The site of modern-day Trenton was once occupied by the Sanhican, a branch of the Delaware tribe who called the area Assunpink. The name meant "stone in the water" and referred to the rocky falls in the nearby portion of the Delaware River. The first permanent European settlers arrived in 1679, when the English Quaker Mahlon Stacy arrived at what he called the "falls of the Delaware." Stacy's son sold the land in 1714 to William Trent, a Philadelphia merchant who recognized the industrial potential of the river. Trent built a stone grist mill near the falls and called the resulting community "Trent's Town," which was quickly shortened to Trenton. The town grew up at the junction of the Delaware River and Assunpink Creek.
The head of navigation on the Delaware River, Trenton became a port for shipping grain and products traveling between Philadelphia and New York City. Trenton was also a primary stopping point on the stagecoach line connecting the two larger cities. A ferry, chartered in 1727, connected Trenton with Philadelphia, completing the transportation circle. In 1750 the city's first chief burgess, Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, inoculated the population against smallpox. He later donated 50 pounds toward the founding of the state's first public library.
By the time of the Revolutionary War, Trenton was a town of about a hundred homes and mixed sentiments about the impending war. The city was captured by the British in November, 1776, and large portions of it were burned. Then, in a surprise move that was called the tactical coup of the war, American General George Washington crossed the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776. He marched his Continental soldiers through the night to launch a dawn attack on the Hessian troops occupying Trenton. After inflicting severe casualties on the British garrison, Washington moved his troops to a high hill near Assunpink Creek and engaged the British in the Second Battle of Trenton. Washington's successful maneuvering instilled courage in his cold and battle-weary army and resulted in the first decisive American victory in the war.
Trenton was selected as New Jersey's state capital in 1790. For a time, the city had hopes of becoming the nation's capital and did in fact serve temporarily in that capacity when a yellow fever epidemic raged in swampy Washington City. Transportation continued to play an important role in Trenton's development. In 1806 a covered bridge was built across the Delaware; the structure later supported the trains of the Camden & Amboy Railroad. The Delaware Falls Company constructed the Delaware & Raritan Canal at about the same time to provide water power to Trenton's burgeoning industry. Among the entrepreneurs setting up in the city was wire manufacturer John A. Roebling, whose cables help suspend the Brooklyn Bridge. Pottery-making blossomed as an industry after 1850 and included names such as Walter Lenox and his American Belleek china. Potters were the first to unionize in Trenton, successfully striking in 1835 to win a 10-hour workday. During the Civil War, Trenton housed the U.S. Congress after the South threatened Washington, D.C. Trenton also contributed iron and rubber to the Union Army effort.
Between 1880 and 1920 Trenton's population swelled with an influx of foreign laborers seeking factory jobs. During this period the adjacent communities of Chambersburg, Wilbur, Millham Township, and parts of Ewing Township were annexed. Handcrafted Mercer motor cars were produced between 1910 and 1925, along with steel made from the open-hearth process and vulcanized rubber goods, including Goodyear tires.
In 1932 the Delaware River channel was dredged to 20 feet, making Trenton a port for sea-going vessels; the city's importance as a port has since been eclipsed by the New England and Philadelphia ports. Following World War II, Trenton's middle class population moved to suburban communities made possible through a new federal highway system and new home construction. Trenton retained its image as a smokestack town, even as some of the city's key industries moved southward. Since the 1970s Trenton has regained its reputation as an industrial leader, thanks in large part to the spate of downtown development spurred by the building of several new state structures. Trenton is also developing a reputation as a tourist attraction, a reputation built on its colonial history and its number of highly regarded restaurants. In 2005, Forbes magazine listed Mercer County as one of the "Best Locations for Business."
Historical Information: Trenton Historical Society, PO Box 1112, Trenton, NJ 08606; telephone (609)394-1965; New Jersey Historical Society Library, 52 Park Place, NJ 07102; telephone (973)596-8500