Trenton is the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of the U.S. state of

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Mercer County. It was the

capital of the United States This is a list of capital cities of the United States, including places that serve or have served as federal, state, insular area, territorial, colonial and Native American capitals. Washington has been the federal capital of the United States ...

from November 1 to December 24, 1784.New Jersey County Map

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing artistic, cultural, and historical programs within the U.S. state of New Jersey, as we ...

. Accessed July 10, 2017. The city's metropolitan area, including all of Mercer County, is grouped with the

New York combined statistical area The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...

by the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, but it directly borders the

Philadelphia metropolitan area Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since 1 ...

and was from 1990 until 2000 part of the Philadelphia combined statistical area."Revised Delineations of Metropolitan Statistical Areas, Micropolitan Statistical Areas, and Combined Statistical Areas, and Guidance on Uses of the Delineations of These Areas."

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

Bulletin 13-01, February 28, 2013. Accessed April 22, 2019. As of the

2020 U.S. census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, Trenton had a population of 90,871, making it the state's 10th-largest municipality. Trenton dates back at least to June 3, 1719, when mention was made of a

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

being appointed for Trenton while the area was still part of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,''The Story of New Jersey's Civil Boundaries: 1606–1968''
John P. Snyder, Bureau of Geology and Topography; Trenton, New Jersey; 1969. pp. 164–165. Accessed August 21, 2012, A courthouse and jail were constructed in Trenton around 1720, and the Freeholders of Hunterdon County met annually in Trenton. Abraham Hunt was appointed in 1764 as Trenton's first Postmaster. 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 The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

on February 21, 1798. 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. A series of annexations took place over a 50-year period with the city absorbing

South Trenton South Trenton is a neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is home to Italian Americans, Latin Americans, Irish Americans and their descendants. South Trenton borders Hamilton Tow ...

(April 14, 1851), portions of Nottingham Township (April 14, 1856), Chambersburg Township and Millham Township (both on March 30, 1888), and Wilbur (February 28, 1898). Portions of Ewing Township and Hamilton Township were annexed to Trenton on March 23, 1900.

History

The Capture of the Hessians at Trenton December 26 1776

The earliest known inhabitants of the area that is today Trenton were the

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

Native Americans. The first European settlement in what would become Trenton was established by

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

in 1679, in the region then called the Falls of the Delaware, led by

Mahlon Stacy Mahlon ( ''Maḥlōn'') and Chilion (כִּלְיוֹן ''Ḵilyōn'') were two brothers mentioned in the Book of Ruth. They were the sons of Elimelech of the tribe of Judah and his wife Naomi. Together with their parents, they settled in the land ...

from Handsworth,

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, 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 William Trent (February 13, 1715–1787) was an American fur trader and merchant based in colonial Pennsylvania. He was commissioned as a captain of the Virginia Regiment in the early stages of the French and Indian War, when he served on the wes ...

, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacy's family. This name was later shortened to "Trenton". On January 19, 1764,

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, Postmaster General of the colonies, appointed Abraham Hunt, a Lieutenant Colonel in the New Jersey

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

broke out. National Archives: Post Office Commissions to Abraham Hunt, 10 January 1764 Schuyler, 1929, p. 132 During the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, Trenton was the site of the

Battle of Trenton The Battle of Trenton was a small but pivotal American Revolutionary War battle on the morning of December 26, 1776, in Trenton, New Jersey. After General George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American m ...

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...

's first military victory. On December 25–26, 1776, Washington and his army, crossed the icy Delaware River to Trenton, where they defeated

Hessian troops Hessians ( or ) were German soldiers who served as auxiliaries to the British Army during the American Revolutionary War, British Army during the American Revolutionary War. The term is an American synecdoche for all Germans in the American Revo ...

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 The Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress, formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled, was the governing body of the United States of America during the Confederation period, March 1, 1781 – Mar ...

met for two months at the

French Arms Tavern The French Arms Tavern (also known as the Thirteen Stars, Blazing Star Tavern, City Tavern and City Hotel) was a structure in Trenton, New Jersey, that served as the capitol of the United States and meeting place of the Congress of the Confedera ...

from November 1, 1784, to December 24, 1784.Parker, L.A
"City celebrating role as U.S. capital in 1784"
, '' The Trentonian'', November 6, 2009. Accessed January 10, 2012. "City and state leaders kicked off a two-month celebration yesterday with a news conference highlighting Trenton's brief role as the capital of the United States in 1784." While the city was preferred by

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

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 The Mason–Dixon line, also called the Mason and Dixon line or Mason's and Dixon's line, is a demarcation line separating four U.S. states, forming part of the borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia (part of Virginia ...

. On April 21, 1789, the city hosted a reception for George Washington on his journey to New York City for his first inauguration. Trenton became the state capital in 1790, but prior to that year the

often met in the city. The city was incorporated in 1792. In 1799, the federal government relocated its offices to Trenton for a period of several months, following an outbreak of

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...

in the then-capital of Philadelphia. During the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

, the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

's primary hospital was at a site on Broad Street. Throughout the 19th century, Trenton grew steadily, as European immigrants came to work in its

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

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. The

Trenton Six The Trenton Six is the group name for six African-American defendants tried for murder of an elderly white shopkeeper in January 1948 in Trenton, New Jersey. The six young men were convicted in August 1948 by an all-white jury of the murder and ...

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.

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 riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s� ...

s 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 smoke inhalation, burns, sprains and cuts suffered while fighting raging blazes or for injuries inflicted by rioters. Citizens of Trenton's urban core often 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

, 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%). Several bridges across the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...

connect Trenton to Morrisville,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, 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 The Lower Trenton Toll Supported Bridge, commonly called the Lower Free Bridge, Warren Street Bridge or Trenton Makes Bridge, is a two-lane Pennsylvania (Petit) through truss bridge over the Delaware River between Trenton, New Jersey and Mor ...

, bearing the legend "Trenton Makes The World Takes Bridge", is a span that was constructed in 1928 on the site of a bridge that dates back to 1804. The

Calhoun Street Bridge The Calhoun Street Toll Supported Bridge (also known as the Trenton City Bridge) is a historic bridge connecting Calhoun Street in Trenton, New Jersey across the Delaware River to East Trenton Avenue in Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, ...

, dating back to 1884, is long. Trenton is located near the

geographic center In geography, the centroid of the two-dimensional shape of a region of the Earth's surface (projected radially to sea level or onto a geoid surface) is known as its geographic centre or geographical centre or (less commonly) gravitational centre. I ...

of the state, which is located southeast 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 South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

and thus, the northernmost city of the

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

. However, Mercer County constitutes its own

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

, formally known as the Trenton-

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nine ...

MSA. Locals consider Trenton to be a part of an ambiguous area known as

Central Jersey Central Jersey is the central region of the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, ...

, 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 Carson City is an independent city and the capital of the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 58,639, making it the sixth largest city in Nevada. The majority of the city's population lives in Eagle Valley, on the ...

. It is also one of the seven state capitals located within the

Piedmont Plateau The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the Eastern United States. It is situated between the Atlantic coastal plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New York in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont ...

. 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

. The

Northeast Corridor The Northeast Corridor (NEC) is an electrified railroad line in the Northeast megalopolis of the United States. Owned primarily by Amtrak, it runs from Boston through Providence, New Haven, Stamford, New York City, Philadelphia, Wilmington, a ...

goes through Trenton. A straight line drawn between

Center City, Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

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 direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are at ...

s (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 Chambersburg is a borough in and the county seat of Franklin County, in the South Central region of Pennsylvania, United States. It is in the Cumberland Valley, which is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, and north of Maryland and the Mas ...

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 North Ward is a coastal suburb of Townsville in the City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. In the , North Ward had a population of 5,065 people. The suburb is one of the oldest in the city but has undergone significant development over many ...

, 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. Martin Luther King Jr., an African-American clergyman and civil rights leader, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. CST. He was rushed to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he died at 7 ...

in 1968. Nonetheless, the area still retains many important architectural and historic sites. North Trenton still has a large

Polish-American Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Poles, Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing abou ...

neighborhood that borders Lawrence Township, many of whom attend

St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church St. Hedwig's Roman Catholic Church is a historic Roman Catholic church located at Linden and S. Harrison Streets in Wilmington, New Castle County, Delaware. St. Hedwig's serves as the only architecturally visible anchor or centerpiece for the ...

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 structure that marks the spot where

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

launched the

during the

. 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 Trenton Central High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Trenton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Trenton Public Schools. As ...

. 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 Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it became part of Greater London. Its population counted 18, ...

East Trenton East Trenton is a neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It borders Hamilton Township and is home to a sizable African-American community, besides having small pockets of Latinos (mainly f ...

** 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 Ewing may refer to: People * Ewing (surname) * Ewing (given name) Places ;United States * Ewing Township, Boone County, Arkansas * Ewing, Illinois, a village * Ewing Township, Franklin County, Illinois * Ewing, Indiana, an unincorporated communi ...

) ** Berkeley Square ** Cadwalader Heights **Central West ** Fisher/Richey/Perdicaris **Glen Afton ** Hillcrest ** Hiltonia **Parkside **Pennington/Prospect **Stuyvesant/Prospect **

The Island The Island(s) may refer to: Places * Any of various islands around the world, see the list of islands * The Island (Cache County, Utah), an island on the Bear River, Utah * The Island, Chennai, a river island in India * The Island, Chicago, a n ...

**West End *

**Chestnut Park ** Duck Island **Franklin Park ** Lamberton/Waterfront *

North Trenton North Trenton is a neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. Origin The City of Trenton dates back to the British colonial era, when it was chartered as 'a municipality within the royal realm o ...

** Battle Monument (Five Points) **North 25 ** Top Road Trenton neighborhoods

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Trenton lies in the transition from a humid subtropical (''Cfa'') to a cooler

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfa''), favoring the former, with four seasons of approximately equal length and

precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

fairly evenly distributed through the year. The ''Cfa'' climate is the result of adiabatic warming of the Appalachians, low altitude and proximity to the coast without being on the immediate edge for moderate temperatures. Winters are cold and damp: the daily average temperature in January is , and temperatures at or below occur on 3.9 nights annually, while there are 17 days where the temperature fails to rise above freezing. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with

wind chill Wind chill or windchill (popularly wind chill factor) is the lowering of body temperature due to the passing-flow of lower-temperature air. Wind chill numbers are always lower than the air temperature for values where the formula is valid. When ...

values below . The plant hardiness zone at the Trenton Municipal Court is 7a with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of .USDA Interactive Plant Hardiness Map
,

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, ...

. Accessed November 26, 2019. Summers are hot and humid, with a July daily average of ; temperatures reaching or exceeding occur on 21.8 days. Episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur with

heat index The heat index (HI) is an index that combines air temperature and relative humidity, in shaded areas, to posit a human-perceived equivalent temperature, as how hot it would feel if the humidity were some other value in the shade. The result is als ...

values reaching . Extremes in air temperature have ranged from on February 9, 1934, up to as recently as July 22, 2011. However, air temperatures reaching or are uncommon. The average precipitation is per year, which is fairly evenly distributed through the year. The driest month on average is February, with of precipitation on average, while the wettest month is July with of rainfall on average which corresponds with the annual peak in

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

activity. The all-time single-day rainfall record is on September 16, 1999, during the passage of Hurricane Floyd. The all-time monthly rainfall record is in August 1955, due to the passage of Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane. The wettest year on record was 1996, when of precipitation fell. On the flip side, the driest month on record was October 1963, when only of rain was recorded. The of precipitation recorded in 1957 were the lowest ever for the city. Snowfall can vary even more year to year. The average seasonal (November–April) snowfall total is , but has ranged from as low as in the winter of 1918–1919 to as high as in 1995–1996, which included the greatest single-storm snowfall, the Blizzard of January 7–8, 1996, when of snow fell. The average snowiest month is February which corresponds with the annual peak in

nor'easter A nor'easter (also northeaster; see below), or an East Coast low is a synoptic-scale extratropical cyclone in the western North Atlantic Ocean. The name derives from the direction of the winds that blow from the northeast. The original use o ...

activity.

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

2010 census

The Census Bureau's 2006–2010

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, such as ancestry, citizenship, educati ...

showed that (in 2010

inflation-adjusted In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...

dollars)

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

was $36,601 (with a margin of error of +/− $1,485) and the median family income was $41,491 (+/− $2,778). Males had a median income of $29,884 (+/− $1,715) versus $31,319 (+/− $2,398) for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,400 (+/− $571). About 22.4% of families and 24.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 36.3% of those under age 18 and 17.5% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Trenton was a major manufacturing center 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 center 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 Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

) attempted to revitalize the downtown area by making it the center 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 De Lorenzo's Tomato Pies is a pizzeria that sells Trenton tomato pies in Robbinsville, New Jersey. It was founded in 1936 by Alexander "Chick" De Lorenzo and officially established in 1947 in Trenton, New Jersey. Since then it has expanded to anot ...

and

Papa's Tomato Pies Papa's Tomato Pies is a historic pizzeria selling Trenton tomato pies in New Jersey. It was founded by Giuseppe "Joe" Papa in 1912 on South Clinton Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey. Papa's is the oldest family owned and longest continuously operati ...

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 A sales tax is a tax paid to a governing body for the sales of certain goods and services. Usually laws allow the seller to collect funds for the tax from the consumer at the point of purchase. When a tax on goods or services is paid to a govern ...

rate (half of the % 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 The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, 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 New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, 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 Mansion House (also referred to as Ellarslie and McCall House) is a historic residence located in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The house was built as a summer residence for Henry McCall Sr. of Philadelphia in 1848, and i ...

– Housed in the

Italianate-style The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

1848 Ellarslie Mansion since 1978, the museum features artworks and other materials related to the city's history. *

Trenton War Memorial Trenton and Mercer County War Memorial-Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Building, known as the Trenton War Memorial, is located in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1930 and was added to the National Reg ...

– 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 The Old Barracks Museum, also known just as the Old Barracks, is a historic building located at 101 Barracks Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. Built in 1758 to house soldiers of the British Army, it is the only remaining colonial bar ...

– Dating back to 1758 and the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...

, 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

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

's victory in the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton.Trenton Battle Monument
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Division of Parks and Forestry. Accessed September 7, 2013. The monument was designed by

John H. Duncan John Hemenway Duncan (January 21, 1854 – October 18, 1929) was an American architect. Life and career Duncan was the designer of the Wolcott Hotel. One of the most famous architects in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, his pop ...

and features a statue of George Washington atop a pedestal that stands on a granite column 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 The William Trent House is a historic building located at 15 Market Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. It was built in 1719 for William Trent and is the oldest building in Trenton. He founded the eponymous town, which became the capi ...

– Constructed in 1719 by

, who the following year laid out what would become the city of Trenton, the house was owned by Governor

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continen ...

, who used the house as his official residence in the 1740s. Governor

Philemon Dickerson Philemon Dickerson (January 11, 1788 – December 10, 1862) was a United States representative from New Jersey, the 12th governor of New Jersey and judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. Education and career ...

used the home as his official residence in the 1830s, as did

Rodman M. Price Rodman McCamley Price (May 5, 1816June 7, 1894) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives for one term from 1851–1853. He later served as the 17th governor of New Jerse ...

in the 1850s. *

Adams and Sickles Building Adams and Sickles Building is located in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The building was constructed in 1900 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 31, 1980. It was the focal point for the West En ...

(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

later in the Revolutionary War. * Carver Center – formerly the Sunlight Elks Lodge, it was named after

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent black scientists of the ea ...

, African-American

agricultural scientist An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

and inventor. The building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

for its significance in ethnic heritage - Black, from 1922 to 1975. File:Trenton City Museum.JPG, The

, located at the Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park File:William Trent House, Trenton, NJ.jpg,

File:Carver Center, Trenton, NJ.jpg, Carver Center

Sports

Because of Trenton's near-equal distance to both New York City and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, 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 Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway. Racing histor ...

, located in adjacent Hamilton Township, hosted world class auto racing. Drivers such as

Jim Clark James Clark Jr. OBE (4 March 1936 – 7 April 1968) was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965. A versatile driver, he competed in sports cars, touring cars and in the Indianapol ...

, A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser,

Bobby Unser Robert William Unser (February 20, 1934 – May 2, 2021) was an American automobile racer. At his induction into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, he had the fourth most IndyCar Series wins at 35 (behind his brother Al, A. J. Fo ...

Richard Petty Richard Lee Petty (born July 2, 1937), nicknamed "The King", is an American former stock car racing driver who raced from 1958 to 1992 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Series), most notabl ...

and Bobby Allison raced on the one-mile (1.6 km) asphalt oval and then re-configured -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 The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, minor league team owned by

Joe Plumeri Joseph J. Plumeri II (born July 7, 1943) is vice chairman of the First Data Board of Directors. He was the chairman and CEO of Willis Group Holdings (Willis), a New York Stock Exchange-listed insurance broker, until July 2013. The company has 1 ...

, plays at 6,341-seat

Arm & Hammer Park Trenton Thunder Ballpark, formerly known as Mercer County Waterfront Park and Arm & Hammer Park, is a ballpark in Trenton, New Jersey. It is the home park for the Trenton Thunder, a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They ...

, the stadium which Plumeri had previously named after his father in 1999. The team was previously affiliated with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

, and, before moving to Trenton, the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

, but became an unaffiliated

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

team of the

MLB Draft League The MLB Draft League is a collegiate summer baseball league that began play in 2021. Created by Major League Baseball (MLB) and ''Prep Baseball Report'', the league serves as a showcase for top draft-eligible prospects leading up to each summer' ...

beginning in 2021. The

Trenton Freedom The Trenton Freedom was a professional indoor football team based in Trenton, New Jersey. The Freedom were a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The Freedom began play in 2014 as an expansion member of the PIFL. The Freedom ...

of the Professional Indoor Football League were founded in 2013 and played their games at the

Sun National Bank Center The CURE Insurance Arena is a multipurpose arena in Trenton, New Jersey. It hosts events including shows, sporting events and concerts. The arena seats 7,605 for hockey and other ice events, 8,600 for basketball and up to 10,500 for concerts, fam ...

. The Freedom ended operations in 2015, joining the short-lived Trenton Steel (in 2011) and

Trenton Lightning The Trenton Lightning were an indoor professional football team founded in 2000 by owner/general manager, Phillip J. Subhan and local businessman, Kenneth Samu. The team started the 2001 season in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) and ...

(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 , it was designed by

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

Frederick Law Olmsted Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...

, who is most famous for designing New York City's

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Government

Local government

Trenton is governed within the

Faulkner Act The Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act (, et seq.) provides New Jersey municipalities with a variety of models of local government. This legislation is called the Faulkner Act in honor of the late Bayard H. Faulkner, former mayor ...

, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the Mayor-Council system of municipal government, one of 79 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of a mayor and a seven-member city council. Three city council members are elected

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

, and four come from each of four

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

. The mayor and council members are elected concurrently on a non-partisan basis to four-year terms of office as part of the November general election.''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'',

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy The Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy of Rutgers University (The Bloustein School) serves as a center for the theory and practice of urban planning, public policy and public health/health administration scholarship. The sc ...

, March 2013, p. 73. In October 2020, the city council overrode a mayoral veto and shifted municipal elections from May to November, with proponents citing the increased turnout and savings to the city of $180,000 in each election cycle. The mayor and members of council all had their term-end dates extended by six months and moved to December 31 from June 30, 2022. The city retained a runoff provision that would have a December runoff in the event that the candidate with the highest number of votes doesn't obtain a majority. , the mayor of Trenton is

Reed Gusciora Walter Reed Gusciora (born March 27, 1960) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served as the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey since 2018. He previously served from 1996 to 2018 in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented t ...

, whose term of office ends December 31, 2022; before taking office as mayor, Gusciora had served in the New Jersey General Assembly. Members of the city council are Council President Kathy McBride (At-Large), Marge Caldwell-Wilson (North Ward), Joseph A. Harrison (East Ward), George P. Muschal (South Ward), Santiago Rodriquez (At-Large), Robin M. Vaughn (West Ward) and Sonya Wilkins (At-Large; appointed to serve an unexpired term), all serving terms of office ending December 31, 2022.Trenton City Council Chambers
Trenton, New Jersey. Accessed May 3, 2022.Mercer County Elected Officials

Mercer County, New Jersey Mercer County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its county seat is Trenton, also the state capital, but also directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area and is included within the Federal Communications Commission's ...

, as of November 12, 2019. Accessed November 15, 2019.May 8, 2018 Trenton Municipal Election Official Results

, last updated May 14, 2018. Accessed July 5, 2018.June 12, 2018 Trenton Municipal Runoff Election Results

, last updated June 15, 2018. Accessed July 5, 2018. In February 2022, the city council appointed Sonya Wilkins to fill the at-large seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Jerell A. Blakeley until he resigned from office the previous month to take a job outside the state.

Mayor's conviction and removal from office

On February 7, 2014, Mack and his brother, Raphiel Mack, were convicted by a federal jury of bribery, fraud and extortion, based on the details of their participation in a scheme to take money in exchange for helping get approvals to develop a downtown parking garage as part of a sting operation by law enforcement. Days after the conviction, the office of the

New Jersey Attorney General The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confir ...

filed motions to have Mack removed from office, as state law requires the removal of elected officials after convictions for corruption. Initially, Mack fought the removal of him from the office but on February 26, a superior court judge ordered his removal and any actions taken by Mack between February 7 and the 26th could have been reversed by Muschal.Pizzi, Jenna
"Trenton council to vote to install George Muschal as interim mayor"
''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'', March 4, 2014. Accessed October 12, 2015. "Council members decided to amend the agenda for their regularly scheduled meeting to include the action of appointing Muschal to the interim post. He will serve until a new mayor – elected in May – takes over July 1." Previously, Mack's housing director quit after it was learned he had a theft conviction. His chief of staff was arrested trying to buy heroin. His half-brother, whose authority he elevated at the city water plant, was arrested on charges of stealing. His law director resigned after arguing with Mack over complying with open-records laws and potential violations of laws prohibiting city contracts to big campaign donors.

Federal, state, and county representation

Trenton is located in the 12th Congressional DistrictPlan Components Report

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; t ...

, December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020. and is part of New Jersey's 15th state legislative district.Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District

. Accessed February 1, 2020.''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
New Jersey

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...

. Accessed October 30, 2019. ''2011 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''
, p. 65, New Jersey

. Accessed May 22, 2015.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 37,407 registered voters in Trenton, of which 16,819 (45.0%) were registered as Democrats, 1,328 (3.6%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and 19,248 (51.5%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 12 voters registered to other parties. In the

2012 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2012 lists the national/federal elections held in 2012 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *3–4 January: E ...

, Democrat

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

received 93.4% of the vote (23,125 cast), ahead of Republican

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

with 6.2% (1,528 votes), and other candidates with 0.4% (97 votes), among the 27,831 ballots cast by the city's 40,362 registered voters (3,081 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 69.0%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 89.9% of the vote here (23,577 cast), ahead of Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

with 8.2% (2,157 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (141 votes), among the 26,229 ballots cast by the city's 41,005 registered voters, for a turnout of 64.0%. In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat

Barbara Buono Barbara A. Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2014, where she represented the 18th Legislative District. She served from 2010 to 2012 as the Majority Leader in the Senate, succ ...

received 74.7% of the vote (9,179 cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 24.7% (3,035 votes), and other candidates with 0.6% (77 votes), among the 11,884 ballots cast by the city's 38,452 registered voters (407 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 30.9%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 81.6% of the vote here (10,235 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 12.4% (1,560 votes), Independent

Chris Daggett Christopher Jarvis Daggett (born March 7, 1950) is an American businessman who is the president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, one of the largest foundations in New Jersey. A former regional administrator of the United States En ...

with 2.4% (305 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (135 votes), among the 12,537 ballots cast by the city's 38,345 registered voters, yielding a 32.7% turnout.

Fire department

The city of Trenton is protected on a full-time basis by the city of Trenton Fire and Emergency Services Department (TFD), which has been a paid department since 1892 after having been originally established in 1747 as a volunteer fire department. The TFD operates out of seven fire stations and operates a fire apparatus fleet of 7 engine companies, 3 ladder companies and one rescue company, along with one HAZMAT unit, an air cascade unit, a mobile command unit, a foam unit, one fireboat, and numerous special, support and reserve units, under the command of two battalion chiefs each shift.

Education

Colleges and universities

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.

Public schools

The

Trenton Public Schools The Trenton Public Schools is a comprehensive community public school district, serving students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Trenton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The district is one of 31 former Abbott dist ...

serve students in

pre-kindergarten Pre-kindergarten (also called Pre-K or PK) is a voluntary classroom-based preschool program for children below the age of five in the United States, Canada, Turkey and Greece (when kindergarten starts). It may be delivered through a preschool ...

through

twelfth grade Twelfth grade, 12th grade, senior year, or grade 12 is the final year of secondary school in most of North America. In other regions, it may also be referred to as class 12 or Year 13. In most countries, students are usually between the ages of 17 ...

. The district is one of 31 former Abbott districts statewide that were established pursuant to the decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court in ''Abbott v. Burke'' which are now referred to as "SDA Districts" based on the requirement for the state to cover all costs for school building and renovation projects in these districts under the supervision of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority. The district's

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, comprised of seven members, sets policy and oversees the fiscal and educational operation of the district through its superintendent administration. As a Type I school district, the board's trustees are appointed by the mayor to serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats up for re-appointment each year. The board appoints a superintendent to oversee the district's day-to-day operations and a business administrator to supervise the business functions of the district. The school district has undergone a 'construction' renaissance throughout the district. As of the 2018–19 school year, the district, comprised of 20 schools, had an enrollment of 14,500 students and 884.4 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a

student–teacher ratio Student–teacher ratio or student–faculty ratio is the number of students who attend a school or university divided by the number of teachers in the institution. For example, a student–teacher ratio of 10:1 indicates that there are 10 students ...

of 16.4:1.District information for Trenton Public School District

National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES) that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance ...

. Accessed April 1, 2020. Schools in the district (with 2018–19 enrollment data from the

) are Columbus Elementary School (371 students; in grades K–5), Franklin Elementary School (405; K–5), Grant Elementary School (571; Pre-K–5), Gregory Elementary School (567; K–5), Harrison Elementary School (221; Pre-K–5), P.J. Hill Elementary School (800; Pre-K–5), Jefferson Elementary School (434; K–5), Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School (775; K–5), Mott Elementary School (426; K–5), Parker Elementary School (531; K–5), Robbins Elementary School (541; K–5), Washington Elementary School (409; K–5), Wilson Elementary School (498; Pre-K–5), Grace A. Dunn Middle School (893; 6–8), Hedgepeth-Williams Middle School (674; 6–8), Joyce Kilmer Middle School (370; 6–8), Luis Munoz Rivera Middle School (483; 6–8),

Trenton Ninth Grade Academy Trenton may refer to: Places Canada * Trenton, Nova Scotia, a town * Trenton, Ontario, an unincorporated community *CFB Trenton, a Canadian Forces Base near Trenton, Ontario United States *Trenton, New Jersey, the capital of the state of New Je ...

(707; 9),

Daylight/Twilight Alternative High School Daylight/Twilight Alternative High School is a four-year alternative public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Trenton, in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, operating as part of the Trenton Public Sch ...

(443; 9–12) and

(1,818; 9–12). Eighth-grade students from all of Mercer County are eligible to apply to attend the high school programs offered by the

Mercer County Technical Schools Mercer County Technical Schools (MCTS), also known as the Area Vocational Technical Schools of Mercer County, is a countywide vocational education, vocational state school, public school district based in Trenton, New Jersey, Trenton, serving the ...

, a county-wide vocational school district that offers full-time career and technical education at its Health Sciences Academy, STEM Academy and Academy of Culinary Arts, with no tuition charged to students for attendance.

Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf (MKSD), also known as the New Jersey School for the Deaf and Blind, initially the New Jersey State Institution for the Deaf , is a K-12 statewide school in West Trenton, Ewing Township, New Jersey. Its age r ...

(previously New Jersey School for the Deaf and New Jersey State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb), the statewide school for the deaf, opened in Trenton in 1883 and was there until 1923, when it moved to West Trenton.

Charter schools

Trenton is home to several charter schools, including Capital Preparatory Charter High School, Emily Fisher Charter School, Foundation Academy Charter School, International Charter School, Paul Robeson Charter School and Village Charter School. The International Academy of Trenton, owned and monitored by the SABIS school network, became a charter school in 2014. On February 22, 2017, Trenton's mayor, Eric Jackson, visited the school when it opened its doors in the former '' Trenton Times'' building on 500 Perry Street, after completion of a $17 million renovation project. After receiving notice from the

New Jersey Department of Education The New Jersey Department of Education (NJ DOE) administers state and federal aid programs affecting more than 1.4 million public and non-public elementary and secondary school children in the state of New Jersey. The department is headquartered ...

that the school's charter would not be renewed due to issues with academic performance and school management, the school closed its doors on June 30, 2018.

Private schools

Trenton Catholic Academy Trenton Catholic Preparatory Academy (formerly Trenton Catholic Academy) is a Catholic school in Trenton, New Jersey. It serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grades and formerly operated under the auspices of the Diocese of Tren ...

high school serves students in grades 9–12, while Trenton Catholic Academy grammar school serves students in Pre-K through 8th grade; both schools operate under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton. Trenton is home to

Al-Bayaan Academy Islamic School of Trenton is a private Islamic School that serves students from pre-kindergarten to ninth grade. The school is located in Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. History The Islamic School of Trenton was establishe ...

, which opened for preschool students in September 2001 and added grades in subsequent years. Trenton Community Music School is a not-for-profit community school of the arts. The school was founded by executive director Marcia Wood in 1997. The school operates at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church (on Tuesdays) and the Copeland Center for the Performing Arts (on Saturdays).

Crime

The Trenton Police Department was founded in 1792, when the city was incorporated. It works in conjunction with the Mercer County Sheriff's Office. In 2005, there were 31 homicides in Trenton, which at that time was the largest number in a single year in the city's history. The city was named the 4th "Most Dangerous" in 2005 out of 129 cities with a population of 75,000 to 99,999 ranked nationwide in the 12th annual

Morgan Quitno Morgan Quitno Press is a research and publishing company founded in 1989 and based in Lawrence, Kansas. The company compiled annual reference books of US state and city statistics. Its primary volumes included State Rankings, Health Care State Ran ...

survey. In the 2006 survey, Trenton was ranked as the 14th most dangerous city overall out of 371 cities included nationwide in the Morgan Quitno survey, and was again named as the fourth most dangerous municipality of 126 cities in the 75,000–99,999 population range. In September 2011, the city laid off 108 police officers due to budget cuts; this constituted almost one-third of the Trenton Police Department and required 30 senior officers to be sent out on patrols in lieu of supervisory duties. In 2013, the city set a new record with 37 homicides. In 2014, there were 23 murders through the end of July and the city's homicide rate was on track to break the record set the previous year until an 81-day period when there were no murders in Trenton; the city ended the year with 34 murders. In 2020, the city surpassed the 2013 homicide number with a record 40 homicides.

New Jersey State Prison

The

New Jersey State Prison The New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), formerly known as Trenton State Prison, is a state men's prison in Trenton, New Jersey operated by the New Jersey Department of Corrections. It is the oldest prison in New Jersey and one of the oldest correcti ...

(formerly Trenton State Prison) has two maximum security units. It houses some of the state's most dangerous individuals, which included New Jersey's

death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

population until the state banned capital punishment in 2007. The following is inscribed over the original entrance to the prison:

Labor, Silence, Penitence.
The Penitentiary House,
Erected By Legislative
Authority.
Richard Howell, Governor.
In The XXII Year Of
American Independence
MDCCXCVII
That Those Who Are Feared
For Their Crimes
May Learn To Fear The Laws
And Be Useful
Hic Labor, Hic Opus.

Transportation

Roads and highways

, the city had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Mercer County, by the

New Jersey Department of Transportation The New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) is the agency responsible for transportation issues and policy in New Jersey, including maintaining and operating the state's highway and public road system, planning and developing transportat ...

and by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. City highways 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 The following highways are numbered 129: Canada * Ontario Highway 129 * Prince Edward Island Route 129 Costa Rica * National Route 129 India * National Highway 129 (India) Japan * Japan National Route 129 United States * Interstate 129 * ...

, connects US 1 and Route 29 in South Trenton.

U.S. Route 206 U.S. Route 206 (US 206) is a north–south United States highway in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, United States. Only about a half a mile (800 m) of its length is in Pennsylvania; the Milford–Montague Toll Bridge carries it over the Delawa ...

, 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 The New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) is a system of controlled-access highways in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The turnpike is maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA).The Garden State Parkway, although maintained by NJTA, is not consi ...

(

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

) at Exit 7A in Robbinsville Township.

Public transportation

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 The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) is a regional public transportation authority that operates bus, rapid transit, commuter rail, light rail, and electric trolleybus services for nearly 4 million people in five coun ...

also provides bus service to adjacent Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The Trenton Transit Center, located on the heavily traveled

, serves as the northbound terminus for

Trenton Line The Trenton Line is a route of the SEPTA Regional Rail (commuter rail) system. The route serves the northeastern suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with service in Bucks County along the Delaware River to Trenton, New Jersey. Route Trenton L ...

(local train service to Philadelphia) and southbound terminus for NJ Transit Rail's

Northeast Corridor Line The Northeast Corridor Line is a commuter rail service operated by NJ Transit between the Trenton Transit Center and New York Penn Station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor in the United States. The service is the successor to Pennsylvania Railroad ...

(local train service to

New York Penn Station Pennsylvania Station, also known as New York Penn Station or simply Penn Station, is the main inter-city rail, intercity railroad station in New York City and the List of busiest railway stations in North America, busiest transportation facilit ...

). The train station also serves as the northbound terminus for the River Line, a diesel light rail line that runs to

Camden Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage res ...

. Two additional River Line stops, Cass Street and Hamilton Avenue, are located within the city. Long-distance transportation is provided by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

train service along the Northeast Corridor. The closest commercial airport is

Trenton–Mercer Airport Trenton–Mercer Airport is a county-owned, joint civil–military, public airport located four miles northwest of Trenton in the West Trenton section of Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey. Formerly known as Mercer County Airport, t ...

in Ewing Township, about from the center of Trenton, which has been served by

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

offering service to and from 13 points nationwide. Other nearby major airports are

Newark Liberty International Airport Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Count ...

and

Philadelphia International Airport Philadelphia International Airport is the primary airport serving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The airport served 19.6 million passengers annually in 2021, making it the 21st busiest airport in the United States. The airport is located from t ...

, located and 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

on the

409 __NOTOC__ Year 409 ( CDIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, yea ...

route, with service to surrounding communities on the

600 __NOTOC__ 600 (Roman numerals, DC) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 600 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar ...

601 __NOTOC__ Year 601 ( DCI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 601 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era bec ...

602 __NOTOC__ Year 602 ( DCII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 602 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

603 __NOTOC__ Year 603 ( DCIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 603 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

604 __NOTOC__ Year 604 ( DCIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 604 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

606 __NOTOC__ Year 606 ( DCVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 606 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

607 __NOTOC__ Year 607 ( DCVII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 607 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

608 __NOTOC__ Year 608 ( DCVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 608 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era b ...

609 __NOTOC__ Year 609 ( DCIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 609 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar er ...

and

611 __NOTOC__ Year 611 ( DCXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 611 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

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 ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' and '' The Trentonian'', and a monthly advertising magazine, ''"The City" Trenton N.E.W.S.''. Radio station

WKXW WKXW (101.5 FM, "New Jersey 101.5") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to serve Trenton, New Jersey. It is owned by Townsquare Media. Its studios and offices are located in Ewing and its broadcast tower, which is shared with WPRB, is l ...

and Top 40 WPST are also licensed to Trenton. Defunct periodicals include the ''Trenton True American''. A local television station,

WPHY-CD WPHY-CD (channel 25) is a low-power, Class A television station in Trenton, New Jersey, United States, which primarily airs paid programming. It is owned by WRNN-TV Associates alongside Princeton, New Jersey–licensed ShopHQ affiliate WMCN-TV ( ...

TV-25, serves the Trenton area.Home page
, WZBN. Accessed December 7, 2011. Trenton is officially part of the Philadelphia television market but some local pay TV operators also carry stations serving the New York market. While it is its own radio market, many Philadelphia and New York stations are easily receivable.

Notable people

References

Sources

* *

External links

City of Trenton website

Trenton Historical Society
*

{{authority control 1719 establishments in New Jersey Cities in Mercer County, New Jersey County seats in New Jersey Faulkner Act (mayor–council) Former capitals of the United States New Jersey populated places on the Delaware River New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zones Populated places established in 1719 Supreme Court of New Jersey