One of the first Native American reservations in the United States was established in Burlington County in 1758 for the Lenni-Lenape tribe. The first and only reservation in New Jersey, the Brotherton Reserve, was sold back to the state in 1801 by the remaining members of the tribe, who moved north to join relatives in New Stockbridge, New York.
The first virtually complete dinosaur skeleton discovered in North America was unearthed in 1858 by William Parker Foulke in Haddonfield, New Jersey. Hadrosaurus foulkii, as it was later named, proved that the existence of dinosaurs was real, and provided shocking evidence that dinosaurs could be bipedal. In 1868, it became the first dinosaur skeleton in the world to be mounted on display.
The world’s first boardwalk was constructed in Atlantic City in 1870 to reduce the amount of sand tracked into nearby hotels and railroad cars. As hotels, shops, restaurants and casinos sprouted up along the seaside, Atlantic City became one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United States. As of 2012, the boardwalk remains the longest in the world—stretching for six miles.
During the last quarter of the 19th century, Thomas Edison generated hundreds of inventions at his Menlo Park laboratory, including the phonograph and an electric-powered railway. While most famous for perfecting the incandescent light bulb, Edison was awarded more than a thousand patents during his lifetime for inventions large and small.
Saltwater taffy, the popular bite-sized soft candy, originated on the Atlantic City Boardwalk in the 1880s.
Opening to traffic between New Jersey and New York on November 13, 1927, the Holland Tunnel became the first mechanically ventilated underwater tunnel. At its maximum depth, the tunnel lies roughly 93 feet beneath the Hudson River.
New Jersey was the site of more than 100 battles during the fight for American independence and is known as the “Crossroads of the Revolution.”
New Jersey is home to Princeton and Rutgers Universities—two of the nine colleges founded in the 13 Colonies before the American Revolution. Notable revolutionaries who attended Princeton University include Frederick Frelinghuysen, James Madison, Aaron Burr and William Bradford. (Rutgers beat Princeton in the first college football game on November 6, 1869.)