Trivia & Fun Facts

Here are a few fun facts and trivia about Manhattan.

1. Manhattan was the first capital of the United States from 1789-90.

2. Manhattan has the most skyscrapers in the world.

3. Central Park was a swamp before it was a park.

4. Manhattan has the largest standing collection of cast-iron structures in the world.

5. Times Square is named after the New York Times building.

6. Originally Broadway stretched all the way to Albany New York.

7. Manhattan had the first Board of Health in the United States.

8. There are 469 subway stations in Manhattan.

9. Most of Manhattan's fire stations are over 100 years old.

10. The first international trade in Manhattan was for beaver pelts.

11. Tenement housing regulations required building to be only 25 ft. wide by 100 ft. long.

12. The East River is not a river; it is an estuary.

13. The first motion picture was exhibited in Manhattan in the late 1800’s.

14. The Dutch built four windmills on Manhattan in the 1700’s.

15. An average of 300,000 people walk to work in Manhattan.

16. There are 2 beavers on the seal of New York City.

17. The first roll of toilet paper in the world was for sale in 1857 in Manhattan.

Recommended Reading for more Manhattan Trivia: The Encyclopedia of New York City, Edited by Kenneth T. Jackson