6. The Oreo Was Invented in Chelsea Market

Chelsea Market

Before Chelsea Market was the bustling food and shopping destination it is today, it was the Nabisco factory. The National Biscuit Company was formed when eight bakeries came together to form a super-bakery, which opened on this site in 1890. Nabisco made products like animal crackers, fig newtons, and saltines, but arguably its most successful product is the Oreo cookie, which was invented in 1912. Both the recipe and the packaging have been basically the same ever since.

Though the factory is no more, you can find remnants of it, including two original murals on the brick walls and display cases dedicated to the factory’s industrial past. When the building was converted into a market, the architects upcycled original elements, including cast iron lamp posts on display near the 9th Avenue entrance and pipes used to create the pipe fountain.