New Jersey, "The Garden State"

It’s hard to imagine how New Jersey ever got the name when all anybody thinks about when the state is mentioned is this:

or this…

New Jersey does exist outside of the turnpike or non-native guido/guidettes though (I promise!). According to 2010 USDA Data, New Jersey was ranked the 10th state in terms of productivity in 1960 and has only fallen to 16th by 2004. Either way though, I thought it might be interesting to try to find the origins of such a name.

Unfortunately, my research ended up being rather fruitless… there isn’t definitive evidence pointing towards a single, reliable source. In 1876 at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Abraham Browning of Camden apparently coined the term, comparing the state to “an immense barrel, filled with good things to eat and open at both ends, with Pennsylvanians grabbing from one end and the New Yorkers from the other” and referring to New Jersey as the Garden State. However, the validity of Browning’s originality continues to be debated, with opponents arguing that Benjamin Franklin actually conceived the metaphor. Regardless, the name stuck and “The Garden State” began being printed on license plates in 1954. Some also believe that the name came to be with agriculture being the overwhelming iconic feature of the state, and to that, others say New Jersey has made equal, if not greater, strides in various pursuits—manufacturing, mining, commerce, construction, power, transportation, shipping, merchandising, fishing, and on and on and on…

At the very least, we have certainly confirmed one myth: New Jerseyans love to bicker. Seriously. Check out some of our debates sometime.