The New Student's Reference Work/Trenton, N. J.

Tren′ton, N. J., capital of New Jersey and county-seat of Mercer County, on Delaware River, 33 miles from Philadelphia and 59 miles from New York City. It is served by the Delaware and Raritan Canal and Pennsylvania and Reading railways, and has trolley-connections with Philadelphia, New York and the principal cities of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania. It was settled in 1680, named in 1714 after William Trent who owned the site, and became the capital in 1790. Trenton was the scene of a battle, by some authorities considered the turning-point in the Revolutionary War, on Dec. 26th, 1776, when Washington crossed the Delaware, surprised the Hessians, and took over one thousand prisoners. The state-buildings include the capitol, asylum for the insane, reform-school for girls, prison, arsenal, armory, library and museum, normal-school and school for the deaf. Other prominent public buildings are the public library with 40,000 volumes, Federal court and post-office, city-hall, court-house, three hospitals, 48 churches and 30 public schools. There also are seven parochial schools, three business colleges, St. Francis College and a number of private schools. Among the most interesting historical buildings is the old French-and-Indian barracks, built in 1758. Battle Monument, 150 feet high, marks the position of the artillery under Col. Knox and Captain Alexander Hamilton at the opening of the Battle of Trenton. The leading industry is the manufacture of pottery. There are 36 potteries in the city. They manufacture all classes and grades of ware, from the commonest to the finest porcelain and china. More than half of all the pottery made in the United States is made in Trenton. The principal industrial plant is the iron-works and wire-mills of the J. A. Roebling Sons Co. (builders of the first bridge connecting Brooklyn and New York.) John A. Roebling, the founder of the company, was the engineer who designed the first important suspension-bridge in America, that over Niagara River. There are numerous other manufactories of iron and steel, structural iron, cables, chains, wire-cloth and netting, anvils, vises, iron and brass castings, engines and machinery. There are many brick and tile works, rubber-works, oil-cloth and linoleum factories, furniture-factories, rpring-bed and mattress factories, woolen mills, breweries and cigar-factories. The various industries employ about 19,000 men. Population. 96,815.