Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 until December 24, 1784. Trenton and Princeton are the two principal cities of the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Mercer County for statistical purposes and constitutes part of the New York combined statistical area by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, Trenton directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area to its west, and the city was part of the Philadelphia combined statistical area from 1990 until 2000.
In the 2020 United States census, Trenton was the fifth largest city in Central Jersey and the 10th-most-populous municipality statewide, with a population of 90,871, an increase of 5,958 from the 2010 census count of 84,913, which in turn had reflected a decline of 490 from the 85,403 counted in the 2000 census. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 89,661 in 2022, ranking the city the 382nd-most-populous in the country. Trenton is the only city in New Jersey that is served by three commuter rail transit systems, and the city has encouraged a spate of transit-oriented development.
Trenton dates back at least to June 3, 1719, when mention was made of a constable being appointed for Trenton while the area was still part of Hunterdon County. Boundaries were recorded for Trenton Township as of March 2, 1720. A courthouse and jail were constructed in Trenton around 1720, and the Freeholders of Hunterdon County met annually in Trenton.
On November 25, 1790, Trenton became New Jersey's capital, and by November 13, 1792, the City of Trenton was formed within Trenton Township. Trenton Township was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798.
The city historically had a major manufacturing industry, with factories producing iron, steel, rubber, pottery, and other products that served the nation. Today Trenton's economy is dominated by the Government of New Jersey.
History
The earliest known inhabitants of the area that is today Trenton were the Lenape Native Americans, specifically the Axion band who were the largest tribe on the Delaware River in the mid-17th century.The first European settlement in what would become Trenton was established by Quakers in 1679, in the region then called the Falls of the Delaware, led by Mahlon Stacy from Handsworth, Sheffield, England. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time, and North America provided an opportunity to exercise their religious freedom.
By 1719, the town adopted the name "Trent-towne", after William Trent, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacy's family. This name was later shortened to "Trenton".
The first municipal boundaries were recorded on March 2, 1720, and a courthouse and jail were constructed around the same time.
In 1758, the Old Barracks were built to house British soldiers during the French and Indian War. On January 19, 1764, Benjamin Franklin, Postmaster General of the colonies, appointed Abraham Hunt, a Lieutenant Colonel in the New Jersey Hunterdon County militia and prominent merchant in Trenton, as the city's first postmaster. Hunt was again appointed Trenton's postmaster on October 13, 1775, shortly after the American Revolutionary War broke out.
During the American Revolutionary War, Trenton was the site of the Battle of Trenton. On December 25–26, 1776, George Washington and his army crossed the icy Delaware River to Trenton, where they defeated Hessian troops garrisoned there. The second battle of Trenton, Battle of the Assunpink Creek, was fought here on January 2, 1777. After the war, the Congress of the Confederation met for two months at the French Arms Tavern from November 1, 1784, to December 24, 1784. While the city was preferred by New England and other northern states as a permanent capital for the new country, the southern states ultimately prevailed in their choice of a location south of the Mason–Dixon line. On April 21, 1789, the city hosted a reception for George Washington on his journey to New York City for his first inauguration. The Trenton Battle Monument, a granite column topped with a statue of George Washington, was built in 1893 to commemorate the battle.
Trenton became the state capital in 1790, but prior to that year the New Jersey Legislature often met in the city. The city was incorporated on November 13, 1792. In 1792, the New Jersey State House was built, making it the third-oldest state house in the country. In 1799, the federal government relocated its offices to Trenton for a period of several months, following an outbreak of yellow fever in the then-capital of Philadelphia.
During the War of 1812, the United States Army's primary hospital was at a site on Broad Street.
Trenton had maintained an iron industry since the 1730s and a pottery industry since at least 1723. The completion of both the Delaware and Raritan Canal and the Camden and Amboy Railroad in the 1830s spurred industrial development in Trenton. In 1845, industrialist Peter Cooper opened a rolling mill. In 1848, engineer John Roebling moved his wire rope mill to the city, where suspension cables for bridges were manufactured, including the Brooklyn Bridge. Throughout the 19th century, Trenton grew steadily, as European immigrants came to work in its pottery and wire rope mills. Trenton became known as an industrial hub for railroads, trucking, rubber, plastics, metalworking, electrical, automobile parts, glass, and textiles industries.
The city's largest and most long-standing industry was ceramics. From the 1850s to the 1950s, scores of pottery companies called the city home and Trenton became known as the "Staffordshire of America." In the late 19th century, Walter Scott Lenox founded the Ceramic Art Company, which eventually became Lenox, Inc., a nationally known producer of fine china. Lenox designed and manufactured White House china for multiple Presidents of the United States.
On February 22, 1834, portions of Trenton Township were taken to form Ewing Township. The remaining portion of Trenton Township was absorbed by the city on April 10, 1837. In 1837, with the population now too large for government by council, a new mayoral government was adopted, with by-laws that remain in operation to this day. During the latter half of the century, Trenton annexed multiple municipalities: South Trenton Borough on April 14, 1851, portions of Nottingham Township on April 14, 1856, Chambersburg and Millham Township on March 30, 1888, and Wilbur borough on February 28, 1898. Portions of Ewing Township and Hamilton Township were annexed to Trenton on March 23, 1900.
In 1855, the College of New Jersey was founded in Trenton. In 1865, Rider University was also founded in Trenton. Mercer Community College began in Trenton in 1966.
The Trenton Six were a group of black men arrested for the alleged murder of an elderly white shopkeeper in January 1948 with a soda bottle. They were arrested without warrants, denied lawyers and sentenced to death based on what were described as coerced confessions. With the involvement of the Communist Party and the NAACP, there were several appeals, resulting in a total of four trials. Eventually the accused men were released. The incident was the subject of the book Jersey Justice: The Story of the Trenton Six, written by Cathy Knepper.
In the 1950s, the State of New Jersey purchased a large portion of what was then Stacy Park, a large riverfront park located next to downtown that contained large open lawns, landscaping, and promenades. Much of the park was demolished to make way for the construction of Route 29, despite the protests toward its construction. After it was built, the area was then mostly filled with parking lots and scattered state office buildings, disconnecting the city from the riverfront.
Riots of 1968
The Trenton Riots of 1968 were a major civil disturbance that took place during the week following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis on April 4. Race riots broke out nationwide following the murder of the civil rights activist. More than 200 Trenton businesses, mostly in Downtown, were ransacked and burned. More than 300 people, most of them young black men, were arrested on charges ranging from assault and arson to looting and violating the mayor's emergency curfew. In addition to 16 injured policemen, 15 firefighters were treated at city hospitals for injuries suffered while fighting raging blazes or inflicted by rioters. Area residents pulled false alarms and would then throw bricks at firefighters responding to the alarm boxes. This experience, along with similar experiences in other major cities, effectively ended the use of open-cab fire engines. As an interim measure, the Trenton Fire Department fabricated temporary cab enclosures from steel deck plating until new equipment could be obtained. The losses incurred by downtown businesses were initially estimated by the city to be $7 million, but the total of insurance claims and settlements came to $2.5 million.Trenton's Battle Monument neighborhood was hardest hit. Since the 1950s, North Trenton had witnessed a steady exodus of middle-class residents, and the riots spelled the end for North Trenton. By the 1970s, the region had become one of the most blighted and crime-ridden in the city.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had a total area of 8.21 square miles, including 7.58 square miles of land and 0.63 square miles of water. In terms of land area, Trenton is also the second-smallest of the United States capital cities, behind Annapolis, Maryland.Trenton is located near the geographic center of the state, which is located southeast of the city.
Mercer County constitutes its own metropolitan statistical area, the Trenton-Princeton MSA, which is part of the Tri-State Region. Locals consider Trenton to be a part of Central Jersey, and thus part of neither North Jersey nor South Jersey though sometimes included in both. They are generally split as to whether they are within New York or Philadelphia's sphere of influence. While it is closer to Philadelphia, many people commute to New York City and have moved there to escape the New York region's high housing costs.
Trenton is one of two state capitals that border another state—the other being Carson City, Nevada.
Trenton borders Ewing Township, Hamilton Township and Lawrence Township in Mercer County; and Falls Township, Lower Makefield Township and Morrisville in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, across the Delaware River in Pennsylvania.
The Northeast Corridor goes through Trenton. A straight line drawn between Center City, Philadelphia and Downtown Manhattan would pass within 2000 feet of the New Jersey State House.
Several bridges across the Delaware River connect Trenton to Morrisville, Pennsylvania, all of which are operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The Trenton–Morrisville Toll Bridge, originally constructed in 1952, stretches, carrying U.S. Route 1. The Lower Trenton Bridge, bearing the legend "TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES", is a span that was constructed in 1928 on the site of a bridge that dates back to 1804. The Calhoun Street Bridge, dating back to 1884, is long.