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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2003
It is possible that Trenton's history dates back to Stone Age man. Dr.
Charles C. Abbott made an exhaustive study of gravel deposits on his
Trenton farm and reported in 1872 that crude implements he had dis-
covered were of the glacial period. The weight of archeological opinion
seems, however, to be against this theory (see ARCHEOLOGY). In 1650
about 200 Sanhicans, a clan of the Unami subdivision of the Lenape, occupied part of this area. This agricultural group was noted for its skill in
making lanceheads and arrowheads of quartz and jasper.
The first European settler was Mahlon Stacy, an English Quaker, who took
up a grant of land in 1679 at "ye ffalles of ye De La Warr" and built a
log mill and a clapboard house. The little hamlet that developed around
this nucleus was called The Falls.
Recognizing the commercial possibilities of the site, William Trent, a
Philadelphia merchant, in 1714 bought of Mahlon Stacy Jr. the remainder
of his father's holdings of 800 acres on Assunpink Creek (Ind., stone in
the water). Trent replaced the log mill with one of stone and c. 1719
built himself a fine house later called Bloomsbury Court, now the oldest
in the city. In the same year court sessions of Hunterdon County were
held in the village. Trent's energy and financial backing launched the set-tlement, which he called Trent's Town, into a period of steady growth. Its
position at the head of sloop navigation made the town a shipping point
for grain and other products of the area, and a depot for merchandise be-tween New York and Philadelphia. Overland travelers found the village
a convenient stopping place on King's Highway, while a ferry, chartered
in 1727, afforded communication with Pennsylvania.
In 1745 the town received a royal charter of incorporation as a borough
and town, although the charter was voluntarily surrendered five years later
when it failed to bring any material benefits.
The townspeople hurried to the water front in 1746 and cheered the
first raft of timber from the upper Delaware as it passed through the rapids
on its way to Philadelphia. Many others followed during the next century;
some carried from 500 to 600 bushels of wheat.
The first chief burgess, Dr. Thomas Cadwalader, ranked high in his profession. One of the first advocates of inoculation as a disease preventive,
he is said to have introduced the practice in Trenton to combat smallpox.
In 1750 Dr. Cadwalader gave £500 to found the Trenton Library Company, the first "public" library in New Jersey. It was almost wholly destroyed by British soldiers in December 1776 but revived in 1797 and
lasted until 1855.
John Adams reported in 1774 that Trenton, as it soon became known, was "a pretty village. It appears to be the largest town we have seen in the
Jerseys." Trenton resembled the shire towns of England, its hip or gable
roofed dwellings facing the street, with gardens on both sides. The wharves
were busy, and there were four churches, a courthouse, and a jail. In 1776
Trenton was a village of about 100 houses, mainly clustered along King
and Queen Streets (now Warren and Broad Streets).
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