50 States, 5,000 Facts: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know—and More!

by National Geographic Society

From the team that created the national bestseller 50 States, 5,000 Ideas, this engaging treasure trove of trivia boasts interesting tidbits about the United States and is perfect for trivia buffs, history lovers, and fact-finders.

Did you know that there is a floating post office in Michigan? Or that a library book checked out by George Washington was returned to a New York City library 221 years late? Maybe you’d be amazed to discover that the ink used to print U.S. paper money is magnetic! In this fun compendium you’ll encounter all kinds of bizarre and fascinating people, places, events, and things that make our country unique.

Featuring 100 facts about every state and all six U.S. territories, discover and delight in fascinating histories, emblems, state birds and flowers, and so much more. You’ll find “by the numbers” trivia (did you know Wyoming could fill 760 million bags with sunflower seeds with the amount of flowers it grows?), quirky nicknames (San Francisco’s heavy fog was named Karl thanks to a social media phenomenon), and fun events (one Colorado state fair hosts a pet rock competition—with a best dressed category!).

Delightfully engaging and illustrated with hundreds of photos, this is a volume trivia buffs will want in their arsenals.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

352 pages, Paperback

Published October 8, 2024

About the author

The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical conservation, and the study of world culture and history. The National Geographic Society's logo is a yellow portrait frame—rectangular in shape—which appears on the margins surrounding the front covers of its magazines and as its television channel logo. Through National Geographic Partners (a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company), the Society operates the magazine, TV channels, a website, worldwide events, and other media operations.

Reviews

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not historical fiction. This is history, nonfiction, a coffee table book that I ordered for myself for the holidays.


The Mary Todd Lincoln house in Kentucky is someplace I’d like to see.


I will say upfront that I don’t read that many coffee table books, but I am a geography nerd so I figured why not and I ordered it.


The “ loneliest road in America” can be found in the state of Nevada.


And it’s good. The book contains gorgeous, shiny pictures of each state along with information about all of 50 states plus DC and US territories and Canada.

Lobsters are a staple in the beautiful sea kissed state of Maine.

Every state has its own section along with trivia, including the best movies and the best books. Lots of the best plays.


One of Illinois best movies is Ferris Bueller‘s Day off. One of Maine’s best movies is the Cider House rules. One of South Dakota’s best movies is Badlands. One of West Virginia’s best films is October sky.

This is also a tourists dream. There are hidden gems featured on every state page as well as more main stream places to go and to see.

KUALO a ranch is a 400 acre nature reserve in Hawaii that you can see by entering on horseback or by bus.

Now, of course some places you may have heard of. For example, Louisiana has Mardi Gras. Arizona has the Grand Canyon but there’s lots of places you may not have heard of.

There’s some real gems in here , places I had never even heard of.

Hershey’s chocolate is located in Pennsylvania and they even have Tasting seasons! (Yum.)

Foxwood resort in Connecticut and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut offer casinos. Lots to do and see.


It was really cool to look at the pictures and I will admit that’s a primary reason I ordered this. I haven’t been to all the states, although I’d certainly like to visit all of them.

Montana is full of mountains. Love the pictures.

Wisconsin looks so festive and fun.

The book does exactly what it promises to do. It tells you where to go when to go what to see and what to do.

If you’re in the Colorado neighborhood, you must check out pikes Peak! I’ve actually been to that one and it’s like standing in a cover of clouds. Utterly magnificent.

Don’t forget to check out Everglades national Park in Florida. I have never been there, but it looks stunning.


Mackinac Island is Michigan’s most visited island and damn does it look gorgeous. The pictures are so vivid you feel like you can reach out and touch it.

If you go to New York City and don’t check out the theater District you’d be crazy.

Oklahoma which is a wildly underrated state for natural beauty, has Chickasaw national recreation area that has lots of lakes and natural springs.

The only thing I wish that the book had a little more of is to differentiate one state from the Next. I would’ve liked putting a little more emphasis on trivia and what, for example differentiates Kansas from Nebraska or Massachusetts, from Connecticut, or Vermont from New Hampshire or Oregon from Washington.

New Hampshire’s white mountains, where I vacationed as a kid, look like a poem if poetry, was geography.

I find the United States fascinating in terms of having 50 different states plus DC plus Puerto Rico and the other territories. Each geographical region has its own culture and way of doing things.

I loved all the pictures of South Carolina. Palm trees, everywhere, and cute, quaint buildings.

North Carolina is so diverse, with beach and mountains and cute small towns.

My gosh, Utah looks spectacular!

Hey Massachusetts! I know you. there’s a lot of whale watching that goes on in Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

Tennessee offers a very rugged topography in some areas. It also has Ruby Falls one of the most exquisite stops I’ve ever been to it’s a cave AND waterfall that takes you under the ground – far far under the ground.

You’ll also find out about foods. You know every state has their own different culinary ideas and their own special fondness for certain foods.

If you like, oysters , you have to go to Maryland and get some Chesapeake Bay oysters, fresh and delicious.

So if you are a traveler or , geography nerd like me you’ll probably want to purchase this just to find out about different places and to find out things you may not have known, like about the New Jersey pinelands national reserve and all the beautiful little shops on fourth Street in West Berkeley, California.

Well, I will give this 3.5 stars. It’s not going to appeal to everybody but for travel, buffs and geography nerds, it is a great coffee table book to own.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

overall a cute little travel guide! the writing was to the point and i agreed with the suggestions i had already visited
here are my wishlist things:
alabama - f scott firzgerald museum and rosa parks monument in montgomery. huntsville has the rockets.
alaska - anchorage started in 1920 has art deco stuff. earthquake park. fairbanks, northern lights.
arizona - 10000 maniacs the painted desert shoutout! mostly outdoorsy stuff
arkansas - heifer village poverty educational facility in little rock. macarthur park aids memorial. eureka springs is lgbt friendly.
california - hollywood. the redwoods forest. malibu.
colorado - denver has the unsinkable molly brown museum. denver mint moneymaking tours. aspen has an avant garde art museum.
Connecticut - Bridgeport has the barnum museum.
delaware - wilmington has a nice mansion and gardens
dc - Smithsonian. library of congress.
florida - miami, key west hemingway's home
georgia - old lady gang, savannah
hawaii - so much to see, pearl harbor... but also i need to boo the larry ellison shoutout in this section
idaho - mostly outdoorsy stuff
illinois - CHICAGO!
indiana - indianapolis for the indy 500
iowa - have already been!
kansas - have already been!
ketucky - louisville muhammad ali museum, mammoth cave, the derby
louisiana - new orleans, bayou
maine - stephen king house, acadia
maryland- baltimore art museum, edgar allen poe grave. hubble telescope mission control center
massachusetts - boston: freedom trail, boston tea party museum, harvard museum, peabody museum, salem. plymouth. the norman rockwell museum in the berkshires
michigan: henry ford museum has some insane artifacts.
minnesota: paul bunyan land sounds wild
mississippi: maybe some elvis stuff?
missouri:
montana: glacier national park
nebraska: carhenge, lewis and clark trail
nevada: show in vegas
new hampshire:
new jersey: ellis island is technically new jersey, atlantic city, jersey shore
new mexico: los alamos manhattan project museum
new york: nyc niagra falls
north carolina: the biltmore
north dakota: plains art museum in fargo
ohio:
oklahoma:
oregon: portland
penn:
rhode island: holiday house, newport jazz fest
south carolina: myrtle beach
south dakota: the badlands
tennessee: graceland, dollywood
texas: dallas, houston, the alamo
utah: SLC/Mormon Temple
vermont:
virginia: arlington cemetery, richmond has the edgar allen poe museum
washington: mt saint helens
west virginia: mothman
wisconsin:
wyoming: devils tower

[Anna J · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love road trips and this book has a section for each state with weird but true trivia that I like to read to know more about each state. It also many practical facts for trivia such as state birds, mottos, flags, birds...It is a wealth of information all easily by each state. Many of the things it had written about my own state I didn't know.

If you like learning knew things this book is for you. So much information and so well organized

[Chy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how in depth this was and how it covered all kinds of topics such as state flowers, birds, food as well as weird but true facts and interesting places to check out in each state.

I learned a lot about not only my state, but every state in the country well worth the read!

[Josiah Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so amazing! So many facts that I never knew about the States! Going to love reading about the states then trying to go visit them!