Trenton is the capital of New Jersey, a state of the United States of America. As of the United States 2000 Census, the City of Trenton had a population of 85,403. Trenton is also the county seat of Mercer County.
Trenton is located in almost the exact center of the state (the official geographic center is 5 miles southeast of Trenton at 74° 33.5'W, 40° 4.2'N). Due to this, it is sometimes included as part of North Jersey and as the southernmost city of the New York metropolitan area. Others consider it part of South Jersey and as the northernmost city of the Delaware Valley metropolitan area. Locals consider it to be a part of Central Jersey, and thus part of neither region, though in truth the city has more communication and transportation links with the Delaware Valley than it does with New York.
Trenton is the home of the Trenton Thunder Eastern League AA minor league baseball team, which is affiliated with the New York Yankees and plays in Waterfront Park, and the Trenton Titans (an ECHL minor league hockey affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers) which plays in the Sovereign Bank Arena. The New Jersey State Prison, which has two maximum security units and houses the state's most dangerous criminals, is also located in Trenton. This city is an anchor city for the Delaware Valley metropolitan area. Trenton and its immediate suburbs are often lumped together and referred to as "Greater Trenton" by locals.
Trenton is located at 40°13'18" North, 74°45'22" West (40.221741, -74.756138).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.1 km2 (8.1 mi2). 19.8 km2 (7.7 mi2) of it is land and 1.3 km2 (0.5 mi2) of it is water. The total area is 6.01% water.
Trenton borders Ewing Township, Lawrence Township, Hamilton Township, and the Delaware River. Several bridges across the Delaware River - the Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge, Lower Trenton Bridge and Calhoun Street Bridge - connect Trenton to Morrisville, Pennsylvania.
As of the census of 2000, there are 85,403 people, 29,437 households, and 18,692 families residing in the city. The population density is 4,304.7/km2 (11,153.6/mi2). There are 33,843 housing units at an average density of 1,705.9/km2 (4,419.9/mi2). The racial makeup of the city is 52.06% African American (Note: a lot of the African-Americans are from Jamaica and directly from Africa with a growing Haitian population), 32.55% White, 0.35% Native American, 0.84% Asian, 0.23% Pacific Islander, 10.76% from other races, and 3.20% from two or more races. 21.53% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. (Note: Most of the Hispanics in Trenton have been traditionally Puerto Rican. However, recently, that has changed as many immigrants from Guatemala, Ecuador, and various Latin American countries have settled in the city).
There are 29,437 households out of which 32.4% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.0% are married couples living together, 27.1% have a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% are non-families. 29.7% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.0% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.75 and the average family size is 3.38.
In the city the population is spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 31.9% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 32 years. For every 100 females there are 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 96.0 males.
The median income for a household in the city is $31,074, and the median income for a family is $36,681. Males have a median income of $29,721 versus $26,943 for females. The per capita income for the city is $14,621. 21.1% of the population and 17.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 26.8% of those under the age of 18 and 19.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
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, UK. 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 Revolutionary War, 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 (see Battle of Trenton). 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 became the state capital in 1790, but prior to that year the Legislature often met here. The town was incorporated in 1792.
In 1896 the first professional basketball game was played in Trenton between the Trenton Basketball Team and the Brooklyn YMCA.
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.
Source:
TrentonNewJersey.com
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