New Jersey was a leader in the bid to legalize online casino games in the U.S. and it's now one of the heavyweights in the online casino industry. While the state is renowned for its progressive gambling laws, there are several other things that New Jersey is famous for.

It is a thriving industrial state, so why did they call New Jersey the Garden State? You're not alone if you're wondering how New Jersey got this moniker and whether this unique nickname is still appropriate today.

What is the garden state and how did New Jersey become one? Take a look at the origins here.

New Jersey's Agricultural Past

It's necessary to understand the state's history before the Industrial Revolution to understand why they called New Jersey the Garden State.

New Jersey was once a thriving agricultural state that mainly consisted of farmland. The state was famous for its crops in the late 18th and much of the 19th century. Developments in agricultural technology and the addition of a railway meant New Jersey could supply a considerable amount of fruit and vegetables to Philadelphia and New York City. 

However, much of the farmland became depleted of nutrients because farmers didn't understand the true impact of unsustainable farming practices on the soil. Crop yields became poor and forced large sectors of New Jersey into the Industrial Revolution. This led many parts of northeastern New Jersey — like Newark, Elizabeth and Jersey City — to pivot away from agriculture toward manufacturing. 

While this negatively impacted much of the state's agricultural production, the sector evolved rather than ceased to be. Farmers started to adopt some of the technology that came with industrialization and were able to better preserve produce through canning processes and other techniques. This allowed them to store and better transport many of their time-sensitive crops.

Probable Origins of the Nickname