So we’ve been to about 30 states out of this large country while we still have 20 to go. Of course, you probably notice that each state in the American country has its own culture and history as well as its share of celebrities. In this selection, I’ll cover the states from New Mexico to South Carolina. First, we’re off to New Mexico known for its natural desert beauty, vibrant Hispanic and Indian artwork, Spanish Missions, nuclear testing at Los Alamos, and Breaking Bad. Perhaps it was a good thing that Bugs Bunny took that wrong turn at Albuquerque since we know that’s where Walter White lives. Second, we’re on to New York perhaps most famous for New York City which has Broadway, Times Square, network news stations, the Empire State Building, Lady Liberty, and lots of other things. It also has a lot of stuff upstate, too, not that anyone’s interested. Third, we go to North Carolina known for tobacco, Charlotte, Raleigh, Blue Ridge Mountains, Kitty Hawk, the Biltmore, and Duke. Then there’s North Dakota, home of the Badlands, film site for Fargo, and not much else. After that, it’s off to Ohio which is probably the place your dad would go if he went on a business trip and home of the Cleveland Browns. Yet, despite it being the birthplace of 7 presidents as well as a lot of inventors and astronauts, there isn’t much to see aside from their amusement parks like Six Flags and Cedar Point. Then, there’s Oklamoma! where the wind blows sweeping from the plain, and the waving wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain. Of course, thanks to Rogers and Hammerstein, you can’t get the song out of your head when you hear about Oklahoma. Next, it’s off to Oregon, which everyone remembers as the destination for the Oregon Trail as well as Portland, the Columbia River, and legal euthanasia. Make sure you don’t end up with dysentery on the way there. After that, we’re off to my home state Pennsylvania known for Pittsburgh and Philadelphia as well as using groundhogs for weather reports. Actually, we have local news to predict the weather for us but sometimes they could be just as wrong as Punxsutawney Phil is every year. Anyway, go Steelers! Then we move on to Rhode Island which isn’t really an island but is home to America’s earliest synagogue as well as served as a popular tourist destination for rich folk. Finally, we get to South Carolina which many of you know was the first state to secede from the Union after the election of 1860 as well as the childhood home of Stephen Colbert that he usually says on his show.

31. New Mexico

New Mexico is home to some of the oldest European buildings in the United States, some of these are over 400 years old and predate Jamestown. The Franciscans built these adobe style churches which have now become resonant with Southwest architecture and the Spanish mission style in the US.

Abbreviation: NM
Nickname: “Land of Enchantment”
Capital: Santa Fe
Largest City: Albuquerque
Entered Union: January 6, 1912
Bird: Greater Roadrunner
Flower: Yucca
Tree: Colorado Pinyon

Celebrities: Billy the Kid, Jeff Bezos, Kit Carson, Neil Patrick Harris, Georgia O’Keefe, Conrad Hilton, Pat Garrett, Cochise, Geronimo, Tony Hillerman, Cormac McCarthy, George R. R. Martin, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Anna Gunn, Val Kilmer, Demi Moore, Freddie Prinze Jr., John Denver, Jim Morrison

Sports Teams: None

Indian Tribes: Clovis culture and later Apache, Navajo, Ute, Pueblo, Hopi, and Comanche.

Best Known Moments: Mexican American War, Indian Wars, and atomic bomb testing at Los Alamos.

Often Associated With: hippies, Mexicans, Breaking Bad, meth, hipsters, cowboys, desert, cacti, canyons, Southwest Indians, adobes, Spanish Missions, atomic testing, Santa Fe Trail, Los Alamos, Little Miss Sunshine, cattle ranches, UFO sightings, Roswell, multiculturalism, water shortages, Indian ruins, mesas, poverty, coyotes, roadrunners, White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Lechuguilla Cave, Sky City or Acoma Pueblo, Taos Ski Valley, skiing, Rocky Mountains, Continental Divide, Shiprock, Rio Grande Gorge, Route 66, 1950s cars, Les Paul music, chili peppers, cattle skulls, cattle ranching, New Mexican Spanish, Mexicans, Georgia O’Keefe paintings, neon motel signs

32. New York

No monument in New York has never become so iconic with the state as the Statue of Liberty in New York City’s harbor. This female colossus of 151 ft and an inch has been seen as a beacon of liberty lifting her light beside the golden door for those tired, poor, and huddled masses yearning to be free. For many immigrants, her presence reminded that they have come to America.

Abbreviation: NY
Nickname: “Empire State”
Capital: Albany
Largest City: New York City
Entered Union: July 26, 1788
Bird: Bluebird
Flower: Rose
Tree: Sugar Maple

Celebrities: Jimmy Fallon, FDR, Eleanor Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt, Tony Bennett, Adrien Brody, Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Lucille Ball, Susan B. Anthony, Edgar Allan Poe, Danny Kaye, Alice Faye, James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, Alexander Hamilton, Tom Cruise, Francis Ford Coppola, Aaron Copland, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lou Gehrig, George and Ira Gershwin, Billy Joel, George Eastman, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor, Jackie Gleason, Rudy Giuliani, Julia Ward Howe, Fiorello La Guardia, Henry and William James, Edith Wharton, John Jay, Ed Koch, Jerry Seinfeld, Herman Melville, Dorothy Day, Clarence Day, Richard Dreyfuss, Patty Duke, David Duchovny, Vin Diesel, Nora Ephron, Arthur Miller, Eddie Murphy, Carroll O’ Connor, Colin Powell, Eugene O’Neill, Nancy Reagan, the Rockefellers, Tim Russert, Al Sharpton, J. D. Salinger, Al Smith, Donald Trump, Barbara Striesand, the Three Stooges, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Van Buren, Boss Tweed, Luther Vandross, Gore Vidal, Tony Kushner, Jake LaMotta, Regis Philbin, Mario Puzo, the Rosenbergs, Denzel Washington, Walt Whitman, Mark Zuckerberg, Ulysses S. Grant, Elliot Spitzer, Millard Fillmore, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Aaron Burr, Shirley Chisholm, Thomas Dewey, Lucky Luciano, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, June Allyson, Alan Arkin, Anne Bancroft, Ann Blyth, Clara Bow, James Caan, Beverly Sills, Daniel Sickles, James Cagney, Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson, Claudette Colbert, Claire Danes, Sammy Davis Jr. Kirk Douglas, Matt Dillon, Fran Drescher, Jimmy Durante, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Judy Holliday, Scarlett Johansen, Wolf Blitzer, Jane Fonda, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Paulette Goddard, Harvey Milk, Elliot Gould, Anne Hathaway, Susan Hayward, Rita Hayworth, Veronica Lake, Barbara Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Lee Marvin, Walter Matthau, Ethel Merman, Anthony Perkins, Joseph Barbera, John Zogby, Christopher Reeve, George Raft, Bill Pullman, Thelma Ritter, Mickey Rooney, Ray Romano, Martin Scorsese, Sylvia Sidney, Rod Steiger, Mel Gibson, Oliver Stone, Gene Tierney, Claire Trevor, Mae West, George Carlin, Jay Leno, the Marx Brothers, Rosie O’Donnell, Chris Rock, Demetri Martin, Lady Gaga, Pat Benatar, Fiona Apple, Mary J. Blige, Maria Callas, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Alicia Keys, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, Jennifer Lopez, Laura Nyro, David Geffen, Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Notorious BIG, 50 Cent, Mos Def, LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, John Jacob Astor, J. P. Morgan, Bernie Madoff, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Frederick Douglass, Arnold Rothstein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Lennon, Jon Stewart, Terry Gross, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Whoopi Goldberg, Peggy Guggenheim, Alan Greenspan, Oscar Hammerstein II, Gregory Hines, Matt Lauer, Norman Mailer, Ogden Nash, Joyce Carol Oates, Thomas Pynchon, Norman Rockwell, Marion Davies, Shirley Booth, William Bendix, Dewitt Clinton, John Gotti, David Sedaris, Gertrude B. Elion, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mick Foley, Hank Greenberg, Sandy Koufax, Alex Rodriguez, Frank Serpico, Anderson Cooper, Tony Danza, Rodney Dangerfield, Larry David, Neil Diamond, Timothy McVeigh, Elena Kagan, Harry Houdini, Margaret Sanger, and many I can’t include here.

Sports Teams: Buffalo Bills (NFL), Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks (NBA), Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, and New York Islanders (NHL), New York Yankees and New York Mets (MLB), Columbia Lions and Syracuse Orangemen (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mahican, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. Headquarters for the Iroquois Confederacy.

Best Known Moments: Founded by Dutch as New Netherland, seized by the British in the 1600s, one of the original 13 Colonies, saw action in the French and Indian War with the debacle at Fort William Henry, saw battles during the American Revolution most famously Saratoga, site of the Burr-Hamilton duel, gateway for a lot of European immigrants, Seneca Falls, had draft riots during the Civil War, Tammany Hall political machine, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in the early 1900s, Harlem Renaissance, 1929 stock market crash, Woodstock, 9/11, and Hurricane Sandy

Often Associated With: New York City, “New York, New York,” Frank Sinatra, crime, a lot of movies, books, plays, and TV shows, Broadway, theater, NYPD, network news, NBC, Empire State Building, 9/11, Chrysler Building, rudeness, swearing, the Met Museum, the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Washington Square, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Madison Square Gardens, the Bronx Zoo, high end stores, multiculturalism, folk music, New York accents, Jews, Italians, inner city poverty, Wall Street, Hudson River, the Catskills, Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty, Buffalo, Syracuse, lots of celebrities, Erie Canal, subway system, traffic, Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Station, Penn Station, Adirondacks, Saratoga Race Course, intellectuals, Long Island, suburbs, unions, dirty construction workers, bad mouthing cops, Irish cops, Tammany Hall, Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, Knickerbocker Tales, corruption, Tarrytown, Yankees fans, Mets fans, Hyde Park, Sagamore Hill, Roosevelts, Oyster Bay, Woody Allen, Billy Joel, gangsters, old mansions, skyscrapers, dirtiness, Puerto Ricans, Harlem, liberals, Lake Placid, World Trade Center, Niagara Falls, Sing Sing, water pollution, Love Canal, Grant’s Tomb, West Point, gays, hipsters, hippies, Occupy Wall Street protesters, riots, Columbia, Cornell, Syracuse, NYU, Gershwin, jazz, Harlem Globetrotters, rich people, high fashion, Central Park, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Fort Ticonderoga, weirdos, pizza, skiing, Fire Island, the Hamptons, expensive real estate, magazines, publishing companies, gorgeous scenery, wilderness, farming, Finger Lakes, NYSE, Yonkers, New York Times, New York Post, New York Daily News, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Belmont Stakes, Rochester religious revivals, comic books, governors soliciting hookers, hookers, vice president shooting well known statesman who’s on the $10 bill in a duel, Cooperstown, Sunnyside, Philipsburg Manor, Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Staten Island ferry, Hell’s Kitchen, Harlem, Greenwich Village, Alphabet City, sexting congressmen with funny names, Woodstock, Chautauqua

33. North Carolina

It was at today’s Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina where two Dayton, Ohio bicycle mechanics known as the Wright Brothers made their first controlled powered airplane flights on December 17, 1903. After the flights, the two walked to Kitty Hawk and sent a telegram to the Weather Bureau informing of their success. Of course, Kitty Hawk became world-famous because it was the nearest settlement to the site at the time.

Abbreviation: NC
Nickname: “Tar Heel State,” “Old North State”
Capital: Raleigh
Largest City: Charlotte
Entered Union: November 21, 1789
Bird: Cardinal
Flower: Dogwood
Tree: Pine

Celebrities: Charlie Rose, David Brinkley, John Coltrane, Ava Gardner, Bob and Elizabeth Dole, John Edwards, both Dale Earnhardts, Billy Graham, Andy Griffith, O. Henry, Andrew Johnson, Michael Jordan, Dolley Madison, Thelonious Monk, Richard Petty, Edward R. Murrow, Carl Sandburg, James K. Polk, James Taylor, Billy Strayhorn, Doc Watson, Roberta Flack, Clay Aiken, William Blount, Braxton Bragg, Robert Byrd, the Greensboro Four, Edward Snowden, Cecil B. DeMille, Zach Galifianakis, David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris, Kathryn Grayson, Michael C. Hall, Ken Jeong, Star Jones, Vince McMahon, Julianne Moore, Jaime Pressley, Soupy Sales, Tori Amos, George Clinton, Charlie Daniels, Earl Scruggs, Nina Simone, Loudon Wainwright III, Howard Cosell, Nicholas Sparks, Willie Parker, Brandon Tate, Virginia Dare, Richard Jordan Gatling, Afeni Shakur, Maya Angelou, Chang and Eng Bunker, Orson Scott Card, Ric Flair, Blackbeard, John Tesh, Kristi Yamaguchi

Sports Teams: Carolina Panthers (NFL), Charlotte Hornets (NBA), Carolina Hurricanes (NHL), Duke University Blue Devils, North Carolina Tar Heels, North Carolina Spartans, and North Carolina State Wolfpack (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture, later Chowanoke, Roanoke, Pamlico, Coree, Cape Fear Indians, Meherrin, Cherokee, Tuscarora, Cheraw, Waxhaw, Saponi, Waccamaw, and Catawba. If not killed with war and small pox, then kicked out by Indian Removal during the 1830s.

Best Known Moments: Roanoke settlement, one of the original 13 Colonies, saw action at King’s Mountain and Guilford Courthouse, Trail of Tears, saw the first flight at Kitty Hawk, the Civil Rights Movement sit-ins at Greensboro, and others.

Often Associated With: rich people, rednecks, military personnel, Duke, Great Smoky Mountains, Guilford Courthouse, beaches, Roanoke, Kitty Hawk, King’s Mountain, tobacco, Atlantic Beach, NASCAR racing, golfing, plantation mansions, slavery, racism, bluegrass, politeness, Southern hospitality, Southern Gothic Literature, Golden Age piracy, intellectuals, Charlotte, lighthouses, swing state politics, Krispy Kreme, Outer Banks, Biltmore House Gardens, presidential candidates cheating on cancer stricken wives and fathering love children, hurricanes, Roanoke Island, Fort Bragg, barbecue, lighthouses, Cherohala Skyway, Old Fort, military bases, Graveyard Fields, Atlantic Beach, Flat Rock, Fort Macon, Winston-Salem, Wilmington, Asheboro, Greensboro, Durham, Kill Devil Hills, Moore’s Creek, Ft. Raleigh

34. North Dakota

North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park is home to its legendary badlands in the western part of the state. Teddy Roosevelt came to these Badlands to hunt bison during his 1883 trip and returned in 1884 to heal from one of the darkest moments of his life after experiencing the loss of his wife and mother on the same day. His hunting trips and ranching out West in the 1880s would be very influential to Roosevelt’s beliefs in conservation.

Abbreviation: ND
Nickname: “Peace Garden State”
Capital: Bismarck
Largest City: Fargo
Entered Union: November 2, 1889
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Flower: Wild Prairie Rose
Tree: American Elm

Celebrities: Maxwell Anderson, Angie Dickinson, Louis L’Amor, Roger Maris, Lawrence Welk, Louise Erdich, Peggy Lee, Phil Jackson, Sacagawea, Ann Sothern, Wiz Khalifa, Bobby Vee

Sports Teams: North Dakota State Bison (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mandan, Dakota, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Chippewa, Arikara, Hidasta, and Yanktoni. May have been inhabited as early as 11,000 years ago.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Indian Wars, and not much else.

Often Associated With: Fargo, Badlands, Fargo, oil and gas drilling, not having a lot of people, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Scandinavians, Plains Indians, Lutherans, ice fishing, skiing, whiteness, snowmobiles, snow, not much happening, Bonanzaville, Ft. Union Trading Post, International Peace Gardens, Elkhorn Ranch, Knife River Indian Village, Dunseith, Minden, Great Plains, moose, Lake Sakakawea, more men than women, New Salem, Painted Canyon, bison, dinosaur fossils, wild horses, elk, prairie dogs, prairie, grassland, bighorn sheep

35. Ohio

Ohio is home to the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus. This glass botanical palace was built in 1895 and now serves as a horticultural and educational institution showcasing exotic plant collections, special exhibitions and artworks by renown glass sculptor Dave Chihuly. Contains over 400 species in all.

Abbreviation: OH
Nickname: “Buckeye State”
Capital: Columbus
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: March 1, 1803
Bird: Cardinal
Flower: Scarlet Carnation
Tree: Buckeye

Celebrities: Ulysses S. Grant, William McKinley, Warren G. Harding, William Howard Taft, the first two John D. Rockefellers, John Glenn, Annie Oakley, Dean Martin, Jesse Owens, Drew Carey, the Wright Brothers, Bob Hope, Hart Crane, George Armstrong Custer, Erma Bombeck, Halle Berry, Clarence Darrow, Maya Lin, Toni Morrison, Pete Rose, Roy Rogers, Steven Spielberg, James A. Garfield, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, William Henry Harrison, Clark Gable, Thomas Edison, Zane Grey, William Dean Howells, Eddie Rickenbacker, Pontiac, Jack Paar, Paul Newman, Jack Nicklaus, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., William Tecumseh Sherman, Gloria Steinem, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Tecumseh, James Thurber, Jerry Springer, Ted Turner, Neil Armstrong, Sherwood Anderson, Ambrose Bierce, Martin Mull, Harlan Ellison, Wes Craven, P. J. O’Rourke, David Pogue, Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster, Lowell Thomas, R. L. Stine, Lou Wasserman, Jack Warner, John Dean, John Boehner, Dennis Kucinich, Clement Vallandingham, Victoria Woodhull, George Bellows, Theda Bara, Teri Garr, Arsenio Hall, Margaret Hamilton, Woody Harrelson, Steve Harvey, Patricia Heaton, Ed O’Neil, Eleanor Parker, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dan Patrick, Anne Heche, Hal Holbrook, Katie Holmes, Terrence Howard, Chrissie Hynde, Alison Janney, Tyrone Power, George Clooney, Tim Conway, Dorothy Dandridge, Doris Day, Phyllis Diller, Phil Donahue, Brian Donlevy, Ted Levine, John Lithgow, Rob Lowe, Paul Lynde, Hugh Downs, Carmen Electra, Jamie Farr, Alan Freed, Burgess Meredith, Debra Monk, Fred Williard, Debra Winger, Jonathan Winters, Jack Hanna, the Naked Cowboy, Dave Grohl, Phil Ochs, Pure Prairie League, the O’Jays, Jim Brickman, Tracy Chapman, Isley Brothers, Boz Scaggs, Billy Strayhorn, Devo, Marilyn Manson, John Legend, Danny Thomas, Joe Walsh, Frank Yankovic, Philip Sheridan, Harvey Firestone, Jim Lovell, Charles Kettering, Judith Resnick, Chad Billingsley, Ken Griffey Jr., James Harrison, LeBron James, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, Chuck Noll, Ben Roethlisberger, Randy Walker, Cy Young, Herbert H. Dow, Charles Keating, George Steinbrenner, Roger Ailes, Larry Flynt, John Brown, Elizabeth Blackwell, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ariel Castro, Charles Manson, Norman Vincent Peale, Tenskwatawa, Langston Hughes, George Remus, Macy Gray

Sports Teams: Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals (NFL), Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians (MLB), Cleveland Cavaliers (NBA), Columbus Blue Jackets (NHL), Ohio State Buckeyes, Ohio Bobcats, Cincinnati Bearcats, Kent State Golden Flashes, Akron Zips, Miami Redhawks, and Toledo Rockets (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Early Mississippian culture. Adena, Hopewell, Wyandot, Miami, Shawnee, Ottawa, Mingo, and Delaware. May have been inhabited 11,000 years ago.

Best Known Moments: Northwest Territory, Pontiac’s Rebellion, saw action in the War of 1812 with Oliver Hazard Perry’s victory in Lake Erie, industrialization, Kent State shooting, and others.

Often Associated With: Cleveland, Cincinnati, Kent State, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, birthplace of 7 presidents, a lot of inventors, and several astronauts, Cedar Point, Amish Country, Toledo, Dayton, Six Flags, Steubenville, Great Lakes, Ohio River, Kings Island, OSU, businessmen, manufacturing, Rust Belt, swing state politics, golfing, suburbs, corruption, skyscrapers, unions, farming, rednecks, Erie Canal, Franklin Park Conservatory, Wapakoneta, Lake Erie Islands, Marietta, Copperhead lawyers who accidentally shoot themselves dead while defending a client

36. Oklahoma

Oklahoma is known as the “Sooner State” because many of its white settlers from the South came to parts of this state before they were officially opened to them. Of course, since this area was once known as Indian Territory, you can imagine that the Indian tribes who were forced reside there decades before were not happy.

Abbreviation: OK
Nickname: “Sooner State”
Capital: Oklahoma City
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: November 16, 1907
Bird: Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher
Flower: Mistletoe
Tree: Redbud

Celebrities: Will Rogers, Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, Lon Chaney Jr. Gordon Cooper, Ralph Ellison, John Hope Franklin, James Garner, Vince Gill, Woody Guthrie, Ron Howard, Louis L’Amour, Shannon Lucid, Mickey Mantle, Reba McEntire, Wiley Post, Tony Randall, Oral Roberts, Jim Thorpe, Carrie Underwood, Pretty Boy Floyd, Wilma Mankiller, Sequoyah, Tommy Franks, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Kristin Chenoweth, Joan Crawford, Blake Edwards, Bill Hader, Van Heflin, James Mardsen, Rue McClanahan, Lee Pace, Vera Miles, Tim Blake Nelson, Chuck Norris, Brad Pitt, Mary Kay Place, Hoyt Axton, Chet Baker, J. J. Cale, Eddie Cochran, Patti Page, Leon Russell, Blake Shelton, Paul Harvey, Bill Moyers, Dr. Phil McGraw, Mary Hart, Dan Rowan, Judy Woodruff, Rick Bayless, Sylvan Goldman, T. Boone Pickens Jr., Sam Walton, Tony Hillerman, S. E. Hinton, Barry Sanders, Willie Stargell, Belle Starr, Anita Hill, Cornel West

Sports Teams: Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA), Oklahoma Stat Cowboys, and Oklahoma Sooners (NCAA Div. I).

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture. Wichita, Osage, Quapaw, and Caddo. May have been inhabited as early as the Ice Age. Those Indians native there were bound to have company in the 1830s. Now home to at least 39 federally recognized tribes.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, receiving place for Indians at the Trail of Tears, contention between Indians and whites after the Civil War, race riots in the early 1900s, the Dust Bowl, and the Oklahoma City bombings.

Often Associated With: Oklahoma!, Indians, oil and gas drilling, race riots, tornadoes, cowboys, cattle ranching, Tulsa, The Grapes of Wrath, Southern hospitality, Dust Bowl, multiculturalism, bison, Sooners, Okies, rednecks, country music, lady golf, trailer parks, Wichita Mountains, Sallisaw, Norman, Ouachita Mountains, Medicine Park, Oklahoma City bombings, Ozarks, Tahlequah, Waurika Lake

37. Oregon

Oregon’s Mt. Hood is a 11,249 ft tall stratavolcano on the Cascade Range’s Volcanic Arc. It’s Oregon’s highest mountain as well as one of the loftiest peaks in the US. It is home to 12 named glaciers and snowfields and is considered the Oregon volcano most likely to erupt but not explosively.

Abbreviation: OR
Nickname: “Beaver State”
Capital: Salem
Largest City: Portland
Entered Union: February 14, 1859
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Flower: Oregon Grape
Tree: Douglas Fir

Celebrities: Ty Burrell, Beverly Cleary, Matt Groening, Chief Joseph, Linus Pauling, Jack Reed, Jean M. Auel, Chris Botti, Ann Curry, Sam Elliot, Tony Harding, Herbert Hoover, Terry Irwin, John Krakauer, Courtney Love, Chuck Palahnuik, River Phoenix, Johnnie Ray, David Ogden Stiers

Sports Teams: Portland Trail Blazers (NBA), Oregon Ducks, and Portland State Vikings (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Inhabited by more than 100 Indian tribes including the Nez Perce, Coquille, Bannock, Chasta, Kalapuya, Molala, Takelma, Tillamook, Umpqua, Yakima, Chinook, Cayuse, and Modoc. May have been inhabited as early as 15,000 years.

Best Known Moments: Oregon Territory, Lewis and Clark Expedition, destination for Oregon Trail, and site of many dam projects during the Great Depression.

Often Associated With: Oregon Trail, hippies, hipsters, tree huggers, Portland, Portlandia, New Agers, wilderness, Cascade Range, dysentery, Bonneville Dam, hydroelectric power, forests, Columbia River, Mount Hood, legal euthanasia laws, high tech industry, diverse wildlife, fishing, corporate headquarters, Nike, Intel, no sales tax, revenue limits, pioneers on covered wagons, hiking, Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, Astoria Column, Timberline Lodge, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon Dunes, Ft. Clatstop, International Rose Test Garden, Ashland, Multnomah Falls, volcanoes, mountains, snow, skiing, Newport, Kalimiopsis Wilderness, snow capped peaks, Eugene, totem poles

38. Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was a city of industry that has managed to successfully turn itself around after the 1980s as a leading city of the 21st century. Its high culture, beautiful skylines, business friendly environment, technological innovation, and decent standard of living, Pittsburgh is now a top world destination and more of a leading contender than it ever could be in the 19th century.

Abbreviation: PA
Nickname: “Keystone State”
Capital: Harrisburg
Largest City: Philadelphia
Entered Union: December 12, 1787
Bird: Ruffed Grouse
Flower: Mountain Laurel
Tree: Hemlock

Celebrities: Benjamin Franklin, James Buchanan, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, H. J. Heinz, Fred Rogers and much of the cast of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Arnold Palmer, Dan Marino, Zachary Quinto, Marian Anderson, Kobe Bryant, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Wilt Chamberlain, Rachel Carson, Perry Como, Noam Chomsky, Joe Biden, Tina Fey, Stephen Foster, Robert Fulton, Martha Graham, Gene Kelly, Grace Kelly, William Powell, Margaret Mead, Joe Namath, both Ken Griffeys, Russ Grimm, Joe Montana, Andrew W. Mellon, Robert E. Peary, Alecia Moore (a. k. a. Pink), Sharon Stone, Tom Ridge, Robert Morris, James Wilson, Gouveneur Morris, Jimmy Stewart, Thaddeus Stevens, Jim Thorpe, Benjamin West, Honus Wagner, John Updike, George Benson, Shirley Jones, Kevin Bacon, the original Barrymores, Mario Andretti, Julie Benz, Peter Boyle, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Bronson, Jeff Goldblum, Bradley Cooper, Dolores Costello, Broderick Crawford, Mario Lemieux, Barbara Feldon, W.C. Fields, Larry Fine, Richard Gere, Scott Glenn, Jamie Kennedy, Jack Klugman, Jeannette MacDonald, Frances McDormand, Hugh Marlowe, Adolphe Menjou, James A. Michener, Dennis Miller, Tom Mix, Jack Palance, Jon Polito, George Romero, Bob Saget, David O. Selznick, M. Night Shyamalan, Mary Cassatt, George Catlin, Thomas Eakins, Andy Warhol, Andrew Wyeth, Guion S. Bluford, Joe Amato, Bill Cowher, Ernie Davis, Floyd Landis, Stan Musial, Jerry Sandusky, Johnny Unitas, Louisa May Alcott, Oscar Hammerstein II, David McCullough, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Daniel Boone, Ida Tarbell, Wallace Stevens, John Edgar Wideman, Dr. Jonas Salk, the Sundance Kid, Thomas Midgley Jr., Milton S. Hershey, Lee Iacocca, Charles M. Schwab, Jeffrey Skilling, Sidney Lumet, Christina Aguilera, Frankie Avalon, Wiz Khalifa, Boyz II Men, Solomon Burke, John Dickinson, Chubby Checker, John Coltrane, Jim Croce, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Hall & Oates, Joan Jett, Henry Mancini, the Roots, Robert Bork, Bob Casey Jr., Rick Santorum, Arlen Specter, Alexander Haig, Orrin Hatch, Ron Paul, Benjamin Netanyahu, A. Mitchell Palmer, Robert Reich, Jim Cramer, Billy Mays, F. Murray Abraham, the Warner Brothers, Michael Chabon, Nellie Bly, Mark Cuban, Joe Paterno, Randy Pausch, Herb Morrison, George C. Marshall, Dick Clark, Blythe Danner, Benjamin Guggenheim, George B. McClellan, George Meade, Ed Bradley, Patti LaBelle, Teddy Pendergrass, Edwin Drake, Joseph D. Pistone (a. k. a. Donnie Brasco)

Sports Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles (NFL), Pittsburg Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers (NHL), Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), Pittsburgh Panthers, Penn State Nittany Lions, Temple Owls, Villanova Wildcats, and La Salle Explorers (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Lenni Lenape, Shawnee, Susquehannock, Erie, and Seneca. Probably wiped out by war and smallpox.

Best Known Moments: Its founding by William Penn, French and Indian War would start at Fort Necessity and would later see Bushy Run, Braddock’s defeat as well as the capture of Fort Duquesne, one of the original 13 Colonies, Philadelphia was site of the Declaration of Independence signing and the Constitutional Convention, would see several incidents during the American Revolution like Washington crossing the Delaware, Battles of Brandywine and Germantown, and Valley Forge, industrialization, saw the Battle of Gettysburg during Civil War, Gettysburg Address, the Homestead Strike, the Johnstown Flood, Three Mile Island, Flight 93, and “Kids for Cash.”

Often Associated With: Pittsburgh, Philly, Philly cheesesteak, drinking, swearing, die hard sports fans, steel, Rustbelt, Pitt, Penn State, Delaware River, Ohio River, Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, “yinz,” Appalachian Mountains, rednecks, Valley Forge, Hershey chocolate, Heinz 57 Varieties, Steeler fans, Fallingwater, Pocono Mountains, Flight 93, Gettysburg, Amish Country, Johnstown Flood, coal mining, Susquehanna River, “Kids for Cash,” Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Carnegie, Rolling Rock, pierogies, kielbasa, Poles, Italians, manufacturing, unions, glass, KDKA, The Office, Three Mile Island, horrendous road conditions, unpredictable winters, Groundhog Day, Quakers, Methodists, mushrooms, swing state politics, deer hunting, white tail deer, wild turkey, black bears, a lot of amusement parks, tunnels, motorcross, pretzels, snack foods, Sauerkraut, Andy Warhol, Pittsburghese, smog, idyllic farm country, Punxsutawney Phil, Groundhog Day, predicting 6 week weather conditions using rodents, Lake Erie, ketchup, Pine Creek Gorge, “Pennsylvania Polka,” polka music, Gettysburg, Scranton, Allentown, Erie, Wilkes-Barre, Bethlehem, Carlisle, Johnstown, King of Prussia, Snyder’s of Berlin, Rocky, Utz, Snyder’s of Hanover

39. Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a popular New England tourist destination because of its many ocean front beaches and harbors many rich people can sail their yachts in. Of course, this was in the Gilded Age but still, it makes money from vacationing New Englanders nevertheless.

Abbreviation: RI

Nickname: “Little Rhody,” “Ocean State”
Capital: Providence
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: May 29, 1790
Bird: Rhode Island Red Chicken
Flower: Violet
Tree: Red Maple

Celebrities: Nathanael Greene, George M. Cohan, Gilbert Stuart, Nelson Eddy, Ambrose Burnside, Cormac McCarthy, John McLaughlin, Matthew C. and Oliver Hazard Perry, Meredith Vieira, H. P. Lovecraft, David Macaulay, Marilyn Chambers, Viola Davis, the Farrelly Brothers, Richard Jenkins, Van Johnson, Seth McFarlane, Ted Knight, George Macready, Louis B. Mayer, James Woods, A. O. Scott, Sullivan Ballou, Roger Williams, Anne Hutchinson

Sports Teams: Brown Bears, Providence College Friars, Bryant Bulldogs, and Rhode Island Rams (NCAA Div. I).

Indian Tribes: Narragansett, Niantic, Nipmuc, Wampanoag, and Pequot. Probably died from war and small pox.

Best Known Moments: Founded by Roger Williams in the 1600s, King Philip’s War, was heavily involved with the slave trade as well as known for religious toleration, one of the original 13 Colonies, American Revolution, industrialization, and not much else.

Often Associated With: New England, beaches, whaling, small landmass, geographic confusion, boats, lighthouses, not a lot of crime, Brown, rich people, intellectuals, seafood, shellfish, clam chowder, Newport, Pawtucket, Providence, Touro Synagogue, mansions, Narragansett, harbor, Block Island Mansions, Cliff Walk, Slater Mill, Pawtucket, Sanderstown, ferry boat, Block Island Sound

40. South Carolina

South Carolina’s Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is one of the oldest plantations in the South and is located near Charleston. Though originally a rice plantation, it’s now a tourist attraction as well as a great wedding destination for the bride who really wants her big day to appear something like she’d seen in a Southern Gothic novel minus the weird stuff happening.

Abbreviation: SC
Nickname: “Palmetto State”
Capital: Columbia
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: May 23, 1788
Bird: Carolina Wren
Flower: Yellow Jessamine
Tree: Palmetto

Celebrities: Stephen Colbert, Strom Thurmond, John C. Calhoun, Marian Wright Edleman, Jesse Jackson, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, Andie McDowell, Francis Marion, Preston Brooks, Mary MacLeod Bethune, James Brown, Joe Frazier, Althea Gibson, Dizzy Gillespie, Thomas Hayward Jr., Eartha Kitt, James “Pete” Longstreet, Thomas Lynch Jr., Melvin Purvis, Joel Roberts Poinsett, Edward Rutledge, Mickey Spillane, William C. Westmoreland, John B. Watson, Aziz Ansari, Chubby Checker, Pat Conroy, Viola Davis, Andy Dick, Stanley Donen, John Edwards, Shepard Fairey, Mary-Louise Parker, Chris Rock

Sports Teams: South Carolina Gamecocks, South Carolina State Bulldogs, and Clemson Tigers (NCAA Div. I)
Indian Tribes: Inhabited by 30 tribes including the Cherokee, Catawba, and Muskogean. Kicked out in the 1830s with Indian Removal.

Best Known Moments: One of the Original 13 Colonies, saw a lot of action during the American Revolution with Cowpens and Kings Mountain, started the Nullification Crisis, Trail of Tears, first state to secede from the Union and saw the beginning of the Civil War at Ft. Sumter as well as Sherman’s March to the Sea,

Often Associated With: Charleston, slavery, racism, South Carolina primary, governors “hiking the Appalachian Trail,” governors basically going missing to carry on an extramarital affair on Father’s Day, rednecks, messed up politics, indigo, cotton, rice, racist senators having illegitimate black love children, Myrtle Beach, plantations, southern belles, Southern Gothic Literature, palmettos, salt marshes, swamp, Blue Ridge Mountains, hurricanes, Confederate flag displays, Confederate nostalgia, conservatism, pro-slavery congressmen caning anti-slavery senators from Massachusetts, Bob Jones University, Kings Mountain, Cowpens, videotaped Breathalyzer tests, strict laws on alcohol, Fort Sumter, poverty, poinsettias, Baptists, Bible Belt, brightly painted houses, plantations, Magnolia Plantation, Cypress Gardens, Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens, Riverbanks Zoo, Moncks Corner, swamp, Brookgreen Gardens, Hilton Head Island, Drayton Hall, Murrells Inlet, beaches, cypress, Middleton Place, Waterfront Park

In my previous two posts in my five part series, I’ve written state profiles from all over the American nation, mostly because I’ve listed them in alphabetical order like most reference books do. In this selection, I’ll cover the states from Massachusetts to New Jersey. First, we venture to Massachusetts which is perhaps one of the most covered regions in your American History or your American history class. Let’s say very few Americans have never read (or never pretended to have read) anything that was by someone from Massachusetts because a lot of early American literature comes from there and The Scarlet Letter is required reading. Second, we have Michigan best known as the headquarters for America’s Big 3 automakers, Motown, and the poverty stricken Rust Belt hellscape known as Detroit that tends to somehow beat Pittsburgh at hockey. Third, it’s on to Minnesota home of the Twin Cities, Mall of America, having a lot of lakes, Garrison Keilor, and Target. Strangely enough it’s also where Prince and Bob Dylan came from but you wouldn’t have guessed unless you looked it up on Wikipedia. After that, is Mississippi which was once one of the most prosperous states in the nation during the antebellum era but is now the poorest state in the nation. Then it’s off to Missouri, home of Mark Twain and Harry Truman as well as the Gateway Arch since it was seen as the gateway to the West. It’s also the state that features Kansas City we all know which kind of creates geographic confusion. Apparently “Missouri City” didn’t cut it. Next, we have Montana known for its many natural wonders as well as being very cold and being the state where George Custer met his Little Big Horn. We then go off to Nebraska which is the only state to have a unicameral legislature as well as Warren Buffett, Omaha, and agriculture. After that, we have Nevada most famous for the tackiest adult playground on earth Las Vegas home to gambling casinos, scantily clad showgirls in feather headdresses, and weddings under the influence. Then it’s off to New Hampshire home of the New Hampshire primary, Dartmouth, skiing resorts, and not much else. Finally, we arrive in New Jersey known for Superfund sites, government induced traffic jams, Monopoly, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, and being home to way more celebrities than just Bruce Springsteen.

21. Massachusetts

Massachusetts was the site of the first Thanksgiving as a three day feast between the Pilgrims and Indians after the latter taught the former how to survive through after they went through a harsh winter that killed about half of them. Unfortunately, their friendship wouldn’t last and this tradition wasn’t repeated until Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a national holiday in 1863.

Abbreviation: MA
Nickname: “Bay State,” “Old Colony”
Capital: Boston
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: February 6, 1788
Bird: Black-Capped Chickadee, Wild Turkey
Flower: Mayflower
Tree: American Elm

Celebrities: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Abigail Adams, Samuel Adams, Bronson and Louisa May Alcott, Frederick Douglass, Henry David Thoreau, Susan B. Anthony, Helen Hunt Jackson, Emily Dickinson, Steve Carell, Benjamin Franklin, Ben and Casey Affleck, Crispus Attucks, Clara Barton, George H. W. Bush, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison, Bette Davis, John Hancock, Nathaniel Hawthorne, both Oliver Wendell Holmeses, Elias Howe, JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy, Joe Kennedy, Jack Kerouac, John Kerry, Jack Lemmon, James Russell Lowell, Cotton Mather, B. J. Novak, John Krasinski, Maria Mitchell, Samuel F. B. Morse, Conan O’Brien, Dr. Seuss, Barbara Walters, James Whistler, John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allan Poe, Charles Bullfinch, John Singleton Copley, Charles Dana Gibson, Norman Rockwell, Nancy Kerrigan, Michael Bloomberg, Sumner Redstone, Eli Whitney, the Boston Strangler, Louis C. K., Mindy Kaling, Jay Leno, Amy Poehler, Steven Wright, Elizabeth Banks, Ray Bolger, Walter Brennan, Matt Damon, Geena Davis, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Dukakis, Hal Holbrook, John Michael Higgins, Jennifer Coolidge, Madeline Kahn, David E. Kelley, Arthur Kennedy, Agnes Moorehead, Leonard Nimoy, Edward Norton, Estelle Parsons, Robert Preston, James Remar, James Spader, Julie Taymor, Uma Thurman, Sam Waterson, Mark Wahlberg, Tom and Ray Magilozzi, Tom Bergeron, John King, George Stephanopolous, Mike Wallace, Elizabeth Poole, Horatio Alger, Anne Bradstreet, Augusten Burroughs, William Cullen Bryant, e. e. Cummings, E. J. Dionne, W. E. B. DuBois, Robert Frost, John Kenneth Galbraith, Khalil Gibran, Edward Gorey, Timothy Leary, Peter Laird, Henry Cabot Lodge, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, John Updike, Edith Wharton, Leonard Bernstein, Taj Mahal, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Aerosmith, Boston, the Cars, King Philip (Indian chief), Samoset, Tisquantum (a. k. a. Squanto), Massasoit, Deborah Sampson, Edward Brooke, Calvin Coolidge, Tip O’Neill, Frances Perkins, Mitt Romney, Mary Baker Eddy, Louis Farrakhan, John Harvard, Increase Mather, Edmund Sears, D. L. Moody, Ram Dass, Alexander Graham Bell, Temple Grandin, Gregory Pincus, F. Lee Bailey, Abbie Hoffman, Horace Mann, Grover Norquist, Mark Foley, Lucy Stone, Elbridge Gerry, Robert Goddard, Charles Goodyear, Tim Berners-Lee, John Hodgeman, Sacco and Vanzetti, Mercy Otis Warren, Charles Sumner

Sports Teams: New England Patriots (NFL), Boston Bruins (NHL), Boston Celtics (NHL), Boston Red Sox (MLB), Harvard Crimson, and Boston College Eagles (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: The Wampanoag, Narragansett, Nipmuc, Pocomtuc, Mahican, and Massachusett.

Best Known Moments: First settled by the Pilgrims in 1620, Puritains set theocracy later as the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Salem Witch Trials, one of the original 13 Colonies, was a place of many demonstrations that led to the American Revolution and first battles were fought there, Shays Rebellion, led in the Industrial Revolution and Abolitionist Movement, Sacco and Vanzetti trials, first state to legalize same-sex marriage, and Boston Marathon bombing.

Often Associated With: Puritans, Pilgrims, Thanksgiving, Sam Adams beer, Cheers, Boston Legal, Boston Tea Party, Boston Massacre, Boston, Salem Witch Trials, Harvard, rich people, the Kennedys, liberals, prudes, Patriots fans, swearing, reckless driving, Boston Marathon, Boston baked beans, Boston cream pie, Irish, Transcendentalism, abolitionism, Walden, The Scarlet Letter, New England, Massachusetts Bay, Lobster, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” rudeness, preppies, WASPs, Cape Cod, light houses, boats, whaling, Moby Dick, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, crusty sailors, MIT, rowing, drinking, brawling sports fans, intellectuals, a lot of celebrities you’ll find in many American History or Literature classes, Whistler’s Mother, Car Talk, fishing, Old North Church, seafood, Boston terrier, Red Sox fans, The Crucible, much of American Literature, Mayflower, Plymouth Rock, clam chowder, anti-slavery senators being caned by pro-slavery representatives in South Carolina

22. Michigan

As seen in this mural section by Diego Rivera, Michigan is best known for being the headquarters of America’s auto industry. Chrysler, GM, and Ford are all based in Detroit which by now is seen as an urban disaster. Yet, until the Rust Belt set in, it was a center of American Industry.

Abbreviation: MI
Nickname: “Great Lakes State,” “Wolverine State”
Capital: Lansing
Largest City: Detroit
Entered Union: January 26, 1837
Bird: American Robin
Flower: Apple Blossom
Tree: White Pine

Celebrities: Gerald Ford, Henry Ford, Eminem, Jerome Bettis, Aretha Franklin, Edna Ferber, Magic Johnson, Lee Iacocca, Malcolm X, Casey Kasem, Edgar Guest, Madonna, Michael Moore, Elmore Leonard, Charles Lindbergh, Pontiac, Gilda Radner, Mitt Romney, George Romney, Diana Ross, Sinbad, Tom Selleck, Lily Tomlin, the Williams Sisters, Tim Allen, Gillian Anderson, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Jeff Daniels, Sonny Bono, Christie Brinkley, Tom Hulce, Ellen Burstyn, Kim Hunter, James Earl Jones, Julie Harris, Charlton Heston, Keegan-Michael Key, Tim Meadows, Lee Majors, George Peppard, Harry Morgan, Verne Troyer, Elaine Stritch, David Spade, Robert Wagner, Robin Williams, Danny Thomas, Jerry Bruckheimer, Francis Ford Coppola, John Hughes, Sam Raimi, Paul Schrader, Thom Hartmann, Candy Crowley, Sanjay Gupta, Miles O’Brien, Edgar Bergen, Kate Upton, Eero and Eliel Saarinen, William Boeing, Roger B. Chaffee, George Jarvis, John De Lorean, the Dodge brothers, William C. Durant, Edsel Ford, Ransom E. Olds, Roger Penske, David Dunbar Buick, William Hewlett, Larry Page, Will Kellogg, Tom Monaghan, C. W. Post, David M. Overton, James Anthony Bailey, Herbert Henry Dow, Dr. Homer Stryker, Irene Osgood Andrews, Rosa Parks, Sojourner Truth, Jim Bakker, Father Charles Coughlin, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen, Leon Czolgosz, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, John Mitchell (attorney general), Terry Nichols, Aileen Wuornos, Thomas Edison, Robert Jarvik, Jimmy Hoffa, Walter Reuther, Lewis Cass, George Armstrong Custer, Daniel Ellsberg, the Supremes, Al Green, Al Green, Martha and the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Alice Cooper, Glenn Frey, Bill Haley, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, Bob Seger, the White Stripes, Noel “Paul” Stookey, Betty Ford, Thomas Dewey, Nate Silver, Dr. Jonas Salk, Derek Jeter, Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson, Larry Foote, Dan Bylsma, Jill Carroll, Dr. Wayne Dyet, Dita Von Teese

Sports Teams: Detroit Lions (NFL), Detroit Tigers (MLB), Detroit Pistons (NBA), Detroit Red Wings (MLB), Michigan Wolverines and Michigan State Spartans (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: The Ojibwe, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Mascouten, Menominee, Miami, Sauk, Fox, and Huron

Best Known Moments: Part of French Canada until the French and Indian War, Pontiac’s Rebellion, Northwest Territory, industrialization, and has urban areas in decline since the 1980s.

Often Associated With: American cars, working class, manufacturing, Rust Belt decline, urban hellscapes, unions, poverty, poor people getting screwed, United Auto Workers, the Great Lakes, northern based racism, Gran Torino, crumbling infrastructure, harsh winters, snow, swing state politics, 8 Mile, crime, NASCAR racing, Motown, Michael Moore documentaries, Home Improvement, Boeing, Kellogg, Domino’s Pizza, Post cereal, the Cheesecake Factory, Jimmy Hoffa, Christmas tree farms, Mackinac Island, Tulip Time Festival, Sault Ste. Marie, Air Zoo, Grand Rapids, Tahquemnon Falls, De Zwaan windmill, Belle Isle Park, Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Greenfield Village

23. Minnesota

Minnesota’s Minnehaha Falls was depicted in Henry Wadsworth Longefellow’s poem “The Song of Hiawatha.” It’s located on Minnehaha Creek which is a tributary of the Mississippi River and its name means, “laughing water.” It’s about 53 ft high.

Abbreviation: MN
Nickname: “North Star State,” “Gopher State”
Capital: St. Paul
Largest City: Minneapolis
Entered Union: May 11, 1858
Bird: Common Loon
Flower: Pink and White Lady Slipper
Tree: Red Pine

Celebrities: Garrison Keilor, Bob Dylan, Prince, Charles Schultz, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jesse Ventura, Al Franken, Jessica Lange, Judy Garland, Hubert H. Humphrey, the Coen Brothers, Sinclair Lewis, Eugene McCarthy, Walter Mondale, Lindsey Vonn, Michelle Bachmann, Eddie Albert, Loni Anderson, Lew Ayres, Jim Bakker, Ann Bancroft (polar explorer), Patty Berg, Marlon Brando, Herb Brooks, Gretchen Carlson, Diablo Cody, Dr. Demento, William Demarest, Larry Fitzgerald, Ric Flair, Keith Ellison, J. Paul Getty, Terry Gilliam, Mary GrandPre, George Roy Hill, James J. Hill, Kris Humphries, William J. Mayo, Randy Moss, Owl City, Chris Pratt, Jane Russell, Winona Ryder, Richard Warren Sears, Tiny Tim, Richard Widmark, the Andrews Sisters

Sports Teams: Minnesota Vikings (NFL), Minnesota Twins (MLB), Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA), Minnesota Wild (NHL), and Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Dakota and Ojibwe.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Zebulun Pike Expedition, and industrialization.

Often Associated With: the Midwest, Scandinavians, harsh winters, A Prairie Home Companion, niceness, politeness, lots of lakes, Lutherans, “ Don’t cha know,” folksiness, Target, Twin Cities, Great Lakes, Mississippi River, wilderness, countryside, Mayo Clinic, Mall of America, Duluth, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Betty Crocker, Paul Bunyan, Jolly Green Giant, Fargo, Juno, Pilsbury Doughboy, moose, hipsters, Lake Woebegone, Aerial Lift Bridge, Minehaha Falls, Lake Minnetonka, Bloomington, Rochester, Minnetonka, Coon Rapids, Land O’ Lakes, General Mills, Supervalu, Best Buy, 3M, farming, elk, caribou, bald eagles, snowy owls, fishing, suburbs, Woodbury, lutefisk, butter sculptures of dairy princesses, foods on a stick, Aquatennial, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, water skiing, hockey, curling, skiing, hunting, hiking

24. Mississippi

Major General Ulysses S. Grant’s hard won strategic victory in capturing Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1863 would be a major turning point in the US Civil War which would divide the South in two by the Mississippi River. Vicksburg wouldn’t formally celebrate the 4th of July for years after this. I know posting a picture pertaining to Vicksburg may offend a lot of Southerners, but it’s a very significant moment in American history whether you like it or not.

Abbreviation: MS
Nickname: “Magnolia State”
Capital: Jackson
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: December 10, 1817
Bird: Northern Mockingbird, Wood Duck
Flower: Magnolia, Coreopsis (Tickseed)
Tree: Southern Magnolia

Celebrities: Jimmy Buffett, Bo Diddley, Medgar Evans, Brett Favre, Shelby Foot, Morgan Freeman, John Grisham, Fannie Lou Hamer, Jim Henson, Faith Hill, John Lee Hooker, James Earl Jones, B. B. King, Trent Lott, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Wright, Tammy Wynette, Parker Posey, Archie Manning, Britney Spears, William Faulkner, Jefferson Davis, Jerry Rice, Howlin’ Wolf, Fred Phelps, Ida B. Wells, Dana Andrews, Diane Ladd, Dizzy Dean, Steve McNair, Robin Roberts, Tavis Smiley, Shepard Smith, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Sam Cooke, Nate Dogg, Soulja Boy, Gail Borden

Sports Teams: Mississippi Rebels (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture, Chickasaw, Natchez, Biloxi, Yazoo, and Choctaw.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, saw action during the American Civil War at Jackson and Vicksburg, and saw a lot of action during the Civil Rights Movement, particularly during Freedom Summer.

Often Associated With: poverty, the Mississippi River, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, racism, lynching, Mississippi Burning, rednecks, trailer parks, cotton, plantations, Ole Miss, Southern Gothic Literature, southern belles, Vicksburg, hurricanes, floods, bluegrass, blues, steamboats, casino gambling, In the Heat of the Night, hurricanes, Natchez, Tupelo, Mynelle Gardens, historic mansions, Yazoo River, Bay St. Louis, Biloxi Blues, Biloxi, seasonal flooding

25. Missouri

Missouri’s Gateway Arch in St. Louis is a monument of US westward expansion and the centerpiece of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. At 630ft high it’s the tallest man made monument in the Western Hemisphere, the world’s tallest Arch and an international symbol of Saint Louis.

Abbreviation: MO
Nickname: “Show Me State”
Capital: Jefferson City
Largest City: Kansas City
Entered Union: August 10, 1821
Bird: Eastern Bluebird
Flower: White Hawthorn
Tree: Flowering Dogwood

Celebrities: Harry Truman, Mark Twain, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang, Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Sheryl Crow, Maya Angelou, Robert Altman, Burt Bacharach, Josephine Baker, Scott Bakula, Thomas Hart Benton (muralist), Omar Bradley, William S. Burroughs, Dale Carnegie, Walter Cronkite, Bob Costas, Walt Disney, T. S. Elliot, Kate Chopin, Robert A. Heinlein, John Goodman, Betty Grable, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Hamm, Edwin Hubble, Marianne Moore, Reinhold Niebuhr, J. C. Penney, J. John Pershing, Brad Pitt, Joseph Pulitzer, Ginger Rogers, Kathleen Turner, Shelley Winters, Jane Wyman, Scott Joplin, Langston Hughes, Tennessee Williams, Yogi Berra, Stan Musial, Wallace Beery, Don Cheadle, Daniel Boone, Chris Cooper, Jenna Fischer, Dennis Hopper, John Huston, Kevin Kline, Virginia Mayo, Steve McQueen (actor), Geraldine Page, William Powell, Vincent Price, Dick Van Dyke, Cedric the Entertainer, Redd Foxx, Dick Gregory, Dan Piraro, Mort Walker, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Eminem, Bob Barker, Stone Philips, John V. Cox, Randy “Duke” Cunningham, Calamity Jane, Phyllis Schlafly, J. William Fullbright, Ulysses S. Grant, Nellie Tayloe Ross, George Washington Carver, Edwin Hubble, Jack Kilby

Sports Teams: St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs (NFL), St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals (MLB), and St. Louis Blues (NHL)

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture according to archaeology. Sauk, Fox, Illinois, Osage, Kansa, and Missouri at least to French explorers in the 17th century. Few remained by the 1830s.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, starting point of the Oregon Trail, Jesse James’ exploits, and some natural disasters.

Often Associated With: steamboats, St. Louis, Kansas City, Mississippi River, Missouri River, Mark Twain, swing state politics, Qunatrill’s Raiders, Gateway Arch, geographic confusion, Oregon Trail, smartasses, loose laws on alcohol and tobacco, Meet Me in St. Louis, diverse wildlife, Lake of the Ozarks, J. C. Penney, blues music, St. Joseph, Wilson’s Creek

26. Montana

Montana is home to many places of natural beauty yet virtually none come close to Glacier National Park on its border with Canada. Here is St. Mary Lake which is 90 miles long and 300 ft deep. Behind that is Little Chief Mountain which is 9, 541 ft high.

Abbreviation: MT
Nickname: “Treasure State”
Capital: Helena
Largest City: Billings
Entered Union: November 8, 1889
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Flower: Bitteroot
Tree: Ponderosa Pine

Celebrities: Dana Carvey, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, Chet Huntley, Jeannette Rankin, Stephen E. Ambrose, Jean Parker, Sitting Bull, F. Augustus Heinze, Chief Joseph, Jack Horner, Ted Kaczynski, Evel Knievel

Sports Teams: Montana Grizzlies and Montana State Bobcats (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Crow, Cheyenne, Blackfeet, Assiniboine, Gros Ventres, Kooteni, Salish, Kalispel, and Pend d’ Oreille. Still has a substantial Native American population.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Battle of Little Bighorn, Indian Wars, and electing Jeannette Rankin to Congress.

Often Associated With: Rocky Mountains, Missouri River, Glacier National Park, snow, cowboys, cattle ranching, mining, microbrewing, Indian Reservations, Plains Indians, skiing, fishing, hunting, Continental Divide, Little Bighorn, mountain climbing, wilderness, Great Falls, Clark Caverns, wildfires, grizzly bears, cougars, snowmobiles

27. Nebraska

Nebraska has a large agricultural sector and is an important producer of beef, pork, corn, soybeans, and sorghum. During the days of the cowboys, it was also a place where they would drop off the cattle for their final journey to the Chicago slaughterhouses.

Abbreviation: NE
Nickname: “Cornhusker State”
Capital: Lincoln
Largest City: Omaha
Entered Union: March 1, 1867
Bird: Western Meadowlark
Flower: Goldenrod
Tree: Cottonwood

Celebrities: Fred Astaire, Warren Buffett, Johnny Carson, William Jennings Bryan, Dick Cavett, Dick Cheney, Father Edward J. Flanagan, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Gerald Ford, Henry Fonda, Harold Lloyd, Malcolm X, Chuck Hagel, Ted Sorensen, William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, Nick Nolte, Robert Taylor, Darryl F. Zanuck, Ward Bond, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, James Coburn, Dorothy McGwire, Alexander Payne, Hilary Swank, Inga Swenson, Larry the Cable Guy, Willa Cather, Ted Kooser, L. Ron Hubbard, Nicholas Sparks, Joyce Hall, Max Baer, Andy Roddick, Gale Sayers, Brandon Teena

Sports Teams: Creighton Blue Jays, Nebraska Cornhuskers, and Nebraska Mavericks (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Pawnee, Ponca, Omaha, Missouria, and Oto.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, and served as a hub for Populism.

Often Associated With: unicameral state legislature, farming, cattle, cowboys, telemarketing, Indians, prairies, prairie dogs, Nebraska, whiteness, populism, Omaha, Hallmark, Chimney Rock, Ashfall Fossil Beds, Ashland, Arbor Lodge, Great Platte River Road Archway, Nebraska City, Grand Island, Buffalo Bill Ranch, Scotts Bluff, Great Plains, Disected Till Plains, grassland, Toadstool Geologic Park, Ogala National Grassland

28. Nevada

Nevada’s Las Vegas is a major resort city known for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and nightlife as well as one of the top tourist destinations of the world. Yet, Wikipedia says it’s a growing family and retirement city. Well, I can believe the bit about the retirement but as a family city? I mean I wouldn’t want to go there on my honeymoon, let alone take my kids to what I think is the sleaziest place on earth.

Abbreviation: NV
Nickname: “Sagebrush State,” “Battle Born State,” “Silver State”
Capital: Carson City
Largest City: Las Vegas
Entered Union: October 31, 1864
Bird: Mountain Bluebird
Flower: Sagebrush
Tree: Single Leaf Pinyon Pine, Bristlecone Pine

Celebrities: Andre Agassi, Sarah Winnemucca Hopkins, Pat Nixon, Edna Purviance, Jimmy Kimmel, Tony Curtis, Criss Angel, Penn and Teller

Sports Teams: None

Indian Tribes: Paiute, Shoshone, Washoe, and Walapai. If they have reservations in the area, they probably have their own casinos.

Best Known Moments: Mexican-American War, once part of California and Utah, Hoover Dam built, atomic bomb testing, organized crime had casinos and glitz in Vegas, and other incidents.

Often Associated With: Las Vegas, casino gambling, desert, Elvis Impersonators, Reno, easy divorce laws, precious metals, tacky neon displays, people getting married under the influence, drugs, scantily clad showgirls in feather headdresses, strippers, hookers, The Misfits, Ocean’s 11, Sierra Nevada, the Mojave Desert, Lake Tahoe, Hoover Dam, nuclear testing, Big Band music, has-been celebrity entertainers, organized crime, Yucca Mountain, Area 51, ranching cowboys, crime, smut, old people, Reno 911, daredevil magicians, Valley of Fire

29. New Hampshire

New Hampshire’s Mt. Washington is well known for its dangerously erratic weather with its highest gust of wind measured at 231 mph on the afternoon of April 12, 1934. At a height of 6, 288 ft, it’s the highest peak in the American Northeast and the most prominent east of the Mississippi River.

Abbreviation: NH
Nickname: “Granite State”
Capital: Concord
Largest City: Manchester
Entered Union: June 21, 1788
Bird: Purple Finch
Flower: Purple Lilac
Tree: White Birch

Celebrities: Daniel Webster, Franklin Pierce, Dan Brown, Salmon P. Chase, Mary Baker Eddy, Horace Greely, Sarah Josepha Hale, Seth Meyers, John Irving, Adam Sandler, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Alan B. Shepard Jr., Christa McAuliffe, e. e. cummings, Tomie dePaola, Robert Frost, J. D. Salinger, Sarah Silverman, Ken Burns, Adam Lanza, David Petraeus, Lewis Cass, Bishop Gene Robinson, Phineas Gage

Sports Teams: None

Indian Tribes: Pennacook and Abenaki. May have been inhabited 10,000 years ago.

Best Known Moments: One of the original 13 Colonies, American Revolution, and industrialization.

Often Associated With: New England, “Live Free or Die,” New Hampshire Primary, NASCAR racing, rich people, skiing, snowmobiles, Dartmouth, gorgeous scenery, Mt. Washington, Peyton Place, farming, Pinkham Notches, Lake Winnipesaukee, Flume Gorge, White Mountains, Shakers, Santa’s Village, Nashua, Concord, Manchester, Mt. Monadnock, maple syrup

30. New Jersey

New Jersey’s Atlantic City is famous for its boardwalk, casinos, and beach as well as is home to the Miss America Pageant. Not only that, but this city inspired the original version of Monopoly and was a 1920s hotspot as seen in Boardwalk Empire. Steve Buscemi’s character was based on Prohibition Era kingpin Enoch “Nucky” Johnson known to run Atlantic City’s political machine as well as had an organization involved in bootlegging, gambling, and prostitution. Like Buscemi’s Nucky, the real Nucky also lived in the Ritz Carlton and had a German valet, too.

Abbreviation: NJ
Nickname: “Garden State”
Capital: Trenton
Largest City: Newark
Entered Union: December 18, 1787
Bird: Eastern Goldfinch
Flower: Purple Violet
Tree: Red Oak, Dogwood

Celebrities: Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Cory Booker, Queen Latifah, Jon Stewart, Jon Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, Buzz Aldrin, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, Joe Pesci, Jason Alexander, Antonin Scalia, Chris Christie, Judy Blume, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Edison, Aaron Burr, Jonathan Edwards, James Gandolfini, Allen Ginsberg, Simon and Garfunkel, Jack Nicholson, Shaquille O’Neal, Dorothy Parker, Wally Schirra, Paul Robeson, Philip Roth, both H. Norman Schwartzkopfs, Martha Stewart, Walt Whitman, Woodrow Wilson, William Carlos Williams, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Danny DeVito, Count Baise, Joan Bennett, Betsy Blair, Zach Braff, Roscoe Lee Brown, Abbott and Costello, Peter Dinklage, Taye Diggs, Jerry Lewis, George Clinton, Jim McGreevey, George R. R. Martin, Michael Douglas, Janet Evanovich, Steve Forbes, Donald Fagen, Vera Farmiga, Barney Frank, Chelsea Handler, Ed Harris, Franco Harris, Paul Krugman, Lauryn Hill, Enoch “Nucky” Johnson, Artie Lange, Mark and Scott Kelly, Dr. Alfred Kinsey, Ernie Kovacs, Jane Krakowski, Larry Kudlow, Nathan Lane, Frank Langella, Ray Liotta, Andrew Napolitano, Alice Paul, Kal Penn, Isaac Redman, Kelly Ripa, Tom Ruegger, Eva Marie Saint, Roy Scheider, Bitty Schram, Joel Silver, Mira Sorvino, Meryl Streep, John Travolta, Paul Volcker, Patrick Warburton, Flip Wilson, Anne Hathaway, Anthony Bourdain, Tom Cruise, William Demarest, Milton Friedman, Valerie Harper, Ethan Hawke, Michelle Malkin, Carl Lewis, Richard Lewis, G. Gordon Liddy, Bill Maher, Brittany Murphy, John C. McGinley, Anna Quindlen, Christopher Reeve, Michelle Rodriguez, Carl Sagan, Susan Sarandon, Bruce Willis, Teresa Wright, Brooke Shields, Robert Blake, Jack Abramoff, Mel Ferrer, Janeane Garoalo, Sterling Hayden, Derek Jeter, Ice T, Richard Kind, Norman Mailer, Daniel Pearl, Dennis Rodman, Dana Reeve, Paul Rudd, Zoe Saldana, Kevin Spacey, Dave Thomas, Alan Alda, Paul Anka, Muhammad Ali, Yogi Berra, George Bensen, Andre Brauger, Mary J. Blige, Connie Chung, Stephen Colbert, Mary Higgins Clark, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Lil’ Kim, Donovan McNabb, Eddie Murphy, Maury Povich, Aidan Quinn, Geraldo Rivera, Chris Rock, Wesley Snipes, Stevie Wonder, Albert Einstein

Sports Teams: New Jersey Devils (NHL), New York Giants and New York Jets (NFL), Rutgers Scarlet Knights, Seton Hall Pirates, and Princeton Tigers (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Lennie-Lenape

Best Known Moments: Part of New York while it was New Netherland, one of the original 13 Colonies, saw battles of Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth during the American Revolution, Atlantic City was a hotspot in the 1920s thanks to the efforts pf Enoch “Nucky” Johnson who made sure Prohibition had no effect there, site of the Hindenburg disaster and Lindbergh baby kidnapping, and Hurricane Sandy.

Often Associated With: Bruce Springsteen, politically engineered traffic jams, corruption, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, rudeness, swearing, Jersey Shore, tanning, Italians, gangsters, Jersey Boys, toxic waste dumps, Delaware River, suburbs, Glacial Lake Passaic, Princeton, crime, organ snatching rabbis, Atlantic City, Monopoly game (all original editions have it modeled after Atlantic City), Miss America Pageant, Menlo Park, multiculturalism, Rutgers, Seton Hall, casino gambling, commuters to Philly or NYC, big hair, shopping malls, pollution, garbage, diners, weirdos, rich people, good schools, intellectuals, the Jersey Shore, Asbury Park, no self-service gas stations, American Hustle, Superfund sites, Jersey accents, “Joisey,” Lindbergh baby kidnapping, Hindenburg disaster, “Oh, the humanity!,” Ocean City, Wildwood, boardwalks, beaches, gambling, Camden, High Point Monument, Palisades, Great Falls of the Passaic River, Delaware Water Gap, rock music, George Washington Bridge, Hurricane Sandy, Newark, the Ritz-Carlton

In my last post, I covered Alabama to Georgia on my series of US States. In this installment, I’ll cover ten more states in this great country from Hawaii to Maryland. First, we’ll go to the tropical Pacific Island of Hawaii known for its active volcanoes,Tiki luaus and hula dances, putting leas on people, Hawaiian shirts, and Pearl Harbor, a day which would live in infamy and would provide the inspiration of a Michael Bay movie destined to become an infamous craptastrophe. Second, it’s off to Idaho best known for its natural wonders and potatoes. Actually it’s better known for its potatoes, but it has a lot of great natural stuff, too. Third, we venture to the land of Lincoln Illinois, home of Chicago, deep dish pizza, an infamous reputation for political corruption, Prohibition Era gangsters, the Sears Tower, and so much more. Then we go to Indiana known as the “other land of Lincoln” as well as the site of the Indianapolis 500, the Colts, Tippecanoe, Notre Dame, Dillinger, and not much else. Seriously, there’s not a lot associated with Indiana. Next, we’re off to Iowa best known for their corn and it being the birthplace of that grossly overrated actor John Wayne (hey, call him a national treasure or cultural icon but I can’t help saying that he seriously sucks in more ways than one). After that, we go to Kansas best associated with its infamous school boards, heated political bloodbaths, Westboro Baptist Church, tornadoes, and The Wizard of Oz. Seriously, I don’t what’s the matter with Kansas these days but at least it’s not the early days when settlers were killing each other over the question of slavery. Then, it’s on to Kentucky place of bluegrass, hard liquor, and the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Next, it’s off to Louisiana famous for New Orleans home to jazz as well as nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. After that, we’re back to New England with Maine best known for beaches, lighthouses, seafood, and a setting for Stephen King novels since he’s from there. Finally, we arrive to Maryland best associated with Edgar Allan Poe, Fort McHenry, the Preakness, and anything pertaining to The Wire.

11. Hawaii

Hawaii has always been seen as an island paradise and an ideal vacation destination. However, keep in mind that this state is prone to stuff like tsunamis, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions. Not to mention, the local wildlife is threatened with introductions of invasive species, too.

Abbreviation: HI
Nickname: “Aloha State”
Capital: Honolulu
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: August 21, 1959
Bird: Nene (Hawaiian Goose)
Flower: Pua Aloala (Yellow Hibscus)
Tree: Kukui (Candle Nut)

Celebrities: Barack Obama, Saint Damien du Veuster (or of Molokai), Daniel K. Inouye, King Kamehamha and his family, Queen Liliuokalani, Bruno Mars, Bette Midler, Roseanne Barr, Robert Ballard, Hiram Bingham III, Richard Chamberlain, Charo, Sanford B. Dole, Nicole Kidman, Ferdinand Marcos, James A. Michener, Arthur Murray, Jim Nabors, Timothy Olymphant, Troy Polamalu, the Kingston Trio, Tom Selleck, Mother Marianne Cope, Duke Kahanamoku

Sports Teams: None

Indian Tribes: Not exactly but it was inhabited by Polynesians and later became a kingdom.

Best Known Moments: Visit by James Cook in 1778, had kingdom until it was deposed by the Sanford B. Dole Fruit Company, annexed as a US territory in the 1890s, and saw the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor in 1941 leading to US entry in WWII.

Often Associated With: flower leas, Hawaiian shirts, lava spurting volcanoes, palm trees, beaches, pineapples, hula dance, grass skirts, coconut bras, Polynesian Natives, surfer dudes, coconuts, Asians, high cost of living, tiki style, roasting pigs, ukuleles, exotic birds, boats, water skiing, tsunamis, tropical climate, Hawaii Five-O, exotic flowers, macadamia nuts, The Descendants, Pro-Bowl, luaus, papayas, Honolulu, Oahu, Maui, Mauna Kea, Mauna Loa, poi, taro, slack-key guitar music, dolphins, sea turtles, jungle, tropical, big waves, Waikiki Beach, windsurfing, waterfalls

12. Idaho

Shoshone Falls is just one of Idaho’s 63 named waterfalls as well as its most famous. Called “Niagra of the West” it’s about 212 ft high (45 ft higher than Niagra Falls) and flows over a rim of 1,000 ft wide. Yet, just because Evel Knievel tried to jump this in 1974, doesn’t mean you should.

Abbreviation: ID
Nickname: “Gem State”
Capital: Boise
Entered Union: July 3, 1890
Largest City: Same
Bird: Mountain Bluebird
Flower: Syringa
Tree: Western White Pine

Celebrities: Lou Dobbs, Ezra Pound, Picabo Street, Lana Turner, Sacagawea, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Larry Craig, Philo Farnsworth, W. Mark Felt, Ernest Hemingway, Chief Joseph, Paul Kruger, Sarah Palin, Aaron Paul

Sports Teams: Boise State Broncos, Idaho Vandals, and Idaho State Bengals (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Nez Perce, Shoshone, Bannock and Coeur d’Alene. May have been inhabited as early as 14,500 years.
Best Known Moments: Lewis and Clark Expedition and Oregon Trail.

Often Associated With: Rocky Mountains, potatoes, Oregon Trail, farming, mountains, snow, skiing, white supremacists, Hells Canyon, closeted senators in bathroom stalls, Shoshone Falls, Lava Hot Springs, Sun Valley, Craters of the Moon, River of No Return Wilderness Area, snowmobiles, Hagerman Fossil Beds

13. Illinois

The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 US Senate Race marked a high point of Abraham Lincoln’s career in Illinois drawing large crowds and intense news coverage. The main issue at hand was slavery and it is here in which Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” Still, despite Lincoln’s outstanding performance, these debates did nothing to increase his chances of being elected to the US Senate, since senators were elected by the state legislature at the time.

Abbreviation: IL
Nickname: “Prairie State”
Capital: Springfield
Largest City: Chicago
Entered Union: December 3, 1818
Bird: Northern Cardinal
Flower: Purple Violet
Tree: White Oak

Celebrities: Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Jesse Jackson, Rahm and Ari Emanuel, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, Ray Bradbury, Roger Ebert, Jane Addams, Saul Bellow, John Belushi, Jack Benny, Harrison Ford, John Deere, Al Capone, Betty Friedan, Benny Goodman, Ulysses S. Grant, Ernest Hemingway, Charlton Heston, Edgar Lee Masters, Bob Newhart, Elliot Ness, Cyrus McCormick, Oscar Mayer, Carl Sandburg, Shel Silverstein, Adlai E. Stevenson, Philip K. Wrigley, Ray Kroc, Mary Astor, Bill Ayers, Black Hawk, Rod Blagojevich, Robert Bloch, James Brady, Gwendolyn Brooks, William Jennings Bryan, Raymond Chandler, Leonard Chess, Chicago, Diablo Cody, Gary Coleman, Elisha Cook Jr., Sam Cooke, Michael Crichton, John and Joan Cusack, Clarence Darrow, Miles Davis, Bruce Dern, John Dewey, Milton Friedman, Bo Diddley, Philip K. Dick, John Dillinger, Walt Disney, Mike Douglas, Stephen A. Douglas, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, Buddy Ebsen, Louis Farrakhan, Enrico Fermi, Marshall Field, Bobby Fischer, Dan Fogelberg, Betty Ford, Bob Fosse, R. Buckminster Fuller, John Wayne Gacy, Jeff Garlin, Mitzi Gaynor, Stephen Glass, Edward Gorey, Billy Graham, Father Andrew Greely, Kathy Griffin, Buddy Guy, Charles J. Guiteau, Daryl Hannah, Hugh Hefner, Lorraine Hansberry, Robert Hanssen, Ben Hecht, Wild Bill Hickok, William Holden, Edwin Hubble, Rock Hudson, Jennifer Hudson, Burl Ives, Rex Ingram, Mae Jemison, Derrick Jensen, Quincy Jones, Ted Kaczynski, Florence Kelley, R. Kelly, Harvey Korman, Alison Krauss, Gene Krupa, Frankie Laine, Carl Laemmle, John Landis, Leopold and Loeb, Mary Todd Lincoln, Robert Todd Lincoln, John A. Logan, Bernie Mac, Fred MacMurray, Michael and Virginia Madsen, Karl Malden, Terrence Malick, Kenneth Mars, Marlee Matlin, Jenny McCarthy, Frances McDormand, Elizabeth McGovern, Roger McGuinn, Donovan McNabb, Rashard Mendenhall, Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, Vincente Minnelli, Bugs Moran, Bill Murray, Baby Face Nelson, Nichelle Nichols, Frank Nitti, Ted Nugent, Catherine O’Leary, Suze Orman, Louella Parsons, Deval Patrick, Mandy Patinkin, Allan Pinkerton, Jeremy Piven, Richard Pryor, George M. Pullman, Aidan Quinn, Harold Ramis, James Earl Ray, Nancy Reagan, John C. Reilly, Marcus Reno, Andy Richter, Jason Robards, Jack Ruby, Lillian Russell, Robert Ryan, Mike Shanahan, Gary Shandling, Michael Shannon, William Shockley, Nate Silver, Patti Smith, Joseph Smith Jr., Gene Siskel, Billy Sunday, Studs Terkel, Johnny Torrio, Dick Van Dyke, Vince Vaughn, Eddie Vedder, Robert Wadlow, Muddy Waters, George Wendt, Betty White, Richard Widmark, Earth, Wind, & Fire, Wilco, George Will, Frances E. Willard, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Woodward, and more than I can include.

Sports Teams: Chicago Bears (NFL), Chicago Cubs an Chicago White Sox (MLB), Chicago Blackhawks (NHL), and Chicago Bulls (NBA)

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture and Illini Confederation. After them came Potawatomi, Miami, Sauk, Ioway, Kickapoo, Mascouten, Piankashaw, Shawnee, Wea, and Winnebago.

Best Known Moments: Northwest Territory, Abraham Lincoln’s pre-presidential career, the Chicago Fire, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, Hull House, clashes with unions and police, Al Capone’s activities during Prohibition, and a lot of corruption scandals.

Often Associated With: Chicago deep dish pizza, political corruption, Sears Tower, Prohibition era gangsters, Great Lakes, Abraham Lincoln, Mississippi River, McDonalds, Oscar Mayer, Chicago Tribune, Wrigley, Sears, John Deere, snow, Chicago, blues music, The Jungle, slaughterhouses, Ohio River, Cubs fans, rudeness, jazz, swearing, Marshalls, Chicago Sun-Times, unions, police brutality, the Pinkertons, Second City, multiculturalism, intellectuals, Oprah, celebrities apparently, a lot of movies and TV shows based in Chicago, WGN, public rail system, Michael Jordan, the World’s Fair, skyscrapers, terrible winters, “Sweet Home, Chicago,” mass fires allegedly started by cows kicking lanterns, green rivers on St. Patrick’s Day, Peoria

14. Indiana

Every Memorial Day weekend, Indiana plays host to the Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The race consists of 200 laps over a 2.5 mile oval course. Though it’s not affiliated with NASCAR, you’re better off spending Memorial weekend watching grass grow, baseball, or golf.

Abbreviation: IN
Nickname: “Hoosier State”
Capital: Indianapolis
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: December 11, 1816
Bird: Cardinal
Flower: Peony
Tree: Tulip Tree

Celebrities: Tecumseh, Tenskwatawa, John Dillinger, Michael Jackson and his family, Larry Bird, Ambrose Burnside, Jim Davis, James Dean, Eugene V. Debs, Carole Lombard, David Letterman, Jeff Gordon, Jane Pauley, John Mellencamp, Dan Quayle, Booth Tarkington, Lew Wallace, Kurt Vonnegut, Ryan White, Tony Stewart, Benjamin Harrison, William Henry Harrison, Cole Porter, Ernie Pyle, Abraham Lincoln, George Rogers Clark, John Pointdexter, Little Turtle, Anne Baxter, Irene Dunne, Brendan Fraser, Karl Malden, Dolores Fuller, Steve McQueen (actor), Sydney Pollack, Twyla Tharp, Forrest Tucker, Clifton Webb, Red Skelton, Axl Rose, David Lee Roth, Hoagy Carmichael, Dick York, Jenna Fischer, Mick Foley, Jared Fogle, Colonel Sanders, Alvah Curtis Roebuck, Orville Redenbacher, John Schattner, Norman Bridwell, Will Shortz, Alfred Kinsey, James D. Watson, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Jimmy Hoffa, Jim Jones, Johnny Ringo, Homer Van Meter
Sports Teams: Indianapolis Colts (NFL), Indiana Pacers (NBA), Indiana Hoosiers, Butler Bulldogs, Indiana State Sycamores, Purdue Boilermakers, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture for a long time and had been inhabited since the end of the Ice Age in 8000 BCE. Adena, Hopewell, Shawnee, Illini, and Miami

Best Known Moments: French and Indian War, Northwest Territory, saw action in the War of 1812 with Tecumseh’s rebellion, the Battle of Tippecanoe, and the Battle of Thames, and John Dillinger’s crime sprees in the 1930s.

Often Associated With: Great Lakes, Ohio River, Mississippi River, Parks and Recreation, Indianapolis 500, Indycar racing, Notre Dame, Hoosiers, farming, suburbs, Muncie, Gary, Blandness, A Christmas Story, averageness, whiteness, white basketball players, “Notre Dame Victory Song,” Papa John’s Pizza, Orville Redenbacher, not much happening, Fort Wayne, Terre Haute, John Dillinger, Tippecanoe

15. Iowa

Iowa was home to the great Depression Era artist Grant Wood (1891-1942) who is best known for his American Gothic painting which has become an iconic image of 20th century American Art. This is a painting of his called Arbor Day which is on its state quarter.

Abbreviation: IA
Nickname: “Hawkeye State”
Capital: Des Moines
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: December 28, 1846
Bird: Eastern Goldfinch
Flower: Wild Rose
Tree: Oak

Celebrities: Bill Bryson, John Wayne, Johnny Carson, William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, George Gallup, Herbert Hoover, Ashton Kutcher, Ann Landers, Abigail Van Buren, Glenn Miller, Cloris Leachman, Lillian Russell, Billy Sunday, Henry Wallace, Kurt Warner, Meredith Wilson, Elijah Wood, Grant Wood, John Wayne Gacy, Black Hawk, Michele Bachman, Bill Daily, Steve Doocy, Mamie Eisenhower, Jim Garrison, Lou Henry Hoover, Lolo Jones, the Lane Sisters, Quashquame, Donna Reed, George Reeves, Ringling Brothers, James Van Allen, Andy Williams

Sports Teams: Iowa State Cyclones and Iowa Hawkeyes (NCAA Div. I).

Indian Tribes: Mississippian culture and the Ioway, Illiniwek, Omaha, Sauk, Dakota, Otoe, Meskwai, and Ho-Chunk all have roots here. Inhabited more than 13,000 years ago. Indians were kicked out with the 1830s Indian Removal.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, clashed with Indians during the War of 1812, 1830s Indian Removal, and results of the Iowa Caucus.

Often Associated With: farming, corn, Field of Dreams, Iowa Caucuses, Midwestness, Mississippi River, State fairs, swing state politics, progressive politics, James T. Kirk, blandness, whiteness, American Gothic, not much happening, Ringling Brothers, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Ames, Waterloo, wheat

16. Kansas

J. Steuart Curry’s 1929 Tornado Over Kansas is basically a depiction of everything we tend to associate Kansas with. I mean Kansas farm families seeking shelter from a tornado during the Great Depression, we’ve heard that before. Of course, if this depicted the Dust Bowl, you probably would’ve thought of Oklahoma. Still, both states were both hit by the Dust Bowl as well as tend to get heavily hit during tornado season.

Abbreviation: KS
Nickname: “Sunflower State”
Capital: Topeka
Largest City: Wichita
Entered Union: January 29, 1861
Bird: Western Medowlark
Flower: Sunflower
Tree: Cottonwood

Celebrities: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, Gwendolyn Brooks, Gordon Parks, Mort Walker, William Burroughs, John Brown, Ed Asner, Kirstie Alley, Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, Bob Dole, Melissa Etheridge, “Wild Bill” Hickok, Buster Keaton, Hattie McDaniel, Oscar Micheaux, Carrie Nation, Langston Hughes, Charlie Parker, Dennis Hopper, Linda Brown, Joe Walsh, Gale Sayers, Barry Sanders, James Naismith, the Koch Brothers, Russell Stover, Walter Chrysler, Dan and Frank Carney, Hugh Beaumont, Louise Brooks, ZaSu Pitts, Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet, Jason Sudeikis, Jim Lehrer, Robert Gates, Gary Hart, Charles Curtis, Kate Richards O’Hare, Arlen Specter, Fred Phelps and family, George Washington Carver, Erin Brockovich, Ann Dunham, Bat Masterson, Kansas

Sports Teams: Kansas State Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Wichita, Plains, Pawnee, Osage, and Otoe. Inhabited since the Ice Age.

Best Known Moments: Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Mexican-American War, Oregon Trail, served as dumping ground for Indian tribes during the 1830s, Bleeding Kansas, Indian Wars, Carrie Nation smashing saloons, Dust Bowl, and Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

Often Associated With: Political bloodbaths in both figurative and literal sense, creationist school boards, tornadoes, The Wizard of Oz, prairies, prairie dogs, Leavenworth, Dodge City, farming, Superman, flatland, cowboys, In Cold Blood, rednecks, demolished trailers, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Russell Stover Candies, Pizza Hut, Westboro Baptist Church, heartland, Plains Indians, bison, Dust Bowl, Wichita, sunflowers, wheat, farming, a lot of trails, “Home on the Range,” cattle ranching, the other Kansas City

17. Kentucky

Each year on the first Saturday in May since 1872, Kentucky plays host to the renown Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs which is the first of the Triple Crown Races. Unlike the Indianapolis 500, this is race is just one lap along a 1 1/4 mile long tract though the broadcast can go on for hours. Still, whoever wins this race will go on to become the horse we all root for to win the Triple Crown (not won since the 1970s) come the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

Abbreviation: KY
Nickname: “Bluegrass State”
Capital: Frankfurt
Largest City: Louisville
Entered Union: June 1, 1792
Bird: Cardinal
Flower: Goldenrod
Tree: Tulip Poplar

Celebrities: Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, the Everly Brothers, Muhammad Ali, Louis Brandeis, Ned Beatty, John C. Breckinridge, George Clooney, Henry Clay, Rosemary Clooney, Jennifer Lawrence, George “Casey” Jones, D. W. Griffith, Mary Todd Lincoln, Carrie Nation, Diane Sawyer, Colonel Sanders, Zachary Taylor, Hunter S. Thompson, Larry Flynt, Helen Thomas, Jim Bowie, Stephen Bishop, Roy Bean, Johnny Depp, Lee Majors, Victor Mature, Patricia Neal, Rob Riggle, William Shatner, Harry Dean Stanton, Jim Varney, Charles Manson, Loretta Lynn, Ricky Skaggs, Cassius Marcellus Clay, Merriwether Lewis Clark Jr., Thomas Merton

Sports Teams: Kentucky Wildcats, WKU Hilltoppers, and Louisville Cardinals (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Shawnee and Cherokee. Kicked out with Indian Removal in the 1830s.

Best Known Moments: Northwest Territory, Trail of Tears, and other events.

Often Associated With: horse racing, Kentucky Derby, Appalachia, bluegrass music, rednecks, moonshine, coal mining, hillbillies, poverty, Ohio River, Lincoln Log Cabin, tobacco, whiskey, pollution, bourbon, NASCAR racing, Mammouth Cave, Cumberland Gap, Bowling Green, Churchill Downs, KFC, drugs, barbecue, Fort Knox, power outages, Cumberland Gap, Ten Commandments display debates, unusually high political candidacy age laws, a not so influential state Supreme Court, railroads, “My Old Kentucky Home,” heart attack inducing food, Lexington, Louisville, gospel music, Red River Gorge, mint juleps, big hats, Quaker State 400, blue-skinned people, pollution

18. Louisiana

In New Orleans, Louisiana, jazz is a music tradition that’s played on all sorts of occasions. This painting depicts a New Orleans jazz funeral in which the traditional somber music is replaced with loud, upbeat, raucous music and dancing celebrating the deceased’s life. “When the Saints Go Marching In” is usually a standard tune at these.

Abbreviation: LA
Nickname: “Pelican State”
Capital: Baton Rouge
Largest City: New Orleans
Entered Union: April 30, 1812
Bird: Brown Pelican
Flower: Magnolia
Tree: Bald Cypress

Celebrities: Huey Long, Peyton and Eli Manning, Terry Bradshaw, Dr. John, Tennessee Williams, Louie Armstrong, Judah P. Benjamin, Ellen DeGeneres, Fats Domino, Lillian Hellman, Braxton Bragg, Kate Chopin, P. G. T. Beauregard, Harry Connick Jr., Wynton Marsalis, Leonidas K. Polk, Anne Rice, Bill Russell, Tim McGraw, Britney Spears, Buddy Guy, Truman Capote, Jim Garrison, Clay Shaw, James Carville, Ryan Clark, Patricia Clarkson, David Duke, Iron Eyes Cody, Mahalia Jackson, Bobby Jindal, Jean Lafitte, Dorothy Lamour, John Larroquette, Lead Belly, Jared Leto, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lil’ Wayne, Jelly Roll Morton, Aaron Neville, Randy Newman, Lee Harvey Oswald, Sister Helen Prejean, Pee Wee Reese, Cokie Roberts, Steven Soderbergh, Kordell Stewart, Jimmy Swaggart, David Vitter, Mike Wallace (football player), Lester Young, Buckwheat Zydeco

Sports Teams: New Orleans Saints (NFL), New Orleans Pelicans (NBA), and LSU Tigers (NCAA Div. I).

Indian Tribes: Mississippian, Marksville, Baytown, Plaquemine, and Fourche Maine cultures for some time. Natchez, Natchitoches, Atchafalaya, Caddo, Choctaw, Tunica, Chitimacha, Chawash, Houma, Tangipahoa, and Avoyel.

Best Known Moments: Accepted Acadian refugees kicked out of their homeland during the French and Indian War, Louisiana Purchase, the Battle of New Orleans, Civil War New Orleans occupation, Hurricane Katrina, and BP Oil Spill as well as other disasters.

Often Associated With: hurricanes, jazz, blues, crime, poverty, Mardis Gras, Creoles, New Orleans, corruption, gumbo, Mississippi River, levees, Mississippi Delta, zydeco, Cajun, French building styles, ibis, A Streetcar Named Desire, egrets, multiculturalism, flooding, raised graves, swamp, ethnic music, Iseno, mosquitos, frogs, crocodiles, French Quarter, The Big Easy, Southern Gothic Literature, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” voodoo, bounty payments to football players, gospel music, blues

19. Maine

Maine is well known for its jagged rocky coastline and lighthouses that create picturesque scenery that attracts many tourists and filmmakers. A lot of movies set in New England often feature a jagged coast like Maine’s.

Abbreviation: ME
Nickname: “Pine Tree State”
Capital: Augusta
Largest City: Portland
Entered Union: March 15, 1820
Bird: Black-Capped Chicadee
Flower: White Pine Cone and Tassle
Tree: Eastern White Pine

Celebrities: Stephen King, Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, L. L. Bean, Margaret Chase Smith, Patrick Dempsey, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edmund Muskie, E. B. White, Dorthea Dix, John Ford, Gladys George, Anna Kendrick, David E. Kelley, Olympia Snowe, John O’Hurley, Nelson Rockefeller, Andrew Wyeth

Sports Teams: None

Indian Tribes: Wabanki, Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, and Penobscot. Wiped out by wars and smallpox.

Best Known Moments: Part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony until statehood and home of the 20th Maine led by Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain who defended Little Round Top during the Battle of Gettysburg.

Often Associated With: lighthouses, seashores, Stephen King novels, evergreen forests, Hawkeye Pierce, L. L. Bean, Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, boats, lumberjacks, snowmobiles, New England, gorgeous scenery, snow, skiing, rocky cliffs, lobster, seafood

20. Maryland

It was in Maryland where Francis Scott Key wrote down the words to “The Star Spangled Banner” after witnessing the battle of Fort McHenry while a prisoner on British ship during the War of 1812. In 1931, those lyrics would become the US national anthem and have been butchered at sporting events ever since.

Abbreviation: MD
Nickname: “Old Line State,” “Free State”
Capital: Annapolis
Largest City: Baltimore
Entered Union: April 28, 1788
Bird: Baltimore Oriole
Flower: Black-Eyed Susan
Tree: White Oak

Celebrities: Babe Ruth, Frederick Douglass, Michael Phelps, Edgar Allan Poe, David Simon, Barry Levinson, John Waters, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, H. L. Mencken, Ogden Nash, Francis Scott Key, Charles Wilson Peale, Upton Sinclair, Roger B. Taney, Harriet Tubman, Montel Williams, Tom Clancy, Benjamin Banneker, Bishop John Carroll, Spiro Agnew, Cal Ripken Jr., Charles Joseph Bonaparte, Thurgood Marshall, Nancy Pelosi, William Paca, Sergeant Shriver, Michael Steele, Rachel Carson, Carl Bernstein, James M. Cain, Connie Chung, Dashiell Hammett, Zora Neale Hurston, Leon Uris, Toni Braxton, Cab Calloway, Billie Holliday, Joan Jett, Frank Zappa, David Hasselhoff, Lewis Black, Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, Goldie Hawn, Divine, Kathie Lee Gifford, Ira Glass, William H. Macy, Mo’Nique Imes Jackson, Edward Norton, Spike Jonze, Martin Lawrence, Sylvester Stallone, Debra Monk, Parker Posey, Jada Pinkett Smith, Pete Sampras, Stephen Decatur, Matthew Henson, Alger Hiss, Samuel Mudd, Johns Hopkins, George Peabody, Ben Stein, Noel “Paul” Stookey

Sports Teams: Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins (NFL), and Baltimore Orioles (MLB)

Indian Tribes: Nanticoke, Piscataway, and Susquehannock.

Best Known Moments: Its founding by Lord Baltimore as a haven for English Catholics, one of the original 13 Colonies, American Revolution, Father John Carroll appointed first American Catholic Bishop, Battle of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, early life of Frederick Douglass, Battle of Antietam during the American Civil War, and the Camp David Accords.

Often Associated With: inner city drug wars, The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, Hairspray, crabs, Ravens fans, Chesapeake Bay, harbor, boats, inner city conditions, Baltimore, Edgar Allan Poe, Camp David, beaches, Ocean City, seafood, Inner Harbor, U. S. Naval Academy, B & O Railroad, Mason-Dixon Line, The Baltimore Sun, Johns Hopkins University, Preakness Stakes, Fort McHenry

The United States is a large country with a lot of interesting places, cultures, and people to see. Yet, what many outside the country forget that it’s a union of states each with its own history and characteristics. I mean we Americans don’t even talk or look the same way. Heck, we can’t all agree how to pronounce the word “aunt” correctly (my take: the “u” is silent.) Still, in this five part series, I’ll go over what each state has to offer, who inhabited the place before Europeans arrived, their resident sports teams, their best known moments in history, and people from there who became famous. However, here are a few pointers:

State sports teams usually consist of best known in the state everyone knows about whether they be college or professional.

Just because a celebrity is listed as being from that particular state doesn’t mean he or she was necessarily born or died there. It just means that he or she is associated with that state a lot whether they were born, died, grew up there, live there, or have a house there. Also, to be a celebrity listed one needs to achieve some sort of lasting fame or the fact everyone knows or should know about them.

Celebrities can consist of any famous person, not just the people known as “celebrities.”
State Indian Tribes usually consist of the Indian groups that inhabited the state before Europeans came along.

Best known moments include stuff that most people would know from American history from either their textbook or the media, not necessarily history just people from that state would know.

In this selection, we’ll explore what many call the birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement, good ol’ Alabama. However, contrary to “Sweet Home Alabama,” we must remember that the original members of Lynyrd Skynyrd are actually from Florida. Second, we venture to the great state of the North Alaska which many would associate with its diverse arctic wildlife and beautiful mountain ranges as well as its onetime bitch of a governor who could see Russia from her house. Third, we go to the desert Grand Canyon state of Arizona known for the Gunfight at the O. K. Corral as well as illegal immigration laws that encourage racial profiling. Then, we go to the Appalachian mountain state of Arkansas famous for Wal-Mart, Bill Clinton, Johnny Cash, and offensive stereotypes. Next, it’s off to the great state of California, famous for Hollywood and gorgeous scenery as well as it’s interesting vast population that many call the Cereal State because they believe consists of fruits, nuts, and flakes. Then it’s on to Colorado whose unofficial anthem seems to now be John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High,” partly because of it’s high elevation (hint: its lowest point is higher than the highest point of my home state Pennsylvania) and the fact that pot is basically legal making some of the song lyrics to that famed John Denver song unintentionally hilarious. Next, it’s off to Connecticut known for Yale, Mark Twain, it’s discrimination of non-WASPs in their suburban communities during the 1940s as depicted in Gentleman’s Agreement, and the fact many celebrities live there for some reason. Then there’s Delaware known for being the first state to ratify the constitution, a haven for corporations, and not much else. After that is Florida where many people either venture for vacation or to retire as well as Disney World, Miami, and racist “Stand Your Ground Laws.” Finally, we have the state of Georgia home of Ted Turner as well as where General William Tecumseh Sherman marched to the sea in Gone With the Wind.

1. Alabama

Alabama is known as the home of famous African American scientist George Washington Carver who pioneered alternative crops to cotton for poorer farms such as peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, and yams. He contributed most of his life’s work while a professor at the Tuskegee Institute. Still, this doesn’t help that most people know him today as “the peanut guy.”

Abbreviation: AL

Nickname: “Heart of Dixie,” “Camellia State”
Capital: Montgomery
Largest City: Birmingham
Entered Union: December 14, 1819
Bird: Yellowhammer, Wild Turkey
Flower: Camellia, Oak-Leaf Hydrangea
Tree: Longleaf Pine

Celebrities: Hank Aaron, Harper Lee, George Washington Carver, Booker T. Washington, Helen Keller, George C. Wallace, Willie Mays, Hugo Black, Jesse Owens, Coretta Scott King, Hank Williams, Rosa Parks, Lionel Richie, Charles Barkley, Tallulah Bankhead, Werner von Braun, Jimmy Buffett, Truman Capote, Nat King Cole, Angela Davis, Louise Fletcher, Emmylou Harris, Evander Holyfield, Zora Neale Hurston, Bo Jackson, Mae Jemison, Martin Luther King Jr., Carl Lewis, Joe Louis, Jim Nabors, Terrell Owens, Satchel Paige, Wilson Pickett, Condoleezza Rice, Zelda Fitzgerald, Fred Thompson, Jimmy Wales,

Sports Teams: The University of Alabama Crimson Tide (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Creek, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Alabama, Koati, and Choctaw, according to the Spanish accounts of the early 1500s. Most of these would be forced out west by with the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s. Had Mississippian culture in most of the state for about 500 years.

Best Known Moments: The Louisiana Purchase, the Trail of Tears in the 1830s, the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, site of the Scotsboro Boys scandal, headquarters for the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII, and the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott sparked by Rosa Parks as well as other demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement, especially in Birmingham and Selma.

Often Associated With: cotton, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, rednecks, Skynyrd fans, Southern Rock, “Sweet Home Alabama,” Lynyrd Skynyrd (despite being from Florida), rocketry, Huntsville, Mobile, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead.,” NASCAR Racing, To Kill a Mockingbird, racism, lynching, Mississippi River, Tuskegee Airmen, Montgomery, Birmingham, hogging college football state championships

2. Alaska

Alaska is renown for its gorgeous scenery and diverse wildlife now under threat by human activity and global warming. This painting depicts grizzly bears catching salmon from the river with the seagulls waiting for leftovers and a bald eagle soaring high.

Abbreviation: AK
Nickname: “The Last Frontier”
Capital: Juneau
Largest City: Anchorage
Entered Union: January 3, 1959
Bird: Willow Ptarmigan
Flower: Forget-Me-Not
Tree: Sitka Spruce

Celebrities: Jewel (Kilcher), Sarah Palin, Valerie Plame Wilson, Bob Ross, Robert Stroud

Sports Teams: None.

Indian Tribes: Tinglit, Haida, Aleut, Inuit, Y’upik, Alutiiq, Inupiat, and Athabascan. Many of these are actually still living in their native region. Was the first stop of the Bering Strait people about 13,000 years ago.

Best Known Moments: Bering Strait Crossing 13,000 years ago, its purchase from Russia by William Seward in 1867, Klondike Gold Rush in 1896, 1925 Serum Run, Trans-Alaskan Pipeline construction during the 1970s, and Exxon-Valdez Oil Spill.

Often Associated With: Sarah Palin, oil, the Iditarod, polar bears, Northern Lights, moose, tundra and polar wilderness, wild frontiers, winter, glaciers, Totem poles, sled dog racing, Northern Exposure, caribou, Eskimos, huskies, igloos, puffins, bush pilots, aerial wolf hunting, “Bridge to Nowhere,” 24 hours of sunshine in summers, 24 hours of darkness in winters, glaciers, melting ice caps, oil spills, the Arctic, Denali, ANWAR, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Glacier Bay, hunting, weirdos, the Klondike, seals

3. Arizona

Arizona is home to the Grand Canyon which is one of the more famous national parks of the United States. It is 277 miles long and up to 18 miles wide with a depth of over a mile. It’s also known to be about 2 billion years old.

Abbreviation: AZ
Nickname: “Grand Canyon State”
Capital: Phoenix
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: February 14, 1912
Bird: Cactus Wren
Flower: Saguaro Blossom
Tree: Palo Verde

Celebrities: Cochise, Alice Cooper, Geronimo, Gabrielle Giffords, Barry Goldwater, Zane Grey, Linda Ronstadt, John McCain, Frank Lloyd Wright, Sandra Day O’Connor, Cesar Chavez, Steven Spielberg, Stevie Nicks, Pat Tillman, Ira Hayes, Glenn Campbell, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, Wyatt Earp and his brothers, “Doc” Holliday, Joe Arpaio

Sports Teams: Arizona Cardinals (NFL), Phoenix Suns (NBA), Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB), Arizona Coyotes (NHL).

Indian Tribes: Anasazi, Mogollon, and Hohokam between c. 300 BCE to 1300. Navajo and Apache in the 15th century. Sobaipuri who were there since who knows when.

Best Known Moments: Stop during the Francisco Coronado expedition in the 1500s, Mexican American War, Apache Wars, Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, site of Japanese Internment camps in WWII, and the Tucson shooting.

Often Associated With: Southwest Indians, unfair laws related to targeting Hispanics on suspicion of illegal immigration, canyons, desert, cowboys, cattle, Mexicans, country music, the Grand Canyon, cacti, mesa, Petrified Forest, coyotes, ranches, Indian ruins, Tombstone, Spanish missions, Biosphere 2, London Bridge, Tempe, Yuma, Glen Canyon, Meteor Crater at Winslow, Tuscon, controversial sheriffs with questionable ideas about law enforcement, adobes, “The Grand Canyon Waltz,” Rocky Mountains, Continental Divide

4. Arkansas

Edward Washburn’s 1858 The Arkansas Traveler depicts a wealthy farmer with a family of squatters. However, this painting is an icon of how many perceive Arkansas as a bunch of shiftless hillbillies which isn’t helped by the state suffering a racial stigma from the American Civil War which helped lead to the Little Rock Nine.

Abbreviation: AR
Nickname: “The Natural State,” “The Razorback State”
Capital: Little Rock
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: June 15, 1836
Bird: Mockingbird
Flower: Apple Blossom
Tree: Pine

Celebrities: Sam Walton, Bill Clinton, Chelsea Clinton, Daisy Bates, Glen Campbell, Johnny Cash, John Grisham, Levon Helm, Douglas MacArthur, Scottie Pippen, Al Green, Billy Bob Thornton, James William Fullbright, Maya Angelou, Alan Ladd, Helen Gurley Brown, Charles Portis, Mike Huckabee, Eldridge Cleaver, Bill Hicks

Sports Teams: The University of Arkansas Razorbacks (NCAA Div. I Football)

Indian Tribes: Caddo, Quapaw, Osage, Cherokee, and Choctaw most of them forced out west by the 1830s Indian Removal Act.

Best Known Moments: Visits by Hernando de Soto, Jacques Marquette, Louis Jolliet, and Robert La Salle, the Louisiana Purchase, 1830s Trail of Tears, and the Little Rock Nine of 1957.

Often Associated With: Wal Mart, rednecks, bluegrass music, country music, racism, hillbillies, the Ozarks, Mississippi River, moonshine, Appalachia, Little Rock

5. California

Of course, California is a state of many diverse wealth and beauty. Yet, it’s best remembered as the home of Hollywood which has been the film capital of the world for generations. Here is a painting of an assortment of iconic Old Hollywood screen legends we all knew and love throughout the ages.

Abbreviation: CA
Nickname: “Golden State”
Capital: Sacramento
Largest City: Los Angeles
Entered Union: September 9, 1850
Bird: California Valley Quail
Flower: California Poppy
Tree: California Redwood

Celebrities: Gregory Peck, Clint Eastwood, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Harvey Milk, Cesar Chavez, George Takei, Tom Brady, Robert Redford, Beck, Julia Child, Carson Daly, Iva Toguri D’Aquino (a. k. a. “Tokyo Rose”), Cameron Crowe, Jeremy Renner, Keri Russell, Diane Keaton, Huey Lewis, Eva Longoria, Keb’ Mo,’ Kevin Costner, Oscar De La Hoya, Bo Derek, Laura Dern, Robert Duvall, John Cage, Ed Begley Jr., Leonardo DiCaprio, Joe DiMaggio, Tom Hanks, Jack London, Bret Harte, William Randolph Hearst, John C. Fremont, Steve Jobs, Angelina Jolie, Monica Lewinsky, Maroon 5, Will Ferrell, Mel Blanc, John Sutter, Andy Samberg, Walt Stack, Leland Stanford Jr., Gwen Stefani, Chuck Yeager, George Lucas, Jenifer Aniston, Green Day, Tyra Banks, Marilyn Monroe, John Muir, Gwenyth Paltrow, George S. Patton Jr., Nancy Pelosi, Sally Ride, William Saroyan, John Steinbeck, Levi Strauss, Phil Mickelson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Father Junipero Serra, Shirley Temple, Danielle Steele, David Strathairn, Earl Warren, the Williams Sisters, Barry Bonds, Jeff Bridges and family, Josh Brolin and dad, Lindsey Buckingham, Nicholas Cage, the Carradines, the Barrymores, Sasha Cohen, Tiger Woods, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and his brothers, Isadora Duncan, Sally Field, Sean Astin, Peggy Fleming, Jodie Foster, Tim Burton, James Franco, Cher, Robert Frost, Dian Fossey, Merle Haggard, Daniel Handler (a.k.a. Lemony Snicket), Thomas Kinkade, Bruce Lee, Jeff Gordon, Randy Newman, Danny Glover, Jason Giambi, Margaret Cho, Bryan Cranston, James Cromwell, David Crosby, Ice Cube, Cameron Diaz, Creedence Clearwater Revival, the Beach Boys, O. J. Simpson, Charles R. Schwab, Darryl Strawberry, Amy Tan, Natalie Wood, Kristi Yamaguchi, Steve Wozniack, Gene Hackman, Patty Hearst, Jonah Hill, John Williams, Flogging Molly, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Guns N’ Roses, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mark Sanchez, Jason Schwartzman, Harry Shearer, Josh Groban, Jefferson Airplane, Dr. Dre, Bob Hope, Domencio “Domingo” Ghirardelli Sr., Steve Martin, Johnny Mathis, Buck Owens, Carlos Santanna, Dustin Hoffman, the Hustons, Metallica, Mark McGwire, Helen Hunt, Etta James, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Marion Jones, Ashley Judd, Pauline Kael, Michelle Kwan, Weird Al, the Doors, Gloria Grahame, Lynn Swann, Farley Granger, Van Halen, Billie Jean King, Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Yashiro Ishimoto, Janet Leigh, Jamie Lee Curtis, George Lopez, Courtney Love, Willie McCool, Audra McDonald, Robert McNamara, Liza Minnelli, Edward James Olmos, Sam Peckinpah, Sean Penn, Michael Richards, Tim Robbins, Aaron Rodgers, Pete Rozelle, Tony Romo, Jon Lovitz, the Coppolas, Rube Goldberg, the Grateful Dead, Marcus Benjamin, Michael Bay, Herb Alpert, Ansel Adams, Reggie Bush, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Jason Segel, Tupac Shakur, Richard Sherman, Robert Stack and many more I can’t include right now.

Sports Teams: Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and San Francisco 49ers (NFL), Oakland Athletics, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and San Diego Padres (MLB), Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, and Sacramento Kings (NBA), Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks (NHL), and UCLA Bruins and USC Trojans (NCAA Div. I Football and Basketball).

Indian Tribes: Inhabited by over 70 tribes and was one of the most diverse regions of Pre-Columbian America

Best Known Moments: Mexican-American War, Fremont Expedition, California Gold Rush of 1849, Compromise of 1850, The Donner Party Incident, Asian discrimination, mass migration in the 20th century due to Hollywood and the Great Depression, San Francisco Earthquake, Japanese Interment during WWII, lots of demonstrations, and other events

Often Associated With: liberals, hippies, stoners, Hollywood, celebrities, rich people, pop culture, Valley girls, surfer dudes, burnouts, weirdos, hipsters, Silicon Valley, gays, Latinos, Spanish Missions, desert, Redwood Forests, tree huggers, intellectuals, earthquakes, New Agers, wine, LA, cowboys, gold, Yosemite National Park, Death Valley, LAPD, race riots, illegal immigrants, pot, computer geeks, Asians, prison overcrowding, multiculturalism, water shortages, wildfires, a lot of TV shows and movies I can’t even count, Los Angeles Times, the Golden Gate Bridge, beach, hipsters, suburbs, cacti, Frisco, film noir, San Francisco Bay, Berkeley, San Diego, San Andreas Fault, homeless people, traffic congestion, smog, expensive real estate, Hollywood, urban hellscapes, gorgeous scenery, yuppies, Disneyland, Mojave Desert, Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, bikers, Alcatraz, fancy houses, San Francisco Chronicle, gang wars, ghost towns, serial killers, military bases, Sonoran Desert, Sequoia, Bristlecone Pines, the Joshua Tree, Mill Valley, Rose Bowl Parade, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Kings Canyon, Redwood National Park, Lassen Volcanic, Long Beach, Oakland, Monterrey, San Jose, volcanoes, drought, Stanford

6. Colorado

Pikes Peak is one of Colorado’s best known places of natural beauty in the Rocky Mountains. Though discovered by a man named Zebulon Pike Jr. in 1806, it was this mountain that helped inspire Kathie Lee Bates to write “America the Beautiful.”

Abbreviation: CO
Nickname: “Centennial State”
Capital: Denver
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: August 1, 1876
Bird: Lark Bunting
Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
Tree: Colorado Blue Spruce

Celebrities: Tim Allen, Molly Brown, M. Scott Carpenter, Mamie Eisenhower, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Lon Chaney Sr., the South Park Guys, Don Cheadle, Antoinette Perry, Gordon Cooper, Kalpana Chawla, Jack Dempsey, John Elway, Lowell Thomas, Dalton Trumbo, Karl Rove, Adam McKay, Gary Hart, Temple Grandin , William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody

Sports Teams: Denver Broncos (NFL), Denver Nuggets (NBA), Colorado Rockies (MLB), and Colorado Avalanche (NHL)

Indian Tribes: Ancient Pueblo Peoples lived between 11200 to 3000 BCE, Ute, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Apache, and Comanche.

Best Known Moments: Zebulun Pike Expedition, Mexican American War, Indian Wars, Colorado Silver Boom, and two mass shootings at Columbine and Aurora.

Often Associated With: Rocky Mountains, high elevation, pot, stoners, hipsters, health nuts, hippies, outdoors stuff, desert, wilderness, John Denver, “Rocky Mountain High,” Continental Divide, snowcap mountains, multiculturalism, weirdos, New Agers, suburbs, hipsters, canyons, Indian ruins, South Park, cowboys, pioneers, tree huggers, Pikes Peak, skiing, Denver, Red Rocks Park, Black Canyon, Colorado Springs, Mesa Verde, Aspen, Grand Mesa, Cripple Creek, getting high, Columbine, Aurora

7. Connecticut

Like a lot of places in New England Connecticut is well known for its picturesque scenery and towns with fixtures like barns and steeple churches. Kind of explains why so many celebrities tend to live there.

Abbreviation: CT
Nickname: “Constitution State,” “Nutmeg State”
Capital: Hartford
Largest City: Bridgeport
Entered Union: January 9, 1788
Bird: American Robin
Flower: Mountain Laurel
Tree: Charter White Oak

Celebrities: Katharine Hepburn, Ethan Allen, P. T. Barnum, Mark Twain, Suzanne Collins, J. P. Morgan, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, Charles Dow, Jackie Robinson, Eli Whitney, Noah Webster, Ralph Nader, Norman Lear, Seth MacFarlane, Cordell Hull, Robert Mitchum, Nathan Hale, Charles Ives, Roger Sherman, Christopher Walken, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Richard Belzer, Ernest Borgnine, Kevin Bacon, Ed Begley, Art Carney, Glenn Close, Paul Giamatti, Elia Kazan, Matt Lauer, David Letterman, Christopher Lloyd, Israel Putnam, Frederick March, John Ratzenberger, Rosiland Russell, Kyra Sedgwick, Ed Sullivan, Sam Waterson, Walter Camp, Bruce Jenner, William F. Buckley Jr., Charlotte Perkins Gillman, Madeleine L’ Engle, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Philip Roth, Maurice Sendak, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wallace Stevens, Samuel Colt, Charles Goodyear, Martha Stewart, Ann Coulter, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, Andy Rooney, Benedict Arnold, John Brown, 50 Cent, Leonard Bernstein, Dave Brubeck, Michael Bolton, the Carpenters, Dean Acheson, Henry Kissinger, Lyman Hall, Joe Lieberman, Clare Boothe Luce, Gideon Welles, Jonathan Edwards, Helen Keller, Alfred P. Sloan, John Trumbull, Frederick Law Olmstead, Glen Beck, Phil Donahue, Igor Sikorsky, Anne Baxter, Marilyn Chambers, Michael J. Fox, Justin Long, Ted Knight, Dylan McDermott, Wally Lamb, Annie Leibowitz, Robert Ludlum, Stephanie Meyer, Arthur Miller, Ida Tarbell, Oliver Wolcott

Sports Teams: UConn Huskies (NCAA Div. I Basketball), Quinnipac University Bobcats (NCAA Div. I Basketball and Hockey), Yale Bulldogs (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Mohegan, Pequot, Paugusetts, and others. Probably died from war and small pox.

Best Known Moments: One of the original 13 Colonies, American Revolution, Discrimination in suburban communities in the 20th century, and school shooting at Newtown.

Often Associated With: Yale, rich people, New England, intellectuals, suburbs, old money, picturesque countryside, lighthouses, seaside, sailboats, small farms, Gentlemen’s Agreement, celebrities apparently, Bridgeport, Gillette Castle, New Haven, harbors, golfing, covered bridges, Darien, Waterbury, steeple churches, spoiled prep school kids, Newtown

8. Delaware

“Recruiting Peter Stuyvesant’s Army for the Recapture of Fort Casimir,” is an 1838 paining by Albertus Del Orient Browere. Of course, many don’t know that Delaware used to belong to the Dutch West India Company before the Brits seized it during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Of course, Fort Casmir was later renamed New Castle and its still that way today.

Abbreviation: DE
Nickname: “First State,” “Diamond State”
Capital: Dover
Largest City: Wilmington
Entered Union: December 7, 1787
Bird: Blue Hen Chicken
Flower: Peach Blossom
Tree: American Holly

Celebrities: Joe Biden, Victor Marie DuPont, Thomas McKean, Dr. Oz, Ryan Philippe, Caesar Rodney, Aubrey Plaza, George Thorogood, Johnny Weir, John Dickinson, Anne Rogers Clark, Teri Polo, Judge Reinhold

Sports Teams: Delaware Fightn’ Blue Hens and Delaware State Hornets (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: The Lenni Lenape or the Delaware and the Nanticoke. Probably wiped out by war and smallpox

Best Known Moments: Henry Hudson expedition of 1609, one of the original 13 Colonies, the American Revolution, and once part of Pennsylvania as well as was the first state to ratify the constitution.

Often Associated With: rich people, pro-business environment, corporation haven, rail and bus transportation for senators, ferry boats, lighthouses, DuPont, Wilmington, Dover, Old Swedes Holy Trinity Church, New Castle, beaches, Delaware River, NASCAR racing, Combat Zone Wrestling, not much else

9. Florida

Florida’s Everglades are tropical wetlands and the largest tropical wilderness of the US and largest wilderness of any kind east of the Mississippi. It was made a National Park to support a fragile ecosystem that’s home to 36 threatened species, 350 kinds of birds, 300 species of fish, 40 species of mammals, and 50 species of reptiles. Yet, even its natural park status doesn’t prevent this swamp of beauty from suffering environmental duress.

Abbreviation: FL
Nickname: “Sunshine State”
Capital: Tallahassee
Largest City: Jacksonville
Entered Union: March 3, 1845
Bird: Northern Mockingbird
Flower: Orange Blossom
Tree: Sabal Palmetto

Celebrities: Jeb Bush, Osceola, Janet Reno, Tom Petty, Perez Hilton, Wayne Brady, Johnny Depp, Faye Dunaway, Ray Charles, Sidney Poitier, Bob Ross, Mickey Rourke, Rick Sanchez, Wesley Snipes, Bob Vila, Zora Neale Hurston, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lil’ Wayne, Debbie Harry, Jim Morrison, Vanilla Ice, Enrique Inglesias, Dante Culpepper, Chris Evert, Hulk Hogan, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, Ray Lewis, Chad Ochocinco, Alex Rodriguez, Deion Sanders, Maria Sharapova, Emmit Smith, Tim Tebow, Charles E. Merrill, A. Philip Randolph, William H. Macy, Daniel Tosh, Charles E. Merrill, Pat Boone, The Allman Brothers Band, Andy Garcia, Julio Inglesias, Dave Barry, Jeff Lindsay, Jimmy Wales

Sports Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Bay Bucaneers, and Miami Dolphins (NFL), Miami Heat and Orlando Magic (NBA), Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins (MLB), Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL), Florida State Seminoles, Florida Gators, and Miami Hurricanes (NCAA Div. I, particularly football)

Indian Tribes: Apalachee, Timucua, Ais, Tocobaga, Callusa, and Tequesta at least by the time Juan Ponce de Leon was there. Seminoles actually came there in the 19th century when driven off their ancestral lands.

Best Known Moments: First contact with Europeans through Juan Ponce de Leon, US clash with the Seminoles, Bush v. Gore, a series of hurricanes and a lot of crime stories including the Casey Anthony trial and the Trayvon Martin killing.

Often Associated With: swamp, Disney World, senior citizens, rednecks, weirdos, the Everglades, Miami, Dexter, psycho killers, beaches, alligators, unbearable heat, hurricanes, weirdos, old retired Jews, Cubans, mosquitoes, strip clubs, NASA, Cape Canaveral, racist “Stand Your Ground” laws, Orlando, Key West, sunshine, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens, colorful houses, suburbs, Jimmy Buffet fans, NASCAR racing, swing state politics, Bush v. Gore, hippies, pro-wrestling, trailer parks, tornadoes, oranges, palm trees, marlins, manatees, motorboats, water skis, tourism, Daytona Beach, Miami Beach, Florida panther, multiculturalism, Hawaiian shirts, golfing, exotic birds, herons, tabloid magazines, Sarasota, Pensacola, St. Augustine,  Jacksonville, Tampa Bay, Miami Herald, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Panama City, Tebowing, annoying Christian football players, Daytona Beach, Daytona 500, Southern Rock, St. Petersburg, Black Seminoles, subtropical to tropical settings, crocodiles, cypress trees

10. Georgia

Callaway Gardens is a family resort area in Georgia as well as a National Historic Landmark. Founded by a couple who wanted to save a rare species of Azaela as well as play host to other native plants, the gardens include a number of lakes, golf courses, scenic drive, an enclosed butterfly habitat, hiking trails, a horticultural center, a butterfly center and so much more. Pictured here is the Ida Cason Callaway Memorial Chapel which must play host to a lot of weddings.

Abbreviation: GA
Nickname: “Empire State of the South,” “Peach State”
Capital: Atlanta
Largest City: Same
Entered Union: January 2, 1788
Bird: Brown Thrasher
Flower: Cherokee Rose
Tree: Live Oak

Celebrities: Jimmy Carter, Ty Cobb, Ray Charles, Margaret Mitchell, Juliette Gordon Low, “Doc” Holliday, Gladys Knight, Little Richard, John C. Fremont, Joel Chandler Harris, Larry Holmes, Holly Hunter, Flannery O’Connor, Otis Redding, Burt Reynolds, Julia Roberts, Jackie Robinson, Ryan Seacrest, Clarence Thomas, Alice Walker, Joanne Woodward, Martin Luther King Jr., the Allman Brothers, Atlanta Rhythm Section, Lee Atwater, Andre 3000, Mary J. Blige, Mel Blount, James Brown, Reggie Brown, Luke Bryan, Rosalynn Carter, Mark David Chapman, Ossie Davis, Paula Deen, Pretty Boy Floyd, Jeff Foxworthy, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Grace, Cee Lo Green, Nathaniel Greene, Button Gwinnett, Todd Haley, Lyman Hall, Oliver Hardy, Hulk Hogan, Ed Helms, Bill Hicks, Sterling Holloway, Bobby Jones, Stacy Keach, Deforest Kelley, Spike Lee, Lil’ Jon, James Longstreet, Ludacris, William H. Macy, Jack McBrayer, Blind Willie Mc Tell, Johnny Mercer, Elijah Muhammad, Deborah Norville, Terrell Owens, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, Kanye West, George Foster Peabody, Tyler Perry, Ma Rainey, Jeannette Rankin, Sugar Ray Robinson, Dean Rusk, Soulja Boy, Alexander Stephens, Chris Tucker, Hines Ward, Woodrow Wilson, Miriam Hopkins

Sports Teams: Atlanta Braves (MLB), Atlanta Hawks (NBA), Atlanta Falcons (NFL), Georgia Bulldogs and Georgia Yellow Jackets (NCAA Div. I)

Indian Tribes: Inhabited by Mississippian Mound Building culture. By European contact the Creek, Cherokee, and Yamasee prior to being kicked out with the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s.

Best Known Moments: Founding by James Ogelthorpe as debtor colony, one of the original 13 Colonies, American Revolution, Trail of Tears, aw Civil War battles of Chickamauga, Kenneshaw Mountain, and Atlanta as well as Sherman’s March to the Sea and Andersonville, and hosted the 1996 Olympics.

Often Associated With: slavery, cotton, Gone with the Wind, CNN, Ted Turner, “Georgia On My Mind,” rednecks, plantations, rich Southerners, Savannah, Atlanta, very loose gun laws, peaches, peanuts, Masters Tournament, The Weather Channel, TCM, TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Coca-Cola, racism, lynching, Southern accents, Michael Vick, Southern Rock, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” southern belles, Southern hospitality, Appalachian Mountains, R&B music, golfing, Stone Mountain, CDC, Delta Airlines, Chick-fil-A, Warm Springs, Pine Mountains, Andersonville, Southern Gothic Literature, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,  golfing, Callaway Gardens