The Nifty Fifty: New York

New York is a state in the northeastern region of the United States with the abbreviation of NY. New York became the 11th state on July 26, 1788, making the state 237 years old, as of July, 2025. The land that is now the state of New York was originally settled by the Dutch as the Dutch colony of New Netherlands, but when the English took over the colony in 1664, its name was changed to New York in honor of the Duke of York.

New York is the 27th largest state and the 4th most populous; the capital of New York is Albany and its demonym is New Yorker. New York is one of the thirteen original states. The state of New York is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean; the states of Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island (over water), New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The motto of the state of New York is Excelsior, which is a Latin word meaning either Higher or Ever Upward.

The official nickname of New York is the Empire State. While it is sometimes thought the New York’s nickname refers to the Empire State Building, the state’s nickname predates the building. The origin of New York’s nickname isn’t known, but many credit George Washington with coining the name, because Washington referred to the state as “at present the seat of the Empire” in 1784.

The landscape of New York contains a combination of lakes, forests, mountains, farmland, and coastlines.

New York is known for its global influence, unique culture, and iconic architecture, including landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Empire State Building, and the Brooklyn Bridge. The land of New York contains metals including iron, lead, silver, zinc, and titanium, however, the state is also a major producer of garnets.

On February 25, 1809. George Washington Cullum was born in New York, New York. Between the years 1829 and 1833, Cullum attended the United States Military Academy. Cullum graduated third in his class, and after graduating, he was appointed to the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a brevet second lieutenant. Cullum supervised numerous construction operations, including the construction of Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut. Cullum taught at West Point for several years until 1855, and he even served as the acting superintendent of West Point for a couple months when the then superintendent of West Point, Robert E. Lee, went on vacation. In April of 1861, Cullum was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and by the end of the Civil War, he achieved the rank of brevet Major General in the Union Army. During the Civil War, Cullum served mainly in the Western Theater, where he built and inspected many defenses. Toward the end of the war, Cullum served as the 16th superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and after the war, he served in many societies, even becoming the vice president of the American Geographical Society, which named the Cullum Geographical Medal after him. Cullum retired from active service in 1874 and returned to New York. Cullum passed away in 1892, only a few days after his 83rd birthday.

In 1901, New York became the first state to require license plates on vehicles, however, the state did not issue the plates for vehicles at that time. Instead, the owner of the vehicle needed to craft their own license plate, which was usually made of leather or iron; the initials of the vehicle’s owner were later printed onto the license plate.

On September 19 and October 7, 1777, the Battles of Saratoga occurred near Saratoga, New York. British General John Burgoyne led over 7,000 men into New York with the intent of separating New England from the southern colonies. Burgoyne attempted to meet British General Howe and Brigadier General Leger to capture Albany, but logistical issues forced Howe and Leger to leave Burgoyne surrounded by American forces 15 miles short of his goal. It was there that Burgoyne fought the Americans on two occasions. During the first battle, Burgoyne managed to flank the entrenched Americans and capture some ground, in spite of the fact that American Major General Benedict Arnold predicted this maneuver, though the British suffered heavy casualties. Burgoyne held his ground for 18 days, but after realizing that reinforcements weren’t going to arrive in time, Burgoyne attacked again on the 7th of October, but this time the American forces under General Horatio Gates had grown from 9,000 troops to over 12,000; the Americans threw Burgoyne back to his original position before the first attack and even captured some of the entrenched British forces. This defeat forced Burgoyne to retreat to Saratoga (now Schuylervile), and only a couple days later, Burgoyne, finding himself surrounded by a much larger force, surrendered his entire army to the Americans. Burgoyne’s defeat and surrender caused the Battles of Saratoga to conclude in an American victory; this victory was the turning point which convinced the French to form an alliance with the Americans.

An interesting fact about New York is that the state is home to the largest park in the lower 48: Adirondack State Park. The park spans across nearly 6,000,000 acres (9,375 square miles), which covers nearly the entire northern tip of New York. Adirondack State Park is so large that a number of businesses, residential homes, and towns exist within the park — so much so that the park has over 130,000 permanent residents! Adirondack Park is not only larger than the 14th largest county — Fremont County, Wyoming — but it is also slightly larger than the state of New Hampshire; Adirondack State Park is large enough that if you combined the National Parks of Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Glacier, and Olympic, they would all fit within Adirondack State Park!

A strange fact about New York is that Uncle Sam, a character that represents the United States and is frequently believed to be fictitious, was apparently a real man. Sam Wilson from Troy, New York, worked as a meatpacker during the Second War of Independence (the War of 1812). Sam Wilson stamped “U.S. Beef” on his products, and soldiers joked that the U.S. stood for Uncle Sam, and it wasn’t long after that that the mythical character became popular.

What fact about New York most interests you?