Facts and History of my State, please share yours.

I think "Onondaga" (county/lake) is named for an Iroquois tribe ....sadly the lake is sick and tired.......

Funny that in NYC, even Rockland and Westchester are referred to as 'upstate'.

Yup Mrsj. "ONONDAGA in honor of an Indian tribe of the Iroquois League" That is sad about the lake.

When i was growing up, in STL, a popular family day trip was to go to one of the tourist caves - i dunno, one was supposed to have been Jesse James's hideout. Anyhow, one of the caves is called Ondondaga. There was this commercial for it, and it had people in low voices chanting (i guess it was meant to sound Indian-y)
On-don-da-ga, On-don-da-ga,On-don-da-ga, On-don-da-ga.
Though i don't think it was the owners' intent, it was REALLY creepy.
Even now, i can't see the word without hearing those voices...

songs of joy-NH is my favorite state too, I love it up, move there in a heartbeat but hubby is afraid of the snow.
Hey onewish was that an invite to dinner???

For the NJ team: The motto of Trenton is: Trenton makes, the world takes and they have this posted on a bridge across the Delaware river in neon. Trenton was the site of the Battle of Trenton where General George Washington fought the Hessians in 1776 after crossing his army over the Delaware in boats manned by Marbleheaders from MA. There are state parks on both sides of the river that commemorate the Crossing. My cousin was the head ranger at the NJ Washington's Crossing State Park for many years. There's a Battle Monument at the place where Washington placed his artillery to fire down on the Hessian troops. There is a colonial era barracks downtown, The Old Barracks and the founder of Trenton's house, the William Trent house which can all be toured.
For the MA team: The state muffin is the corn muffin. There is a cod statue hanging in the state house known as "the sacred cod" a symbol of one of MA's great industries.
My town, Saugus, has a National Historic Site, The Saugus Iron Works, which is one of the first iron working factories in America founded in the 1600's. The current site has forges and an iron smelting furnace that work and are replicas of the buildings on the site from back then. On a clear winter day with no leaves on the trees, you can see the top of the iron smelting furnace from my living room window across the Saugus River.
Martha

Great history facts Martha! I've seen that sign on the bridge in Trenton. I love driving down the river by Washington's Crossing. It's especially beautiful on the Pennsylvania side.

Harper

There was a great little country store at Washington's Crossing where you could get a double dip cone for about a 1.50, it was not there the last time we went I was so bummed.
I live about 15 minutes from the Trenton makes bridge

Oh yeah Jen? I have a friend that lives across the water in Morrisville.

Your country store reminds me of a place up by the Delaware Water Gap in Jersey that sold real birch beer. I loved it. I think it was Hot Dog Johnny's in Buttzville.

In CT, muffin is a woman's name in Fairfield county, (as in Skip & Muffie)

Tomato is a fruit. Especially when there are 42 of them ;^)

NY was a fairly Tory colony during the revolution. That was one of the reasons Washington went there after they got the Brits out of Boston. I was amazed at the general lack of patriotism Washington faced from so many colonists. I think MA & Philadelphia were the revolutionary places.

Buttzville? Home of the wide bottoms?

Yeah, isn't that a great name for a town? It's real. I can't comment on the bottoms though!

Harper had mentioned battles earlier. Here's one from my neck of the woods.. I took this excerpt from Wikipedia

The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, fought on August 27, 1776, was the first major battle in the American Revolutionary War following the United States Declaration of Independence, the largest battle of the entire conflict, and the first battle an army of the United States ever engaged in.

The battle and its immediate aftermath were marked by the British capture of New York City (which it held for the entire war), the execution of the American Nathan Hale and the burning of nearly a quarter of the city's buildings, in the Great Fire of New York. In the following weeks British forces occupied Long Island. However, General George Washington and his Continental Army escaped capture.

For additional info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Long_Island
http://www.britishbattles.com/long-island.htm
http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/battles/bat_lisl.asp

Dave - didn't think you were that old.

Been to Hot Dog Johnny's the hot dogs aren't that great and they didn't even have chili or sauerkraut to put on them I mean if your gonna serve hot dogs and specialize in hot dogs shouldn't you carry EVERY topping. I don't remember what I had to drink.
Love the town's name.

More Jersey facts
1642 the first brewery in America opened in Hoboken
Home to the Mystery Pork Parts Club(not spam) Taylor ham or pork roll.(yum)

I know hot dog johnny's.... yum.... and the hot grill in clifton!

Oh, man, my favorite food in the world: Taylor Pork Roll! I didn't know it was from NJ!

It is impossible to get here, and people get annoyed when you visit them in Virginia, PA and MD, and then first thing you want to do when you get there is go to the grocery store to get a couple. (They have to be frozen to get them home safely.)

Suzy

Susy my sister lives in ohio... the things we don't leave behind are taylor ham, bagels, polish kielbasa, and usually a chocolate layer cake of some sort.. and usually... add up to 2 coolers worth of stuff

I'm depressed. I have never heard of a Taylor Pork Roll.

I assumed it was a daisy ham or something like that. I see it isn't. It's something different and wonderful.

Yes, it's different and wonderful!!! It's a spiced pork roll, but nothing like SPAM at all. You unroll the cloth bag it's in just 1/2" or so and slice off little thin slices and fry it in a pan. It buckles unless you put some little cuts along the edges. I like it right off the skillet between bread with mustard as a lunch sandwich, but my father always ate it with eggs and toast in the morning, much as you would eat sausage.

The only people I have ever heard call it Taylor Ham are New Jerseyites.

I have seen it in groceries from southwestern PA to Northern Virginia and, of course, Baltimore. Whenever I've visited Delaware, I've never had time to go to the grocery store, and I had no way of keeping it cold when we went on our Rock & Roll vacation, so I didn't even torture myself by looking for it. LOL!

I ought to tell you that Mr. Clean doesn't like it (however I feel there are extenuating circumstances). There was a cheese import shop here in Indianapolis for decades and they had it in their cooler. When I was a young bride, I found out Mr. Clean had never tasted it, so I bought one, but it made him sick. I didn't get sick, but as it turns out Mr. Clean was actually Mr. Clean, Jr., the son of Mr. and Mrs. Clean, Sr. Apparently his mother had never had mold in her refrigerator, read expiration dates, and actually put things in the refrgerator after dinner instead of the counter until the next morning like his new bride. She threw away old bread instead of tearing off the mold and making bread pudding, and din't just scrape off the top of the moldy cottage cheese, for example. (I am from an old PA Dutch line where we just scraped the mold off the olives or jelly, or whatever, and penicillin could have been discovered by my mother, or at least discovered in her fridge.) As it turns out, Mr. Clean was sick from food a LOT in those early years of marriage, including our honeymnoon where the mayo sitting out in 80 degree weather for who-knows-how-long didn't agree with him for three days, LOL!, but he has since toughened up a lot. The point of that long story was to tell you I think the Taylor Pork Roll I served him was bad after its trip to the midwest and I don't believe it was kept properly cooled in its travels, or kept cool enough when it was in their cooler, or possibly it was really old? Not sure, but he still doesn't want to try (read: is not willing to try) Taylor Pork Roll again. sigh.

I am going to take one out of the freezer right now....

Suzy

Suzy only North Jerseyites call it Taylor Ham.... don't know why... but I fight with my co-worker about it all the time... to the point when I go to a diner or breakfast place and see Taylor Ham on the menu I have to send him a photo from my cell.... and when he sees pork roll... well you get the idea... enjoy your pork roll breakfast!

pork roll! yummy! I want some. No one ever called it Taylor ham in the part of NJ I am from {Trenton}. It says Pork Roll right on the package. So somebody else started calling it Taylor ham. There is also the Case Pork Roll {also from Trenton} which is equally good though I always though a little spicier. It was on the menu at a sandwich shop in Emerald Isle, NC when I was last there. I had to instruct them to cook it and put it on a bun with ketchup. They were serving it sliced thin and cold in sandwiches. I never ate Pork roll cold, though you can. I will call my brother who still lives in NJ and get him to send me one. I always stop and get one when I am passing through NJ. LOVE IT! Good for breakfast, and on a hamburger bun with ketchup! With Tastykakes for dessert, though these are actually a thing of Philly origin.

Ooh, did someone say Tastykakes?!

Gee, I haven't seen them around for quite awhile. Wasn't sure they were even in business anymore! Ooh, those rectangular vanilla cakes with the chocolate frosting... yum!

see you just reinforced the north jersey taylor ham.... when someone said pork roll to me years ago... even though it's on the package I didn't know what they were talking about...

:)

Just googled the "1812 Overture" - from Wikipedia:

The 1812 Overture (full title: Festival Overture "The Year 1812" in E flat major, Op. 49; French: Ouverture solennelle 1812) is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's stirring orchestral tribute commemorating Russia's 1812 defense against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of Borodino, during the devastating French invasion of Russia. Field Marshall Mikhail Kutuzov's defiant stand 75 miles west of Moscow greatly weakened the French army, forced its subsequent withdrawal from Moscow, saved Russia from certain defeat, and marked the major turning point of the Napoleonic Wars. The 1812 Overture is best known for its thunderous volley of cannon fire and ringing chimes, which evoke the fury of the battlefield and the Russian people's subsequent victory. (During the Battle of Borodino, the two sides fired an average estimated 15,000 rounds of cannon fire per hour, over the course of 15 hours.) When the 1812 Overture is performed indoors, orchestras may use computer-generated cannon sounds or huge barrel drums.

The composition has no historical connection with the US-UK War of 1812, but is often a staple at Fourth of July celebrations.

Now I need to out out and get a pork roll, egg and cheese on a round roll sandwich. YUM!
I love the Kandy Kakes TastyKakes( the round chocolate covered peanut butter with yellow cake). My sis-in-law's sis-in-law actually makes a cake that tastes exactly like Kandy Kakes. I don't even want to mention how many pieces of that I ate.

They have TastyKakes ice cream now, too! Goooooooooooooood!

I am a Butterscotch Krimpet girl myself.
Also, here in the Boston area, the Boston Pops plays the 1812 overture at its Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade and the local army reserve plays real cannons, howitzers, I think, and the bell ringers in a nearby church are cued to the music. Doesn't everyone play real cannons with this piece?
Tastykakes are definitely a Philly thing though.
Martha

Between 1880 and World War I, Connecticut was a major manufacturer of cutlery. Because of that, along with a state flower, a state bird and so forth, the Connecticut State legislature has designated an official state utensil:

The Salad Fork.



I made that up.

I believe it, Dave! When we moved to Wallingford (some time ago) my wife discovered that her wedding silver had been manufactured nearby. In fact there was an offshoot of the famous silver-producing Oneida community (founded by mystic John Noyes) in Wallingford. Alas, such industry has long passed and Wallingford is now thoroughly suburban. In fact, I once wrote an "official" Wallingford anthem:

Oh Wallingford, my Wallingford, all nature sings your praise.
Your ducks all quack: "Quinnipiac", while robins safely graze.
The smog that dims your verdant hills turns rosy red each dawn...
(Excuse me now, I must go mow my lawn.)

Don....I'll never see a duck again without thinking "Quinnipiac"....lol..

Had a great uncle who worked for International Silver. As you relate, it was a large industry in the Wallingford area:

http://www.internationalsilver.com/aboutus/company-history.php

During WWII he worked on a ball bearings. Our equipment was being torn up by the sands of North Africa and International Silver came up with some coating to protect the bearings.

Meriden CT's nickname: silver city. Waterbury had clocks? New Haven & Hartford, small weapons, Groton, of course, submarines

Oh, the Butterscotch Krimpet, my personal favorite, as well. Every once in a while I will spot them, grab a box and go home an indulge - like a vitamin...everyone needs one-a-day.

And, Don, the sacred Butterscotch Krimpet is worthy of one of your peomes...really!

Sorry Pixie - I'll go back to "mute" mode now.

Let's not forget the incredible history of industry in Bridgeport! Supposedly on Hitler's attack list if he ever made it this far. Bridgeport churned out lots of ammo and industrial parts that played a big part in WWII and Hitler wasn't happy about it.

Derby has a wonderful industrial history also. Too bad the powers that be are literally tearing it down today in the name of progress.

Just read an interesting article in The History Channel Magazine last night about how the U.S Supreme Court had to decide in 1893 whether the tomato was a fruit or a vegetable. I thought of this thread, lol!

Sequee, why do you need to go into mute mode? You have been tempting my tastebuds! Living in Maine..I have no idea what these things your talking about are or how they taste. I do love butterscotch and peanut butter so im all for trying new things!! LOL

LOL - thought I was taking this way adrift as it has nothing to do with the history of my state. To which I will add one thing... Washington has SLEPT EVERYWHERE!!!

Oh, yes. And Bottlegate Farm is located right up the street. It was originally owned by the Borden's (of milk fame, NOT Lizzie's kin!) There are 2 HUGE milk bottle statues that formed the ends of the gate - hence the "Bottlegate". I will try to take a photo next time I go by. It's really quite a sight!

Yes, LOL, Washington did certainly get around, didn't he? :)

Oh, my! Now you have my memory going! Yes, Washington did sleep all over New Jersey. Butterscotch Krimpets are a yellow cake with a butterscotch flavored icing. Yummo!
Also, I have lived in Plainsboro, NJ, whose most notable celebrity was Elsie the Cow. She lived at the Walker-Gordon Dairy there when she was not making appearances all over the place. She was buried on the property when she died and there is a monument. The dairy was a notable field trip in elementary school where we would go and watch the cows being milked on the Roto-Lactor and then get a half-pint of milk or an ice cream cup.
You may also recall Plainsboro, NJ aka Grover's Mill as the site of the Martian Landing from the radio broadcast, War of the worlds. There was mostly only the mill and farms out there in the 30's. and I am sure it is all developed now. Grover's mill was never a town to speak of, but there is a monument.
Martha