The city of Trenton dates back to 1719 when Philadelphia merchant William Trent purchased 800 acres here along the Delaware River. The town grew up around the house he built by the river. After multiple owners and a stint as the governor’s mansion, the Trent House was left to the state in 1929 and restored to its colonial appearance. Tours take place Wed-Sun 1-4:30. Make sure to check out the photos showing the house before removal of all the Victorian additions.

My favorite part? These original Delft tiles in the nursery depicting childhood games.

When Trent died in 1724 without a will, an inventory was taken of the items in the house. Several mentions were made of Japanned furniture, and today’s restoration includes several pieces similar to what would have been in the home. Despite my lousy photos, the pieces were really beautiful. And, it’s fascinating to see an inventory of a wealthy 18th century home.

This just made me laugh… In the dining room is a recreation of a typical 18th century meal down to the ever popular oysters and mashed turnips!

Make sure to check out the basement kitchen. So cool to see a colonial weighted spit jack – used for roasting meats without the need for a person to turn the spit.

Ever since its colonial founding, Trenton’s access to the water power of the Delaware, and its location near Philadelphia, the Atlantic ports of New York, and the coal fields of western Pennsylvania has made it a prime manufacturing town. An archaeological excavation behind the Old Barracks (Trenton’s Old Barracks: Colonial Military History) shows the remains of an 18th century steel furnace which later became a paper mill.

By the 19th century Trenton had grown to become a center of America’s industrial revolution. From steel cables to pottery to rubber, Trenton helped power in the modern age. A visit to the New Jersey State Museum (Spotlight New Jersey: The State Museum) highlights aspects of this manufacturing history. A stroll through South River Walk Park also illustrates this industrial past, with archways representing the technology of the age (from bundled reeds to steel) and plaques that detail the area’s history from pre-colonial through the modern age.

The park sits on top of Route 29, designed to link nearby neighborhoods back with the river.

One of Trenton’s oldest industries was pottery – beginning in the colonial era, through its heyday in the late 1800’s when it was one of the largest pottery centers in America with over 50 manufacturers, to its pinnacle in the 1920’s when Trenton’s Lennox factory provided the first American-made set of Presidential china to Woodrow Wilson’s White House.

There is not much left of the industry in Trenton today, except for in museums. The NJ State Museum has pieces, and the Trenton City Museum has 2 upstairs rooms devoted to local potteries:

A recent Majolica exhibition at the Walter’s Art Museum in Baltimore had several beautiful examples of Trenton-made works:

Of course, no story about Trenton’s industrial past is complete without mention of the Roebling factory (Roebling, NJ: The Company Town that Built Modern America). Trenton can boast that it has two of its own Roebling bridges (albeit not on the scale of the Brooklyn Bridge!). The first was probably a demonstration bridge, donated to the city and now oddly situated next to the Trenton Water Works filtration plant.

The other is a skyway running between two of the old factory buildings.

Many of the original factory buildings still stand, and several have been repurposed. A testing lab for its aircraft business that provided cable for Charles Lindbergh’s plane was located on the 4th floor of the Clark Street factory, which today houses the Roebling Loft apartments.

As for that sign at the top of the page? It’s on the Lower Trenton Bridge spanning the Delaware River. You can see it from the Rt .1 bridge or from Rt. 29. Originally erected in 1935, it’s been renovated several times and its motto still stands for Trenton today, although the industrial past it highlights has faded.

Trenton Eats:

Trenton tomato pie is totally different from the Philly version. It’s a thin crust round pie with cheese on the bottom and sauce on the top. Our classic from Papa’s:

Another Trenton culinary treat is pork roll (also called by it’s original name, Taylor Ham, depending where you live in NJ!), developed by Trenton butcher John Taylor in the mid 1800’s. It’s commonly found on breakfast sandwiches, like ours from classic diner Daphne’s in nearby Robbinsville:

For more on the role of Trenton in the Revolutionary War, see our post Trenton: A Turning Point in the Revolution.