New Jersey, known as the "Garden State," is located in the northeastern region of the United States. It is known for its diverse culture, beaches, and historical landmarks. The state's capital is Trenton and the largest city is Newark. New Jersey was one of the original thirteen colonies and was the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. The state has a rich history, from the Revolutionary War battles fought on its soil to the role of its cities in the industrial revolution. Famous residents include Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, and Thomas Edison.
Trivia questions about New Jersey can include questions about its history, geography, culture, and famous residents. This article will test your knowledge of the state's past and present, from its famous boardwalks to its contributions to American culture. Get ready to learn more about New Jersey and see how well you fare against these challenging trivia questions.
59 New Jersey Trivia Questions Ranked From Easiest to Hardest (Updated for 2024)
- If you combine a word meaning the opposite of “old”, and a shirt that athletes wear that links them to their team, you get what 30th state alphabetically in the US?
Answer: New Jersey
- Philadelphia's border with New Jersey is created entirely by what river?
Answer: Delaware River
- Topping accelerating speeds of 128 mph, engineers at Intamin Amusement Rides designed the 456-foot Kingda Ka – which opened as the world’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster at what numerically-named “Great Adventure” amusement park in New Jersey in 2005?
Answer: Six Flags
- Oh, the humanity! The "airship era" is often considered to have ended with the wreck of the Hindenburg in what U.S. state?
Answer: New Jersey
- What is required when crossing into New Jersey from Pennsylvania on I-78?
Answer: Bridge Permit
- In 1968, a group of students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey started throwing around a disc in a manner similar to football. Due to a dispute with Wham-O, what is now the official U-word title of this fast-growing sport?
Answer: Ultimate
- At a length of 1,908 miles, what is the longest north-south interstate highway in the U.S.? The highway was not fully completed until 2018 when a gap in New Jersey was filled and it now fully connects Florida to Maine while serving all major cities from Jacksonville to Washington to New York to Boston to Portland.
Answer: I-95
- Geese control companies like Wild Goose Chase in Chicago and Geese Police in New Jersey have pioneered strategies for "harassing" nuisance geese using what animals?
Answer: Dogs
- Winning the big award in 2004, what New Jersey-set HBO program was the first cable show to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama?
Answer: The Sopranos
- The airship era of passenger flight had a quick demise after what German-made ship disastrously crashed in New Jersey in 1937?
Answer: Hindenburg
- This indigenous nation was renamed the "Delaware" by English colonists, but their territory also extended beyond Delaware, including present day New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania, New York City, Long Island and the Lower Hudson Valley. What is their name?
Answer: Lenni Lenape
- Kaufman Dolowich's locations include what New Jersey city with a rhyming-ish name, which is mentioned by Billy Joel in "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)?"
Answer: Hackensack
- What U.S. city provided the setting for the TV show "Boardwalk Empire", was the basis for the properties in the original version of "Monopoly", and hosted the first 84 years of the Miss America pageant?
Answer: Atlantic City, New Jersey
- One of its Senators got indicted on Federal corruption charges. It hosted the MTV Video Music Awards. And one of the notable companies headquartered there - Bed Bath & Beyond - went belly-up. It was a wild 2023 for which U.S. State?
Answer: New Jersey
- What New Jersey-based university, whose athletic nickname is the Scarlet Knights, was known as Queen's College from 1766 until taking on its current name in 1825?
Answer: Rutgers University
- In 1984, what future U.S. president became the new owner of a United States Football League team named the New Jersey Generals?
Answer: Donald Trump
- "Bad Medicine" is a hit song from the 1988 album "New Jersey" by what rock band?
Answer: Bon Jovi
- Generally named after the cities where they're set, the "Real Housewives" series starring Melissa Gorga and Dolores Catania is named for what state?
Answer: New Jersey
- Though they're based in New Jersey, the logo for Prudential Insurance is what massive hunk of limestone at the bottom tip of the Iberian Peninsula?
Answer: Rock of Gibraltar
- A multi-million-dollar home in North Caldwell, New Jersey frequently served as the set for scenes from what HBO drama that aired from 1999 to 2007?
Answer: The Sopranos
- Although he is a 1984 graduate of the University of Delaware, Chris Christie is most famous for having been governor of what nearby state?
Answer: New Jersey
- Boardwalk! Atlantic Avenue! It all makes sense now. What coastal Garden State city serves as the inspiration for the various properties that make up the original Monopoly board?
Answer: Atlantic City, New Jersey
- An official portion of U.S. Highway 9 is actually a ferry crossing that runs from Lewes, Delaware to what New Jersey town?
Answer: Cape May
- What New Jersey university has, at over $4 million each, the largest endowment per student in the United States?
Answer: Princeton University
- Which American insurance carrier based in New Jersey with a Naval name has been providing professional liability insurance for especially high-risk businesses since 1974?
Answer: Admiral Insurance Group
- What is the name of the fictional New Jersey town where Wanda and Vision live in the Disney+ series WandaVision? The series was shot in LA and Atlanta, however.
Answer: Westview
- Which independent oil and gas company based in New York City was started by a 19-year-old entrepreneur in New Jersey who bought a second-hand truck to deliver oil in 1933?
Answer: Hess
- What city in Delaware's northern tip is located about a 125-mile drive southeast from the city of the same name in New Jersey?
Answer: Newark
- The site of a surrender of British troops to George Washington in January 1777, Nassau Hall is the oldest and most famous building on the campus of what Ivy League university, which was then known as The College of New Jersey?
Answer: Princeton University
- Founded in 1660 in what was then known as New Netherlands, what town was the first permanent European settlement in New Jersey?
Answer: Bergen
- Hosted by writers and comedians Matt Lieb and Vince Mancini, “Pod Yourself A Gun” is the name of the podcast that recaps episodes of what popular HBO series starring James Gandolfini as a crime boss from New Jersey?
Answer: “The Sopranos”
- Who was the last royal governor of New Jersey before the American Revolution? The Provincial Congress of New Jersey deposed and arrested him in June 1776.
Answer: William Franklin
- In 1783, what building on Princeton's campus was the temporary capitol of the fledging United States, hosting the Continental Congress from June to November?
Answer: Nassau Hall
- There are 21 counties in New Jersey, and theyinclude how many municipalities (including all Burroughs, Villages, Towns, Townships, and Cities), plus or minus five?
Answer: 566
- From what university did U.S. Senator and former Mayor of Newark Cory Booker get an undergraduate degree in political science and a master's degree in sociology, before heading to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship?
Answer: Stanford
- U.S. Senator Bob Menendez's first elected office was to the Board of Education for what NJ city's school district in 1974?
Answer: Union City
- Prior to 1738, the governorship of New Jersey was shared with New York. Who was the first governor of New Jersey itself?
Answer: Lewis Morris
- Servpro was one of the many major companies who aided in the restoration and reconstruction of numerous areas in New Jersey in the aftermath of what Atlantic superstorm that occurred in late October 2012?
Answer: Superstorm Sandy
- Who was the head coach of the New Jersey Nets in the two seasons they made the NBA finals in 2002 and 2003?
Answer: Byron Scott
- As of 2023, the New Jersey Devils are grouped in what NHL division alongside the Islanders, the Rangers, and the Capitals?
Answer: Metropolitan Division
- The College of New Jersey is the original name of what private research university?
Answer: Princeton
- To honor the state’s history of training them, what special kind of helpful working pup was declared New Jersey’s state dog in 2020?
Answer: Seeing eye
- Although it has a population of under 30,000, what New Jersey city currently serves as the headquarters of Verizon Wireless?
Answer: Basking Ridge
- What is the answer to the famous nursery rhyme question 'What did Delaware?'
Answer: New Jersey
- The largest circulated newspapers of New Jersey, Indiana, Minnesota all contain what four-letter word in their names?
Answer: Star (The Star-Ledger in New Jersey, the Indianapolis Star in Indiana, and the Star Tribune in Minnesota)
- There is an unincorporated community in New Jersey that took its name from a town in California and is popularity associated with the "Wizard" Thomas Edison. What is the name of this community?
Answer: Menlo Park
- On 7th Heaven, Jessica Biel and Beverley Mitchell portrayed two of the multiple members of what large but close "C" family, who share their surname with a city in New Jersey?
Answer: The Camdens
- Later in Thomas Edison's life after his lightbulb fame, he founded Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey. Black Maria is often considered the first of what type of entertainment company in the United States?
Answer: Film studio
- In April 2021, Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a bill legalizing cannabis possession by adults 21 and older in what northeastern U.S. state?
Answer: New Jersey
- What is the official name of the residence of the Governor of New Jersey in Trenton?
Answer: Drumthwacket
- What New Jersey town beginning with V is home to the largest Home Depot Superstore in the world?
Answer: Vauxhall
- Who is the only U.S. President to claim New Jersey as his home state? This person also famously served in a non-political career in this state.
Answer: Woodrow Wilson
- Although Woodrow Wilson was a former governor of the state, which other former U.S. president is the only one to have been born in New Jersey? He died in New Jersey as well.
Answer: Grover Cleveland
- Montana is the 3rd least densely populated state in the United States. What is the *most* densely populated?
Answer: New Jersey
- Giovanni Verrazzano, the Italian explorer who in 1524 was the first European to explore the Jersey shore, was working in the service of the king of what country?
Answer: France
- Shown on the state seal, what animal became New Jersey's official state animal in 1977, following a lobbying campaign by Michael McCarthy and his fifth-grade class at Our Lady of Victories School in Harrington Park and James Sweetman, an eighth grader from Freehold?
Answer: Horse
- Who served as Governor of New Jersey in three different terms in the 1920s, '30s and '40s, thus becoming the the longest popularly elected Governor in the state’s history?
Answer: A. Harry Moore
- Although born in Ohio and most often associated with the state of New Jersey, Thomas Edison established a botanic laboratory with Harvey Firestone and Henry Ford in what other state?
Answer: Florida
- Richard Kuklinski, the contract killer known as "The Iceman" (who is the basis of the movie with the same name), was convicted of killing 6 people and claimed to have killed over 100. In what state did he primarily operate?
Answer: New Jersey
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About the Author
Eli Robinson is the Chief Trivia Officer at Water Cooler Trivia. He was once in a Bruce Springsteen cover band called F Street Band.
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