Blackford County
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme ...
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
. Nearly all of the community's businesses have been closed for many years. Although the Blackford County Historical Society lists this community as a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
, homes are still maintained in the area.Blackford County Historical Society's "Ghost Towns in Blackford County, Indiana".
Trenton is located east of Hartford City on Indiana State Road 26. Platted in 1845, it is one of the older communities in Blackford County.''Biographical and historical record of Jay and Blackford Counties....,'' pp. 758. The community had its own Post Office from 1856 until 1907. Because there was another Trenton in
Randolph County Randolph County is the name of eight counties in the United States:
*Randolph County, Alabama
*Randolph County, Arkansas
*Randolph County, Georgia
*Randolph County, Illinois
*Randolph County, Indiana
*Randolph County, Missouri
*Randolph County, Nort ...
during the 19th century, Blackford County’s Trenton post office used the name Priam. Therefore, many older maps show the community as "Priam" instead of Trenton.
Trenton participated in the Indiana Gas Boom, and had two of Blackford County's many gas companies (Marion Creek Natural Gas Company and Trenton Natural Gas Company) that existed during the 1890s. The Gas Boom gradually ended during the beginning of the 20th century, and many small communities never recovered. During the next few decades, the quality of automobiles and roads improved—indirectly contributing to the decline of many small communities as consumers drove to larger cities.
History
Trenton is located in Jackson Township in Blackford County. Jackson Township's population was only 154 in 1840, as there was no rail connection and the land suffered from poor drainage.Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana, p. 77. Trenton was
plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...
ted on January 20, 1845, by Robert H. Laning, Ezekiel Laning, Basel Anderson and William Cortright. Cortright was the landowner.''A History of Blackford County...,'' p. 128.
When Blackford County's railroads were constructed in the late 1860s, Trenton was bypassed—as the nearest rail line was four miles south of the small town. During the 1880s, the community was boosted by the Indiana Gas Boom, and the community had two gas companies of its own. Eventually, the community had as many as 25 residences. In addition to its post office, the village also had a tannery, blacksmith shops, saw and tile mills and its own physicians. It also had two churches, two general stores and a drug store. The Trenton school was constructed in the 1870s, and its last version closed in 1964.
The Gas Boom gradually ended during the beginning of the 20th century, and many small communities never recovered. Improvements to the automobile and highways, which coincided with the end of the Gas Boom, may have also contributed to the decline of the county's smaller communities as consumers became willing to travel to larger cities.
Blackford County
Blackford County is located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of Indiana. The county is named for Judge Isaac Blackford, who was the first speaker of the Indiana General Assembly and a long-time chief justice of the Indiana Supreme ...
, Trenton is situated on Indiana State Road 26. The community is located south of
Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne is a city in and the county seat of Allen County, Indiana, United States. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 as of the 2020 Censu ...
and northeast of
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
. Trenton is part of
East Central Indiana
East Central Indiana is a region in Indiana east of Indianapolis, Indiana, and borders the Ohio state line. The Indiana Gas Boom, which took place during the 1890s, changed much of the area from small agricultural communities to larger cities wi ...
and Northern Indiana. Future Northern Indiana, including what became Jackson Township and Trenton, was flattened by two
glacier
A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its Ablation#Glaciology, ablation over many years, often Century, centuries. It acquires dis ...
s millions of years ago. These glaciers are also responsible for the rich Blackford County farmland, which includes the land surrounding Trenton.''A History of Blackford County...,'' p. 10.
Climate and weather
Trenton has a typical
Midwestern
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
humid continental seasonal climate. There are four distinct seasons, with winters being cold with moderate
snow
Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...
fall, while summers can be warm and humid.''Purdue University' Iclimate.org web site In recent years, average temperatures in nearby county seat Hartford City have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in January 1994 and a record high of was recorded in June 1988. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in June. The biggest snow storm in recent memory was the
Great Blizzard of 1978
The Great Blizzard of 1978 was an historic winter storm that struck the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions of the United States as well as Southern Ontario in Canada from Wednesday, January 25 through Friday, January 27, 1978. It is often cited ...
, which occurred on January 26–27, 1978. A federal state of emergency was declared for Indiana at that time.
Nearby cities
*
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Hartford City (about 7 highway miles west)
* Eaton (about 16 highway miles southwest)
*
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
(about 15 highway miles east)
* Upland (about 15 highway miles west)