A Walking Tour of Trenton, New Jersey

By Doug Gelbert

There is no better way to see America than on foot. And there is no better way to appreciate what you are looking at than with a walking tour. This walking tour of Trenton, New Jersey is ready to explore when you are. Each walking tour describes historical, architectural landmarks, cultural sites and ecclesiastic touchstones and provides step-by-step directions.

Every tour also includes a quick primer on identifying architectural styles seen on American streets.

The first settlement which would become Trenton was established by Quakers in 1679, in the region then called the Falls of the Delaware, led by Mahlon Stacy from Handsworth, Sheffield in England. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time and North America provided the perfect opportunity to exercise their religious freedom.

By 1719, the town adopted the name “Trent-towne”, after William Trent, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacy’s family. This name later was shortened to “Trenton”.

During the American Revolution, the city was the site of George Washington's first military victory. On December 26, 1776, Washington and his army, after crossing the icy Delaware River to Trenton, defeated the Hessian troops garrisoned there. The stunning sight of prisoners being paraded out of town not only gained the Americans highly elusive respect and rejuvenated morale but proved that Washington was the man who could successfully lead this revolt. After the war, Trenton was briefly the national capital of the United States in November and December of 1784. The city was considered as a permanent capital for the new country, but the southern states favored a location south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Trenton was a major manufacturing center in the late 1800s and early 1900s; one relic of that era is the slogan “Trenton Makes, the World Takes” displayed on the Lower Free Bridge just north of the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge (the “Trenton Makes Bridge”). The city adopted the slogan in the 1920s to represent Trenton’s then-leading role as a major manufacturing center for steel, rubber, wire, rope, linoleum and ceramics.

Our walking tour will begin outside the second oldest state house in continuous use in the United States...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Gelbert
• Release date: Mar 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781458102355

Book preview

A Walking Tour of Trenton, New Jersey

a walking tour in the Look Up, America series from walkthetown.com

by Doug Gelbert

published by Cruden Bay Books at Smashwords

Copyright 2010 by Cruden Bay Books

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher.

The first settlement which would become Trenton was established by Quakers in 1679, in the region then called the Falls of the Delaware, led by Mahlon Stacy from Handsworth, Sheffield in England. Quakers were being persecuted in England at this time and North America provided the perfect opportunity to exercise their religious freedom.

By 1719, the town adopted the name Trent-towne, after William Trent, one of its leading landholders who purchased much of the surrounding land from Stacy’s family. This name later was shortened to Trenton.

During the American Revolution, the city was the site of George Washington's first military victory. On December 26, 1776, Washington and his army, after crossing the icy Delaware River to Trenton, defeated the Hessian troops garrisoned there. The stunning sight of prisoners being paraded out of town not only gained the Americans highly elusive respect and rejuvenated morale but proved that Washington was the man who could successfully lead this revolt. After the war, Trenton was briefly the national capital of the United States in November and December of 1784. The city was considered as a permanent capital for the new country, but the southern states favored a location south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Trenton was a major manufacturing center in the late 1800s and early 1900s; one relic of that era is the slogan Trenton Makes, the World Takes displayed on the Lower Free Bridge just north of the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge (the Trenton Makes Bridge). The city adopted the slogan in the 1920s to represent Trenton’s then-leading role as a major manufacturing center for steel, rubber, wire, rope, linoleum and ceramics.