Facts and History of my State, please share yours.

Suzy...yeah well...Subway Sandwiches started in Connecticut and its international headquarters today is still here in Milford.

So there.

You Hoosiers want to eat them, we Nutmeggers will sell you all the Subway Sandwiches you want.

This message was edited Feb 20, 2008 6:03 PM

Well, I can beat the both of you, lol! I used to go to the original Subway in Bridgeport! It was about a mile and a half from my house, and we would walk there to get a sandwich. Being kids, we just figured every town had a "Pete's Subs" as it was first called. It wasn't till I was in college that I learned it was originally just a local shop which made it big. I guess that makes me part of history, huh? LOL! I'm not making myself rich - I guess I should be glad that I contributed to someone else's fortune, lol.

I guess we intimidated everyone, Diggerdee. No other state can, in the food catagory, top Connecticut and Subway Sandwich.

I remember going to one in Westville around 1970. The tuna salad was great. Gobs of mashed tuna.

LOL, David! It would be kind of sad actually if nothing in the food world could top Subway. But, on the upscale side, we can partially claim Martha Stewart, or at least share her with NJ. Or wait, did she move...? I remember some kind of tiff with her Greenfield Hill neighbors, and I think she sold her house, so maybe she is no longer one of us Nutmeggers...

i live in Westville!
Heya David Paul - where were you when i was trying to get a Scrabble game going?

We are also known as the "Land of Steady Habits" Came up with the compromise that got the constitution passed. we had the first phone book (New Haven") Used to be a major gun manufacturer (Remington, Colt ,Winchester, Olin Matheson) Now considered the insurance capitol of the world.
Our colonial charter was hidden from the Brits in the famous Charter Oak tree (not far from Amy). The big chair in our state senate meeting room (for the Lt. Governor) is made of wood from that oak tree.

Our motto is garden related: He Who Transplants Sustains

I have gone back to the Circle City with my tail between my legs after being beaten by the Massachusettes people who can top all my stories. But your dumb Subway sandwiches aren't even that good, and I'm surprised they were ever near the east Coast because that's where the good ones are. I once took my kids on a Rock and Roll vacation to discover the beaches of Delaware & Maryland & New Jersey. A different beach every day, and a different color motel every night. Needless to say Mr. Clean was not i nattendance because those little motels in the pretty colors aren't very nice inside. LOL! Every single meal was a sub from a little sub shop. Maybe not that bad, but almost....I know it was every dinner.

Most towns and cities are built on a square, but Indianapolis was designed by a protege of L'Enfant, the designer of Washington DC, and it is designed just like DC with a circle inside a square with diagonal spokes coming out form the tips of the square and a plus sign going through the center of the circle.

Martha Stewart now lives near me in Bedford Hills. Don't know if she still takes up residence in CT anymore.

Hmmm... we've got Long Island historical facts, but nobody did the whole state. I've been living in NY since 1994. Not long enough to be native. I grew up in NJ. Oh well, I'll give it a try.

About the NY State flag:

The arms of New York State were officially adopted in 1778. The center shows a ship and sloop on a river bordered by a grassy shore and a mountain range with the sun rising behind it. Liberty and Justice stand on either side, under an American eagle.
Liberty holds a staff topped with a Phrygian cap, symbolic of the cap given to a Roman slave upon the formal act of emancipation and freedom. This cap was adopted by French revolutionists as a symbol of liberty, especially in the U.S. before 1800.

The figure of Justice is blindfolded and carries a sword in one hand and scales in the other. These symbols represent the impartiality and fairness required for the assignment of a merited reward or punishment.

The banner shows the State motto--Excelsior--which means "Ever Upward."

Sofonisba....did you see the Rutger University's famous Jersey Tomato "Ramapo" is making a reappearance this year?

The school kept the parent plants going all these years. Hybrids were grown out in Israel. Commerical amounts are not available, only individual packets (a nice touch to let the home gardeners get it first).

http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/JerseyTomato.html

Uh oh. I confess, I never heard of "Ramapo", the tomato... well, I've heard of the Ramapo River. I'll check it out!

New York State stuff:

State fruit: Apple
State beverage: Milk
State tree: Sugar Maple
State flower: Rose
State insect: Ladybug
State bird: Bluebird
State animal: Beaver
State freshwater fish: Brook Trout
State fossil: Eurypterus remipes (imagine that!)
State muffin: Apple muffin
State shell: Bay Scallop
State bush: Lilac
State reptile: common snapping turtle
State saltwater fish: Striped Bass

"Jersey Tomato" is what is famous to most people. You state was, I believe, once the largest producer of tomatoes in the country. And good ones they were (and are). Ramapo is a name gardeners and growers would know but not, I think, the general public.

Oh...I just see...your state vegatable is the tomato.

Read the other day that many of the veggie farms have been converted into sod farms. The "frozen tundra" the Green Bay Packers play on at Lambeau Field is from New Jersey.

I looked it up, and I'm ordering a packet right away! Good call David!

Speaking of NJ, Yeah, our real gardens are dissapearing. We have more malls instead.

here is some Ramapough Mountain Indian info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramapough_Mountain_Indians

edit just found one on the Ramapo Tomato

http://www.lancasterfarming.com/node/1092

if you want to order

http://www.njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/JerseyTomato.html

This message was edited Feb 21, 2008 5:54 AM

Geez, You guys are sure smart!

The NJ state vegetable is a tomato and the New York State Muffin is the Apple Muffin. LOL! I might nbeed to know this someday!

AND the grass/sod/turf for the football field the Green Bay Packers play on is imported from NJ, do I have it right? Has BigCityAl been informed of this disturbing fact? He is a Wisconsin Grass Man!

Sorry state of affairs when Green Bay, Wisconsin has to buy grass from New Jersey isn't it Suzy?

The sad story is here:

http://www.projo.com/business/content/BZ_turffarm19_02-01-08_4J8M36O_v8.2958450.html

Cleveland Browns use New Jersey sod too.

It's all in that wonderful Jersey sand and climate. Too much clay in midwestern soil turns playing fields into muck and southern grass can't stand up to Green Bay conditions.

Maybe some teams get more grass per square inch, so they can get better footing.

Jimmy Hoffa uses NJ sod too.

But what do you say about a state that has a fruit for its state vegetable?

Tomato ?

There's a state muffin?!?

Pretty silly if you ask me.

Not sure if this was already mentioned or not but Massachuasetts has a state cake...yep its Boston Cream Pie.

This message was edited Feb 21, 2008 2:05 PM

Well - whats the answer? Or is there one?

42.

LOL, Amy - I had exactly the same reaction - NY has a state muffin???!!!

Geez, kinda makes you wonder what our reps are doing in session. CT just recently wasted time on a state something-or-other that was a bit odd too, and I don't even know if they reached a conclusive vote on whatever it was.

Sofonisba, you say Martha is now near you - is that the town of Katonah, which she is trying to trademark, lol?

Maybe someday when one of us is on "who wants to be a millionaire" and get a question pertaining to any of this it will come in handy.

Another wierd NJ fact........ we don't have any plants listed officially as an invasive.

Dee, she's in Bedford Hills, but Katonah is nearby.

Amy: "42" Still laughing.

Wow, no invasive plants in NJ? That's unusual.

i knew someone would get it!
; )

The mafia won't allow invasives.

That could be it Victor.

Or maybe it's word of mouth.

Invasive Plant #1: Think I'll go to Jersey this summer . .

Invasive Plant #2: Jersey? Why Jersey? Victorgardener has a nice place across the state line in New York . Near the river. Been summering there for years. Come up there with the us . .

Let's hope not!

Ha ha ha!!! Funny David Paul. They surely have visited my place here by the lake. Grrrrrr...

I think #2's first question would have been, 'What exit?!'

Oh, how many times have I heard that joke!! Har, har.

Some more history about the origin of NY State:

New York harbor was visited by Verrazano in 1524, and the Hudson River was first explored by Henry Hudson in 1609. The Dutch settled here permanently in 1624 and for 40 years they ruled over the colony of New Netherland. It was conquered by the English in 1664 and was then named New York in honor of the Duke of York. Existing as a colony of Great Britain for over a century, New York declared its independence on July 9, 1776, becoming one of the original 13 states of the Federal Union. The next year, on April 20, 1777, New York's first constitution was adopted.
In many ways, New York State was the principal battleground of the Revolutionary War. Approximately one-third of the skirmishes and engagements of the war were fought on New York soil. The Battle of Saratoga, one of the decisive battles of the world, was the turning point of the Revolution leading to the French alliance and thus to eventual victory. New York City, long occupied by British troops, was evacuated on November 25, 1783. There, on December 4 at Fraunces Tavern, General George Washington bade farewell to his officers.

Wasn't really a joke. More of a reference to Joe Piscopo.

Interesting NH Facts (pilfered from the internet because I apparently didn't pay attention in class when NH history was discussed)

Former home of the "the Old Man of the Mountain", a rock formation that looked like a man's face, formed by a retreating glacier during the last ice age, looked out over Profile Lake for more than 12,000 years. It was a major tourist attraction. On May 3, 2003, the delicate balance that had held the "Great Stone Face" in position through the ages came to an abrupt end. A sad day in NH. Now tourists flock to see where the Old Man of the Mountain used to be...

The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was at Mt. Washington, on April 12, 1934. - 231 MPH

The first free public library in the United States was established in NH (Peterborough) in 1833.

My favorite state ;o)

A little something from Wikipedia.....

"Upstate" is a common term, used by "Downstaters," for New York State counties north of suburban Westchester and Rockland counties. Upstate New York typically includes the Catskill and Adirondack Mountains, the Shawangunk Ridge, the Finger Lakes and the Great Lakes in the west; and Lake Champlain, Lake George, and Oneida Lake in the northeast; and rivers such as the Delaware, Genesee, Mohawk, and Susquehanna. Central New Yorkers refer to "Upstate" generally as the Region north of I-90 (for example Watertown), regions west of Syracuse are "Western New York" (i.e. Rochester and Buffalo), Binghamton is the "Southern Tier" and "Downstate" is the Hudson Valley and New York City. The highest elevation in New York is Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks.

Photo is "Lock 24" in my home town - Baldwinsville

Tidbits on the origin of some county names in NY State:

CATTARAUGUS from a Seneca Indian word meaning "bad smelling banks," referring to the odor of natural gas leaking from rock seams
CAYUGA the name of the fourth tribe of the Iroquois League
CHAUTAUQUA a contraction of a Seneca Indian word meaning "where the fish was taken out"
CHEMUNG derived from the name of the Delaware Indian village signifying "big horn"
CHENANGO from the Onondaga Indian word meaning "large bull-thistle"
COLUMBIA the Latin feminine form of Columbus, the name was popular at the time as a proposed name for the United States of America
DUTCHESS in honor of the Duchess of York, wife of James II
ERIE derived from a tribe of Indians living in Western New York prior to 1654
ESSEX named for Essex County, England
FRANKLIN in honor of Benjamin Franklin
GENESEE from a Seneca Indian word meaning "good valley"
GREENE in honor of General Nathaniel Greene, considered by many as the greatest soldier of the Revolutionary War, next to George Washington
HAMILTON in honor of Alexander Hamilton, the only member of the New York delegation who signed the original federal Constitution
HERKIMER in honor of General Nicholas Herkimer, who died of wounds received at the battle of Oriskany in 1777
MONROE in honor of James Monroe, fifth President of the United States
MONTGOMERY in honor of Major General Richard Montgomery, who was killed in the attack on Quebec in 1775
NASSAU in honor of William of Nassau, Prince of Orange
NEW YORK in honor of the Duke of York
NIAGARA from an Indian word meaning "bisected bottom lands"
ORANGE in honor of William, Prince of Orange, held in high esteem by the first settlers of the region
OSWEGO from the Iroquois word meaning "the out-pouring," referring to the mouth of the Oswego
PUTNAM in honor of General Israel Putnam, a hero of the French and Indian War and the Revolution
QUEENS in honor of Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II
ROCKLAND named from "rocky land," an early general term applied to the region by settlers
SUFFOLK after Suffolk County, England, home of many early settlers
SULLIVAN in honor of Major General John Sullivan, Revolutionary hero and commander of an expedition against the Six Nations of Indians
TIOGA from the Indian word meaning "at the forks," referring originally to a famous Indian meeting place
TOMPKINS in honor of Daniel D. Tompkins, a vice president of the United States and governor of New York
ULSTER named for the Duke of York's earldom in Ireland

I didn't fit them all in. Others can be found here:

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/kidsroom/nysfacts/counties.html