Trenton, New Jersey

History of Trenton, New Jersey

The first settlement which 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, UK. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time and North America provided the perfect 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 later was shortened to “Trenton”.

During the American Revolutionary War, the city was the site of George Washington‘s first military victory. On December 26, 1776, Washington and his army, after crossing the icy Delaware River to Trenton, defeated the Hessian troops garrisoned there (see Battle of Trenton). After the war, Trenton was briefly the national capital of the United States in November and December of 1784. The city was considered as a permanent capital for the new country, but the southern states favored a location south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Trenton became the state capital in 1790, but prior to that year the Legislature often met here. The town was incorporated in 1792.

During the 1812 War, the primary hospital facility for the U.S. Army was at a temporary location on Broad Street.

Throughout the 19th Century, Trenton grew steadily, as Europeans came to work in its pottery and wire rope mills. 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.

Census Bureau map of Trenton, New Jersey