Trenton, New Jersey, United States

History | Riots of 1968 | Geography | Neighborhoods | Economy | Urban Enterprise Zone | Television market | Landmarks | Sport | Parks and recreation | Education : University | Transport : Road : Public | Media

🇺🇸 Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. The city's metropolitan area, consisting of Mercer County, is grouped with the New York Combined Statistical Area, but it directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and was from 1990 until 2000 part of the Philadelphia Combined Statistical Area.

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, the 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.

History The earliest known inhabitants of the area that is today Trenton were the Lenape Native Americans. 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 150-foot (46 m) 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. In the late 19th century, Walter Scott Lenox was internationally recognised for the fine china made in his Trenton factory. 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.

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.

In 1855, the College of New Jersey was founded in Trenton. In 1865, Rider University was also founded in Trenton. Mercer Community College 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 (with the exception of one who died in prison) 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 with 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 (21.25 km²), including 7.58 square miles (19.63 km²) of land and 0.63 square miles (1.62 km²) of water (7.62%). In terms of land area, Trenton is also the second-smallest of the United States capital cities, behind Annapolis, Maryland.

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 1,324 feet (404 m), carrying U.S. Route 1. The Lower Trenton Bridge, bearing the legend "Trenton Makes The World Takes Bridge", is a 1,022-foot (312 m) 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 1,274 feet (388 m) long.

Trenton is located near the geographic centre of the state, which is located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east of the city. The city is sometimes included as part of North Jersey and as the southernmost city of the Tri-State Region, while others consider it a part of South Jersey and thus, the northernmost city of the Delaware Valley.

However, Mercer County constitutes its own metropolitan statistical area, the Trenton-Princeton MSA. Locals consider Trenton to be a part of Central Jersey, and thus part of neither region. They are generally split as to whether they are within New York or Philadelphia's sphere of influence. While it is geographically closer to Philadelphia, many people who have recently moved to the area 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. It is also one of the seven state capitals located within the Piedmont Plateau.

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.

Neighborhoods Trenton is home to numerous neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods. The main neighborhoods are taken from the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West). Trenton was once home to large Italian, Hungarian, and Jewish communities, but, since the 1950s, demographic shifts have changed the city into a relatively segregated urban enclave of middle and lower income African Americans and newer immigrants, many of whom arrive from Latin America. Italians are scattered throughout the city, but a distinct Italian community is centered in the Chambersburg neighborhood, in South Trenton. This community has been in decline since the 1970s, largely due to economic and social shifts to the suburbs surrounding the city. Today Chambersburg has a large Latino community. Many of the Latino immigrants are from Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. There is also a significant and growing Asian community in the Chambersburg neighborhood primarily made up of Burmese and Bhutanese/Nepali refugees.

The North Ward, once a mecca for the city's middle class, is now one of the most economically distressed, torn apart by race riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968. Nonetheless, the area still retains many important architectural and historic sites. North Trenton still has a large Polish-American neighborhood that borders Lawrence Township, many of whom attend St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church on Brunswick Avenue. St. Hedwig's church was built in 1904 by Polish immigrants, many of whose families still attend the church. North Trenton is also home to the historic Shiloh Baptist Church—one of the largest houses of worship in Trenton and the oldest African American church in the city, founded in 1888. The church is currently pastored by Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong, who carried the Olympic torch in 2002 for the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Also located just at the southern tip of North Trenton is the city's Battle Monument, also known as "Five Points". It is a 150 ft (46 m) structure that marks the spot where George Washington's Continental Army launched the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War. It faces downtown Trenton and is a symbol of the city's historic past.

South Ward is a diverse neighborhood, home to many Latin American, Italian-American, and African American residents.

East Ward is the smallest neighborhood in Trenton and is home to the Trenton Transit Center and Trenton Central High School. The Chambersburg neighborhood is within the East Ward and was once noted in the region as a destination for its many Italian restaurants and pizzerias. With changing demographics, many of these businesses have either closed or relocated to suburban locations. West Ward is the home of Trenton's more suburban neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods in the city include: • Downtown Trenton ◦ Hanover/Academy ◦ Mill Hill • East Trenton ◦ Coalport/North Clinton ◦ Ewing/Carroll ◦ Greenwood/Hamilton ◦ Villa Park ◦ Wilbur • Western Trenton (not the same as West Trenton, which is outside the city limits in Ewing) ◦ Berkeley Square ◦ Cadwalader Heights ◦ Central West ◦ Fisher/Richey/Perdicaris ◦ Glen Afton ◦ Hillcrest ◦ Hiltonia ◦ Parkside ◦ Pennington/Prospect ◦ Stuyvesant/Prospect ◦ The Island ◦ West End • South Trenton ◦ Chambersburg ◦ Chestnut Park ◦ Duck Island ◦ Franklin Park ◦ Lamberton/Waterfront • North Trenton ◦ Battle Monument (Five Points) ◦ North 25 ◦ Top Road.

Economy Trenton was a major manufacturing centre in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One relic of that era is the slogan "Trenton Makes, The World Takes", which is displayed on the Lower Free Bridge (just north of the Trenton–Morrisville Toll Bridge). The city adopted the slogan in 1917 to represent Trenton's then-leading role as a major manufacturing centre for rubber, wire rope, ceramics and cigars. It was home to American Standards largest fixture factory.

Along with many other United States cities in the 1970s, Trenton fell on hard times when manufacturing and industrial jobs declined. Concurrently, state government agencies began leasing office space in the surrounding suburbs. State government leaders (particularly governors William Cahill and Brendan Byrne) attempted to revitalize the downtown area by making it the centre of state government. Between 1982 and 1992, more than a dozen office buildings were constructed primarily by the state to house state offices. Today, Trenton's biggest employer is still the state of New Jersey. Each weekday, 20,000 state workers flood into the city from the surrounding suburbs.

Notable businesses of the thousands based in Trenton include Italian Peoples Bakery, a wholesale and retail bakery established in 1936. De Lorenzo's Tomato Pies and Papa's Tomato Pies were also fixtures of the city for many years, though both recently relocated to the suburbs.

Urban Enterprise Zone Portions of Trenton are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone. The city was selected in 1983 as one of the initial group of 10 zones chosen to participate in the program. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of a reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the 6+5⁄8% rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in January 1986, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in December 2023.

The UEZ program in Trenton and four other original UEZ cities had been allowed to lapse as of January 1, 2017, after Governor Chris Christie, who called the program an "abject failure", vetoed a compromise bill that would have extended the status for two years. In May 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that reinstated the program in these five cities and extended the expiration date in other zones.

In 2018, the city had an average property tax bill of $3,274, the lowest in the county, compared to an average bill of $8,292 in Mercer County and $8,767 statewide. The city had the sixth-highest property tax rate in New Jersey, with an equalized rate of 5.264% in 2020, compared to 2.760% in the county as a whole and a statewide average of 2.279%.

Television market Trenton has long been part of the Philadelphia television market. However, following the 2000 United States Census, Trenton was shifted from the Philadelphia metropolitan statistical area to the New York metropolitan statistical area. With a similar shift by the New Haven, Connecticut, area to the New York area, they were the first two cases where metropolitan statistical areas differed from their defined Nielsen television markets. Trenton was the site of the studios of the former public television station New Jersey Network (a.k.a. NJN).

Landmarks • New Jersey State Museum – Combines a collection of archaeology and ethnography, fine art, cultural history and natural history. • New Jersey State House was originally constructed by Jonathan Doane in 1792, with major additions made in 1845, 1865 and 1871. • New Jersey State Library serves as a central resource for libraries across the state as well as serving the state legislature and government. • Trenton City Museum – Housed in the Italianate-style 1848 Ellarslie Mansion since 1978, the museum features artworks and other materials related to the city's history. • Trenton War Memorial – Completed in 1932 as a memorial to the war dead from Mercer County during World War I and owned and operated by the State of New Jersey, the building is home to a theater with 1,800 seats that reopened in 1999 after an extensive, five-year-long renovation project. • Old Barracks – Dating back to 1758 and the French and Indian War, the Barracks were constructed as a place to house British troops in lieu of housing the soldiers in the homes of area residents. The site was used by both the Continental Army and British forces during the Revolutionary War and stands as the last remaining colonial barracks in the state. • Trenton Battle Monument – Located in the heart of the Five Points neighborhood, the monument was built to commemorate the Continental Army's victory in the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton. The monument was designed by John H. Duncan and features a statue of George Washington atop a pedestal that stands on a granite column 148 feet (45 m) in height. • Trenton City Hall – The building was constructed based on a 1907 design by architect Spencer Roberts and opened to the public in 1910. The council chambers stand two stories high and features a mural by Everett Shinn that highlights Trenton's industrial history. • William Trent House – Constructed in 1719 by William Trent, who the following year laid out what would become the city of Trenton, the house was owned by Governor Lewis Morris, who used the house as his official residence in the 1740s. Governor Philemon Dickerson used the home as his official residence in the 1830s, as did Rodman M. Price in the 1850s. • Adams and Sickles Building (added January 31, 1980, as #80002498) is a focal point for West End neighborhood, and is remembered for its soda fountain and corner druggist. • Friends Burying Ground, adjacent to the Trenton Friends Meeting House, is the burial site of several national and state political figures prominent in the city's early history. • Trenton Friends Meeting House (added April 30, 2008, as #08000362), dating back to 1739, it was occupied by the British Dragoons in 1776 and by the Continental Army later in the Revolutionary War. • Carver Center – formerly the Sunlight Elks Lodge, it was named after George Washington Carver, African-American agricultural scientist and inventor. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its significance in ethnic heritage - Black, from 1922 to 1975. • Old Masonic Temple - 1793 historic building put on the National Register of Historic Places as a contributing property to the State House Historic District.

Sport Because of Trenton's near-equal distance to both New York City and Philadelphia, and because most homes in Mercer County receive network broadcasts from both cities, locals are sharply divided in fan loyalty between both cities. It is common to find Philadelphia's Phillies, Eagles, 76ers, Union and Flyers fans cheering (and arguing) right alongside fans of New York's Yankees, Mets, Nets, Knicks, Rangers, Islanders, Jets, Red Bulls and Giants or the New Jersey Devils.

Between 1948 and 1979, Trenton Speedway, located in adjacent Hamilton Township, hosted world class auto racing. Drivers such as Jim Clark, A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison raced on the one-mile (1.6 km) asphalt oval and then re-configured 1

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1⁄2-mile race track. The speedway, which closed in 1980, was part of the larger New Jersey State Fairgrounds complex, which also closed in 1983. The former site of the speedway and fairgrounds is now the Grounds for Sculpture.

The Trenton Thunder, minor league team owned by Joe Plumeri, plays at 6,341-seat Arm & Hammer Park, the stadium which Plumeri had previously named after his father in 1999. The team was previously affiliated with the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, and, before moving to Trenton, the Chicago White Sox, but became an unaffiliated collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League beginning in 2021.

The Trenton Freedom of the Professional Indoor Football League were founded in 2013 and played their games at the Sun National Bank Center. The Freedom ended operations in 2015, joining the short-lived Trenton Steel (in 2011) and Trenton Lightning (in 2001) as indoor football teams that had brief operating lives at the arena.

Parks and recreation • Cadwalader Park – Trenton's largest city park covering 109.5 acres (44.3 ha), it was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who is most famous for designing New York City's Central Park.

Education: University Trenton is the home of two post-secondary institutions: Thomas Edison State University, serving adult students around the nation and worldwide and Mercer County Community College's James Kerney Campus.

The College of New Jersey, formerly named Trenton State College, was founded in Trenton in 1855 and is now located in nearby Ewing Township. Rider University was founded in Trenton in 1865 as The Trenton Business College. In 1959, Rider moved to its current location in nearby Lawrence Township.

Transport: Road As of May 2010, the city had a total of 168.80 miles (271.66 km) of roadways, of which 145.57 miles (234.27 km) were maintained by the municipality, 11.33 miles (18.23 km) by Mercer County, 10.92 miles (17.57 km) by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and 0.99 miles (1.59 km) by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission.

Several highways pass through the city. These include the Trenton Freeway (part of U.S. Route 1) and the John Fitch Parkway, which is part of Route 29. Canal Boulevard, more commonly known as Route 129, connects U.S. Route 1 and Route 29 in South Trenton. U.S. Route 206, Route 31 and Route 33 also pass through the city via regular city streets (Broad Street/Brunswick Avenue/Princeton Avenue, Pennington Avenue, and Greenwood Avenue, respectively).

Route 29 connects the city to Interstate 295 and Interstate 195, the latter providing a connection to the New Jersey Turnpike (Interstate 95) at Exit 7A in Robbinsville Township, although the section near downtown is planned to be converted to an urban boulevard.

Transport: Public Public transportation within the city and to/from its nearby suburbs is provided in the form of local bus routes run by NJ Transit. SEPTA provides bus service to adjacent Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

The Trenton Transit Center, located on the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor, serves as the northbound terminus for SEPTA's Trenton Line (local train service to Philadelphia) and southbound terminus for NJ Transit Rail's Northeast Corridor Line (local train service to New York Penn Station). The train station also serves as the northbound terminus for the River Line, a diesel light rail line that runs to Camden. Two additional River Line stops, Cass Street and Hamilton Avenue, are located within the city.

Long-distance transportation is provided by Amtrak train service along the Northeast Corridor.

The closest commercial airport is Trenton–Mercer Airport in Ewing Township, about 8 miles (13 km) from the centre of Trenton, which has been served by Frontier Airlines offering service to and from 13 points nationwide.

Other nearby major airports are Newark Liberty International Airport and Philadelphia International Airport, located 55.2 miles (88.8 km) and 43.4 miles (69.8 km) away, respectively, and reachable by direct New Jersey Transit or Amtrak rail link (to Newark) and by SEPTA Regional Rail (to Philadelphia).

NJ Transit Bus Operations provides bus service between Trenton and Philadelphia on the 409 route, with service to surrounding communities on the 600, 601, 602, 603, 604, 606, 607, 608, 609 and 611 routes.

The Greater Mercer Transportation Management Association offers service on the Route 130 Connection between the Trenton Transit Center and the South Brunswick warehouse district with stops along the route including Hamilton train station, Hamilton Marketplace, Hightstown and East Windsor Town Center Plaza.

Media Trenton is served by two daily newspapers, The Times and The Trentonian, and a monthly advertising magazine, "The City" Trenton N.E.W.S. Radio station WKXW and Top 40 WPST are also licensed to Trenton. Defunct periodicals include the Trenton True American. A local television station, WPHY-CD TV-25, serves the Trenton area.

Trenton is officially part of the Philadelphia television market but some local pay TV operators also carry stations serving the New York City market. While it is its own radio market, many Philadelphia and New York stations are easily receivable.

Trenton, New Jersey, United States 
<b>Trenton, New Jersey, United States</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Jin #307495839

Trenton has a population of over 84,913 people. Trenton also forms the centre of the wider Trenton metropolitan area which has a population of over 331,000 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Trenton see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Trenton has links with:

🇧🇷 Jundiaí, Brazil 🇯🇪 St Helier, Jersey
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Trenton is: 105.241,-40.221

Locations Near: Trenton -74.759,40.2207

🇺🇸 Princeton -74.667,40.358 d: 17.2  

🇺🇸 Burlington -74.857,40.076 d: 18.1  

🇺🇸 Bensalem -74.933,40.1 d: 20  

🇺🇸 Mount Holly -74.787,39.995 d: 25.2  

🇺🇸 Flemington -74.86,40.509 d: 33.1  

🇺🇸 Somerville -74.608,40.57 d: 40.9  

🇺🇸 Doylestown -75.132,40.31 d: 33.1  

🇺🇸 Cherry Hill -74.987,39.91 d: 39.7  

🇺🇸 Evesham -74.901,39.857 d: 42.2  

🇺🇸 New Brunswick -74.446,40.494 d: 40.4  

Antipodal to: Trenton 105.241,-40.221

🇦🇺 Bunbury 115.637,-33.327 d: 18814.5  

🇦🇺 Mandurah 115.721,-32.529 d: 18747.2  

🇦🇺 Rockingham 115.717,-32.267 d: 18726.6  

🇦🇺 City of Cockburn 115.833,-32.167 d: 18711  

🇦🇺 Vincent 115.834,-31.936 d: 18692.2  

🇦🇺 Perth 115.857,-31.953 d: 18692.1  

🇦🇺 Wanneroo 115.803,-31.747 d: 18678.7  

🇦🇺 Guildford 115.973,-31.9 d: 18680.4  

🇦🇺 Midland 116.01,-31.888 d: 18677  

🇦🇺 Albany 117.867,-35.017 d: 18763.2  

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