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New Jersey prospered through the  Roaring Twenties . The first  Miss America  Pageant was held in 1921 in Atlantic City, the first drive-in movie was shown in 1933 in Camden, and the  Holland Tunnel  opened in 1927. During the  Great Depression  of the 1930s, the state offered begging licenses to unemployed residents,   [ 25 ]    the zeppelin airship  Hindenburg  crashed in flames over  Lakehurst , and the  SS Morro Castle  beached itself near Asbury Park after going up in flames while at sea.
New Jersey was one of the few Northern states (the others being  Delaware  and  Kentucky ) to select a candidate other than  Abraham Lincoln  twice in national elections, and sided with  Stephen Douglas  (1860) and  George B. McClellan  (1864) during their campaigns. McClellan later became governor (1878ЁC81). During the Civil War, the state was led first by Republican Governor  Charles Smith Olden , then by Democrat  Joel Parker .
New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the  Lenni-Lenape  being dominant at the time Europeans arrived. The Lenape were loosely organized groups that practiced small-scale agriculture (mainly based on  corn ) in order to increase their largely mobile hunter-gatherer society in the region surrounding the  Delaware River , the lower  Hudson River , and western  Long Island Sound . The Lenape society was divided into  matrilinear  clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct  phratries  identified by their animal sign: Turtle,  Turkey , and  Wolf . They first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through  fur trade .
New Jersey is one of only two states (along with  Oregon ) where all fuel dispensing stations are required to sell gasoline full-service to customers. It is unlawful for a customer to serve him/herself.
New Jersey hosts several business headquarters, including twenty-four  Fortune 500  companies.   [ 65 ]     Paramus  is noted for having one of the highest retail sales per person ratios in the nation. Several New Jersey counties such as  Somerset  (7),  Morris  (10),  Hunterdon  (13),  Bergen  (21),  Monmouth  (42) counties are ranked among the  highest-income counties in the United States . Four others are also in the top 100.
New Jersey runs into deficits frequently and has one of the highest tax burdens in the nation.   [ 61 ]    Factors for this include the large federal tax liability which is not adjusted for New Jersey's higher cost of living and Medicaid funding formulas. As shown by the study, incomes tend to be higher in New Jersey, which puts those in higher tax brackets especially vulnerable to the  alternative minimum tax .
New Jersey also can be broadly divided into three geographic regions:  North Jersey ,  Central Jersey , and  South Jersey . Some New Jersey residents do not consider Central Jersey a region in its own right, but others believe it is a separate geographic and cultural area from the North and South.
New Jersey currently has four teams from  major professional sports leagues  playing in the state, although the  Major League Soccer  team and two  National Football League  teams identify themselves as being from New York City. A fifth team, the  Women's National Basketball Association 's  Liberty , are temporarily playing in Newark until renovations for Madison Square Garden are completed in 2013.
New Jersey is divided into 21 counties; 13 date from the colonial era. New Jersey was completely divided into counties by 1692; the present counties were created by dividing the existing ones; most recently  Union County  in 1857. New Jersey is the only state in the nation where elected county officials are called "Freeholders," governing each county as part of its own  Board of Chosen Freeholders . The number of freeholders in each county is determined by referendum, and must consist of three, five, seven or nine members.
New Jersey was the East Coast hub for ska music in the 90s. Some of the most popular ska bands, such as  Catch 22  and  Streetlight Manifesto , come from  East Brunswick .