersey State Prison, and Major-General commanding the National Guard of New Jersey. General Mott died on November 29, 1884. In 1951 Fort Mott was dedicated as a state park.

Created - 1694 Total Square Miles - 373.01 15 Municipalities County Seat - Salem

LUCY THE MARGATE ELEPHANT
Atlantic County
Lucy is a national landmark built in 1881 of wood and tin. She stands six stories tall and has a museum and gift shop inside.

Created - 1837 Total Square Miles - 609.97 23 Municipalities County Seat - Mays Landing

CAPE MAY HOUSES
Cape May County
New Jersey has a variety of architectural styles, yet one of the most unique, beautiful, and well known is the 19th century Victorian. The streets in Cape May County are filled with this style that reminds you of gingerbread cottages.

Created - 1692 Total Square Miles - 454.34 16 Municipalities County Seat - Cape May Court House

GREAT FALLS OF THE PASSAIC RIVER
The Great Falls of the Passaic River, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of New Jersey, is located in Paterson. Each day, around one billion gallons of water flow down the 77 foot falls. Historical accounts of this wonder date back to 1680. The Falls have been visited by Presidents from Washington to Ford, and many poets have written of the beauty and wonders of the Great Falls.

INDIAN KING TAVERN
Haddonfield
This early American public house was built in 1750 and was used for state legislative meetings during the Revolutionary War. It was in this tavern in 1777 that the Great Seal of New Jersey was first presented to the Legislature. It is said that Dolley Madison would stop here on her way to New York.

TRENTON BARRACKS
General George Washington's surprise attack on Trenton and the British and Hessian troops stationed in the Old Barracks on December 26, 1776 was one of the most significant turning points in the Revolutionary War.

WASHINGTON CROSSING STATE PARK
Washington Crossing is where the Revolutionary Army led by General George Washington made the historic river crossing on Christmas night 1776 before the Battles of Trenton and Princeton. The park was established in 1912 and now sits on 807 acres of land. There are a number of historical memorials located in the park as well as a Ferry House, an open air theatre, and two museum galleries containing about 900 original Revolutionary war artifacts.

MARY LUDWIG HAYS MCCAULEY
"MOLLY PITCHER"
1754-1832
Born in Trenton on October 13, 1754, Mary "Molly" Ludwig lived on a small dairy farm until her father arranged for her employment as a servant to a doctor in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She was married shortly thereafter to John Hays who, during the Revolution, was present as a member of the 7th Pennsylvania regiment at the battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778. The day was a hot one and "Molly" who was with her husband, assisted the artillerymen in the battle by bringing drinking water in a pitcher, earning her the nickname "Molly Pitcher." After her husband collapsed from the heat, she took his place and his gun and served heroically for the remainder of the battle. During the last ten years of her life she received a pension of $40 a year that was authorized by an act of the Pennsylvania Assembly in 1822 in commemoration of her heroism at Monmouth. She died on January 22, 1832.

STEPHEN CRANE
1871-1900
Born on November 1, 1871 in Newark, New Jersey, Crane was the son of a Methodist minister. His rather indifferent education ended after a year at Lafayette College and another at Syracuse University that was apparently devoted largely to baseball. In 1891 he went to New York City and pursued a bohemian existence, reporting occasionally for the New York Herald and the New York Tribune and spending a great portion of his time exploring the Bowery slums. He produced a powerful novel of the Civil War, "The Red Badge of Courage," in 1895. The vivid realism and psychological perceptiveness of the book were all the more remarkable for Crane's lack of war experience. The book was an immediate success and became, in the course of time, an undisputed classic of American literature. Crane died of tuberculosis on June 5, 1900 at the age of twenty-eight in Badenweiler, Germany.

ADAM EXTON
1823-1887
At the age of eight Adam Exton was put to work in a cotton mill, and he gave his wages to his parents and used his overtime earning to attend night school. He arrived in New York in 1842 and was hired by a Quaker farmer near Trenton. In 1846, with his wife, he started a bread, cake, and cracker bakery. After 1850 he baked only crackers. Exton constructed machinery to eliminate hand molding. In the 1890s, at the New Jersey State Fair, barrels of his crackers were opened for people to sample. Henceforth, homesick Jerseymen around the world have yearned for the unique handbaked round "oyster stew" crackers.

COMMANDER WALTER M. SCHIRRA JR.
1923
An astronaut and third American to orbit the earth, Schirra circled the globe six times in the Sigma 7 space capsule on October 3, 1962. He landed in the Pacific Ocean within four miles of the waiting U.S.S. Kearsarge. He radioed for a formal Navy request for permission to come aboard. His day's pay was $35.31 including $7.42 for hazardous duty. Schirra received the national Aeronautics and Space Agency's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. He spent his boyhood in Oradell, New Jersey where an historic marker has been erected in his honor. 33b

FRANCIS HOPKINSON
1731-1791
Francis Hopkinson was the first student to enter the University of Pennsylvania, founded as the "College of Philadelphia" by his father and Benjamin Franklin. He traveled abroad and tried music and scientific experiments. He married Anne Borden, daughter of Judge Joseph Borden, and granddaughter of the founder of Bordentown. Hopkinson began to practice law by administering his wife's estate. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He authored the satiric poem "The Battle of Kegs". The New Jersey Legislature commissioned Hopkinson to engage the proper person to prepare the Great Seal of New Jersey and he employed Pierre Eugene du Simitiere. Hopkinson's descendants include a son, Joseph, who composed "Hail Columbia"; a grandson, Oliver, who was a prominent Philadelphia lawyer; and a great-grandson, the 20th century novelist F. Hopkinson Smith.

JOHN HART
1711-1779
John Hart was the oldest of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was a farmer in Hopewell and owner of grist and fulling mills. Hart was in the Provincial Assembly for ten years. In June of 1776 he was elected to the Continental Congress and in August he signed the Declaration of Independence. He was also elected Speaker of the first Assembly under the new state constitution. 35b

WILLIAM LIVINGSTON
1723-1790
William Livingston was the first elected governor of New Jersey from 1776-1790. He graduated from Yale in 1741 and became a lawyer. In 1760 he settled at Elizabethtown. His "Liberty Hall" on Morris Avenue is still standing. Livingston was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774. In 1776 he was the Commander in Chief of the New Jersey Militia as well as governor. As the first governor under freedom, he drafted many original laws, providing groundwork for an excellent New Jersey system. An ardent patriot, his family was sometimes hiding from the British. A critic said his brilliant wit sometimes exceeded his strength of thinking as when he criticized ladies of rural Bergen for ostentatious showing of many petticoats and suggested some be remade to protect soldiers from inclement weather. He added that women in that part of the country had worn the breeches for over a century and ". . . . it is highly reasonable that men should now . . . make booty of the petticoats." The township of Livingston is named in his honor.

DAVID BREARLEY
1745-1790
Presided over the state convention which ratified the federal constitution. He was elected Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court in 1779. In 1780, he ruled on a Monmouth County law permitting a jury permitting a jury of six. Since then, this function of judiciary and principle of judicial power over unconstitutional legislation has held up in New Jersey.

JONATHON DAYTON
1760-1824
Dayton graduated from the College of New Jersey and entered the Continental Army. He was one of New Jersey's delegates to Philadelphia for framing the constitution in 1787 and one of the youngest signers. He served in the New Jersey Legislature, in Congress, as Speaker of the House in 1795 and 1797, and as U.S. Senator from 1799-1805. Dayton was one of the original members of the Society of Cincinnati. Dayton was a boyhood friend of Aaron Burr and in 1803 he undertook a duel in his defense. Dayton's reputation suffered nationally from loans to Burr for his questionable projects. He owned land in Ohio and the city of Dayton, named in honor of his family. He entertained Lafayette in Elizabeth and accompanied him on tour through the state in 1824.

WILLIAM PATERSON
1745-1806
William Paterson was governor of New Jersey from 1790-1792. He settled with his father, a tinplate manufacturer, at Princeton and graduated from there in 1763. He studied law under Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Paterson was elected to the Provincial Congress in 1775. He was a member of the committee that arrested Royal Governor William Franklin. Paterson was in the U.S. Senate from 1789-1790. Paterson was New Jersey's first Attorney General and the leader of New Jersey's delegation at the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He advanced the "small state" plan of equal representation for each state. Large states wanted representation proportionate to population. The compromise was the Senate and House of Representatives. As governor he endorsed a plan of Alexander Hamilton and associates for developing a society for the Establishment of Useful Manufactures on the Passaic River. This site would become the city of Paterson, named in is honor. He published the first laws of New Jersey in 1792, and in 1793 Paterson was named to the United States Supreme Court.

COLT REVOLVER
Although Samuel Colt was born in Connecticut, he resided in Paterson, New Jersey during the period that he perfected the revolver and the patent was granted in 1836. A demonstration of the revolver for President Van Buren caused carriage horses to bolt, killing the driver and any chance for the gun to be accepted. It wasn't until 1838 during the war in Mexico that the gun was accepted.

SMOKELESS POWDER
The Frenchman Paul Vielle (1833-1896) invented smokeless powder in 1884. This invention was a tremendous step forward. Detonation of this explosive did not leave any combustion residues and produces little or no smoke. It also had unexpected ballistic advantages. Smokeless powder allowed caliber reduction in service rifles from the ten current .44 caliber (11mn.) to .27 or .32 calibers (7 or 8mn.), resulting in range increase, better accuracy, and lower trajectories. However, while Paul Vielle was the first to perfect a smokeless powder, he was soon followed by inventors from other industrialized countries. Within two or three years following his invention, every major country had its own smokeless powder, perfected through domestic research.

In the United States, smokeless powder was perfected in 1890 at Maxim, Monmouth County, New Jersey.

CAMERON PRESS
The Cameron Press is a revolutionary machine for printing books. In fact, this machine, developed in 1968 by the research director of the Cameron Machine Company in New Jersey, Charles Haron, can print and bind a book without human intervention. While production-line printing was first invented by Stoud-Bridgeman, a Canadian Company, Charles Haron was the first to develop the automatic collation system that is a distinct feature of the Cameron Press. Currently, the various Cameron machines in use print more than 300 million books a year.

TRANSISTOR
In 1938, three New Jerseyans - William Bradford Shockly, John Bardeen, and Walter H. Brattain - worked in collaboration at Murray Hill, Union County, to invent the transistor.

A transistor is actually a semiconductor triode. It is the electronic component which characterized second generation computers. A solid-state component that neither needs nor dissipates much energy, it was quickly adopted.

The first transistors were made of germanium, which is very sensitive to temperature variations. From 1960 on, transistors have used silicon, which is much more stable. Ever since, semiconductor technology has continually evolved, leading to microelectronics and integrated circuits.
The first computer to use transistors was the SEAC, built by Standard Eastern Automating Computing (United States Institute of Norms).

CELLULOID
Celluloid was invented in 1870 by two New Jerseyans, the Hyatt brothers. In 1863, two American industrialists offered a prize of $10,000 to anyone who could develop a substitute for ivory to use in the manufacture of billiard balls. John Hyatt, a businessman from New York State, set out to work on the problem with his brother. After seven years of research, they obtained celluloid by hot mixing cellulose nitrate, a macromolecular vegetable substance, and camphor, a plasticizer.
The discovery took place at their factory in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey.

TIME ZONES
The standard time zones as we know them today were invented by William F. Allen of South Orange, who was commissioned by the railroads to adopt time zones across the country. Standard time went into effect on November 18, 1883.