Trenton, New Jersey

City of Trenton, New Jersey
City
Flag of City of Trenton, New Jersey Flag
Location of Trenton inside of Mercer County. Inset: Location of Mercer County highlighted in the State of New Jersey. Location of Trenton inside of Mercer County. Inset: Location of Mercer County highlighted in the State of New Jersey.
Country	United States
County	Mercer
Incorporated	November 13, 1792
Government
• Type	Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council)
• Mayor	Douglas H. Palmer
Area
• Total	8.1 sq mi (21.1 km2)
• Land	7.6 sq mi (19.8 km2)
• Water	0.5 sq mi (1.3 km2)
Elevation	52 ft (16 m)
Population  (2006)
• Total	83,923
• Density	11,153.6/sq mi (4,304.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
ZIP codes	08608, 08609, 08610, 08611, 08618, 08619, 08620, 08625, 08628, 08629, 08638, 08641, 08648, 08650
Area code	609
FIPS code	34-74000Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	0884540Template:GR
Website	www.trentonnj.org

Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of 2006, the City of Trenton had a population of 83,923.

Trenton dates back to June 3, 1719, when mention was made of a constable being appointed for Trenton, while the area was still part of Hunterdon County. Boundaries were recorded for Trenton Township as of June 3, 1719. Trenton became New Jersey's capital as of November 25, 1790, and the City of Trenton was formed within Trenton Township on November 13, 1792. Trenton Township was incorporated as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on February 21, 1798. Portions of the township were taken on February 22, 1834, to form Ewing Township. A series of annexations took place over a fifty-year period, with the city absorbing South Trenton borough (April 14, 1851), portions of Nottingham Township (April 14, 1856), Chambersburg and Millham Township (both on March 30, 1888) and Wilbur borough (February 28, 1898).

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 Mercer County Waterfront Park, and the Trenton Devils (an ECHL minor league hockey affiliate of the New Jersey Devils) 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.

During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, James Madison referred to the war-ravaged Trenton (and New Jersey at large) as "a dismembered torso bleeding into Philadelphia and New York" thus sealing its fate as an important port city in the eastern United States.

History

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.

The Lower Free Bridge displaying Trenton's slogan, "Trenton Makes, The World Takes". The bridge is commonly referred to as the "Trenton Makes Bridge".

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.

Between 1948 and 1979 Trenton Speedway hosted world class auto racing. Famous drivers such as A. J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Richard Petty and Bobby Allison all won major races on the one mile asphalt oval and then re-configured 1 1/2 mile race track.

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 (the "Trenton Makes Bridge"), just north of the Trenton-Morrisville Toll 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.

Geography

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The Trenton skyline during the Delaware River flood, April 2005

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Trenton is located at 40°13′18″N 74°45′22″W (40.221741, -74.756138)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.1 square miles (21.1 km²)—7.7 square miles (19.8 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) 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.

Delaware River

Trenton is located in almost the exact center of the state (the official geographic center is 13 miles (21 km) 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, while others consider it a part of the South Jersey and as the northernmost city of the Delaware Valley (Trenton sits on the Delaware River). Locals consider it to be a part of Central Jersey, and thus part of neither region. These same locals are generally split as to whether they are within New York's sphere of influence, or Philadelphia's sphere of influence. Sports fans tend to lean towards Philadelphia when rooting for a team, especially after local football phenom Troy Vincent played for the Eagles. Interstate 95 and Route 1 connect Trenton to New York City and Philadelphia. The part of I-95 that connects New York to Trenton is also the New Jersey Turnpike. The Trenton train station serves as the terminus for both SEPTA's R7 Trenton line (train service to and from Philadelphia) and New Jersey Transit's Northeast Corridor Line (train service to and from Newark Penn Station and New York Penn Station). In terms of local television news coverage, both 6ABC (based in Philadelphia) and News 12 New Jersey (based in Edison, NJ) maintain a news bureau in Trenton. These news bureaus are located in Trenton because it is the capital of New Jersey. In terms of sports, as noted above, both of Trenton's minor league teams (Trenton Thunder and Trenton Devils) are affiliates of major-league professional teams based in the New York metropolitan area (New York Yankees and New Jersey Devils respectively), although the New Jersey Devils have a statewide following, including fans well in South Jersey. However, geographically, Trenton is 25 miles from Philadelphia, while 46 miles from Newark and 55 miles from New York City.

Trenton is one of the only two state capitals which borders another state. The other such capital is Carson City, Nevada, which borders California. Juneau, Alaska, however, borders British Columbia, a province of Canada.

Climate

According to the Koppen climate classification, Trenton enjoys a humid subtropical temperate climate with some marine influence due to the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The four seasons are of approximately equal length, with precipitation fairly evenly distributed through the year. The temperature is rarely below zero or above 100 °F.

During the winter months, temperatures routinely fall below freezing, but rarely fall below 0 °F. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Trenton was -14 °F (-25.6 °C) on February 9, 1934. The average January low is 24 °F (-4.4 °C) and the average January high is 38 °F (3.3 °C). The summers are usually very warm, with temperatures often reaching into the 90 °F's, but rarely reaching into the 100 °F's. The average July low is 67 °F (19.4 °C) and the average July high is 85 °F (29.4 °C). The temperature reaches or exceeds 90 °F on 18 days each year, on average. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Trenton was 106 °F (41.1 °C) on July 9, 1936.

The average precipitation is 45.77 inches (1,163.1 mm) per year, which is fairly evenly distributed through the year. The driest month on average is February, with only 2.87 inches (72.9 mm) of rainfall on average, while the wettest month is July, with 4.82 inches (122.4 mm) of rainfall on average. Rainfall extremes can occur, however. The all-time single-day rainfall record is 7.25 inches (184.1 mm) on September 16, 1999, during the passage of Hurricane Floyd. The all-time monthly rainfall record is 14.55 inches (369.6 mm) in August 1955, due to the passage of Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane. The wettest year on record was 1996, when 67.90 inches (1,720 mm) of rain fell. On the flip side, the driest month on record was October 1963, when only 0.05 inches (1.27 mm) of rain was recorded. The driest year on record was 1957, when only 28.79 inches (731.27 mm) of rain was recorded.

Snowfall can vary even more year-to-year. The average snowfall is 24.9 inches (632.5 mm), but has ranged from as low as 2 inches (50.8 mm) (in the winter of 1918-19) to as high as 76.5 inches (1,943.1 mm) (in 1995-96). The heaviest snowstorm on record was the Blizzard of 1996 on January 7-8, 1996, when 24.2 inches (614.7 mm) buried the city. Snowstorms with accumulations of 12 inches (305 mm) or greater occur on average about once every 5 years.

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Avg high °F (°C)	38 (3.3)	41 (5)	51 (10.5)	61 (16.1)	71 (21.6)	80 (26.6)	85 (29.4)	83 (28.3)	75 (23.8)	64 (17.7)	54 (12.2)	43 (6.1)
Avg low °F (°C)	24 (-4.4)	26 (-3.3)	33 (0.5)	42 (5.5)	52 (11.1)	61 (16.1)	67 (19.4)	65 (18.3)	57 (13.8)	45 (7.2)	37 (2.7)	28 (-2.2)
Average Rainfall in. (mm)	3.7 (94)	2.9 (73.7)	3.8 (96.5)	3.7 (94)	4.2 (106.7)	4.0 (101.6)	4.8 (121.9)	4.1 (104.1)	4.4 (111.8)	3.4 (86.4)	3.3 (83.8)	3.6 (91.4)	45.8 (1163.3)
Source: NCDC

Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Record high °F (°C)	73 (22.7)	76 (24.4)	87 (30.5)	93 (30.5)	99 (37.2)	100 (37.7)	106 (41.1)	105 (40.5)	101 (38.3)	94 (34.4)	83 (28.3)	76 (24.4)
Record low °F (°C)	-13 (-27.2)	-14 (-25.5)	1 (-17.2)	11 (-11.6)	33 (0.5)	41 (5)	48 (8.8)	41 (5)	31 (-0.5)	22 (-5.5)	12 (-11.1)	-7 (-21.6)
Record Daily Rain in. (mm)	2.60 (66)	2.49 (63.2)	2.60 (66)	4.56 (115.8)	4.20 (106.7)	7.00 (177.8)	5.75 (146.05)	5.18 (131.6)	7.25 (184.15)	5.42 (137.7)	2.85 (72.4)	2.59 (65.8)
Source: NCDC

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1810	3,002		—
1820	3,942		31.3%
1830	3,925		−0.4%
1840	4,035		2.8%
1850	6,461		60.1%
1860	17,228		166.6%
1870	22,874		32.8%
1880	29,910		30.8%
1890	57,458		92.1%
1900	73,307		27.6%
1910	96,815		32.1%
1920	119,289		23.2%
1930	123,356		3.4%
1940	124,697		1.1%
1950	128,009		2.7%
1960	114,167		−10.8%
1970	104,638		−8.3%
1980	92,124		−12.0%
1990	88,675		−3.7%
2000	85,403		−3.7%
2006 (est.)	83,923
historical data sources:

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 85,403, people, 29,437 households, and 18,692 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,153.6 people per square mile (4,304.7/km² ). There were 33,843 housing units at an average density of 4,419.9 per square mile (1,705.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 52.06% African American, 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. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21.53% of the population. Non-Hispanic whites made 24.62% of the population.

There were 29,437 households out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.0% were married couples living together, 27.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.75 and the average family size was 3.38.

In the city the population was 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 were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,074, and the median income for a family was $36,681. Males had a median income of $29,721 versus $26,943 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,621. About 17.6% of families and 21.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 26.8% of those under age 18 and 19.5% of those age 65 or over.

Top 10 ethnicities reported during the 2000 Census by percentage

1. African American (52.1)
2. Puerto Rican (10.5)
3. Italian (7.3)
4. Irish (4.5)
5. Polish (3.8)
6. Guatemala (3.1)
7. English (2.0)
8. Jamaican (1.3)
9. Hungarian (1.1)
10. Mexican (1.1)

Neighborhoods

The City of Trenton is home to numerous neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods. The main neighborhoods are taken from the four cardinal directions (North, South, East, and West) Trenton was once home to large Italian, Hungarian, and Jewish communities, but since the 1960s demographic shifts have changed the city into a relatively segregated urban enclave of poorer African Americans. Italians are scattered throughout the city, but a distinct Italian community is centered in the Chambersburg Neighborhood, in South Trenton. This community has been in decline since the 1970s, largely due to economic and social shifts to the more prosperous, less crime-ridden suburbs surrounding the city. There are still a few old time Italians scattered throughout Chambersburg.

The North Ward, once a mecca for the city's middle class, is now one of the most economically distressed, torn apart by race riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968. Nonetheless, the area still retains many important architectural and historic sites. North Trenton has a large Polish-American neighborhood that borders Lawrence Township, many of whom attend St Hedwigs Roman Catholic Church on Brunswick Ave. St. Hedwigs church was built in 1904 by Polish immigrants,many of whose families still attend the church. North Trenton is also home to the historic Shiloh Baptist Church--one of the largest houses of worship in Trenton and the oldest African American church in the city founded in 1888. The church is currently pastored by Rev. Darrell L. Armstrong, whom has carried the olympic torch in 2002 for the Winter Olypics in Salt Lake City. Also located just at the southern tip of North Trenton is the city's Battle Monument, also known as "Five Points". It is a 150 ft. structure that marks the spot where George Washington's Continental Army launched the Battle of Trenton during the American Revolutionary War. It faces downtown Trenton and is a symbol of the city's historic past.

South Ward is the most diverse neighborhood in Trenton and is home to many residents with Latin American, Italian-American, as well as a sizable African American community. The Chambersburg neighborhood is contained within South Ward, and was once noted in the region as a destination for its many Italian restaurants and pizzerias.

East Ward is the smallest neighborhood in Trenton and is home to the Trenton's Train Station as well as Trenton Central High School. Recently, two campuses have been added, Trenton Central High School West and Trenton Central High School North, respectively, in those areas of the city.

West Ward is the home of Trenton's more suburban neighborhoods, including Hiltonia, Glen Afton, Berkeley Square, and the area surrounding Cadwalader Park.

In addition to these neighborhoods, other notable sections include the "The Island" (a small neighborhood between Route 29 and the Delaware River that is prone to flooding - and did so in 2005 and again in 2006) and historic Mill Hill located next door to downtown Trenton. Kingsbury Towers (a high rise apartment complex technically in South Ward) is also semi-autonomous or neutral. the Fisher-Richey-Perdicaris neighborhood comprises a little-known district sandwiched between West State Street and Route 29 with large several-story residences dating from ca. 1915.

Government

Local government

The Old Barracks in Trenton, NJ

The City of Trenton is governed under the Faulkner Act (Mayor-Council) system of municipal government.

Trenton's current Mayor, Douglas Palmer, has been in office since July 1, 1990.

Members of the City Council are:

• Paul M. Pintella - Council President and Councilman At Large
• Annette H. Lartigue - Council Vice President and West Ward Councilwoman
• Milford Bethea - North Ward Councilman
• James H. Coston - South Ward Councilman
• Gino A. Melone - East Ward Councilman
• Manuel Segura - Councilman At Large
• Cordelia M. Staton - Councilwoman At Large

Federal, state and county representation

The New Jersey State House in Trenton is the seat of the New Jersey Legislature.

Trenton is spread across two congressional districts, the Fourth Congressional District and the Twelfth Congressional District, and is part of New Jersey's 15th Legislative District.

For the 118th United States Congress, New Jersey's 4th congressional district is represented by Chris Smith (R, Manchester Township). For the 118th United States Congress, New Jersey's 12th congressional district is represented by Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, Ewing Township). New Jersey is represented in the United States Senate by Democrats Cory Booker (Newark, term ends 2027) and Andy Kim (Moorestown, term ends 2031).

For the 2024-2025 session, the 15th legislative district of the New Jersey Legislature is represented in the State Senate by Shirley Turner (D, Lawrence Township) and in the General Assembly by Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D, Trenton) and Anthony Verrelli (D, Hopewell Township). Template:NJ Governor

Mercer County is governed by a County Executive who oversees the day-to-day operations of the county and by a seven-member Board of County Commissioners that acts in a legislative capacity, setting policy. All officials are chosen at-large in partisan elections, with the executive serving a four-year term of office while the commissioners serve three-year terms of office on a staggered basis, with either two or three seats up for election each year as part of the November general election. As of 2025, the County Executive is Daniel R. Benson (D, Hamilton Township) whose term of office ends December 31, 2027. Mercer County's Commissioners are:

Lucylle R. S. Walter (D, Ewing Township, 2026), Chair John A. Cimino (D, Hamilton Township, 2026), Samuel T. Frisby Sr. (D, Trenton, 2027), Cathleen M. Lewis (D, Lawrence Township, 2025), Vice Chair Kristin L. McLaughlin (D, Hopewell Township, 2027), Nina D. Melker (D, Hamilton Township, 2025) and Terrance Stokes (D, Ewing Township, 2027).

Mercer County's constitutional officers are: Clerk Paula Sollami-Covello (D, Lawrence Township, 2025), Sheriff John A. Kemler (D, Hamilton Township, 2026) and Surrogate Diane Gerofsky (D, Lawrence Township, 2026).

Education

The Trenton Public Schools serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade. The district is one of 31 Abbott Districts statewide.

The Superintendent runs the district and the school board is appointed by the Mayor. The School District has undergone a "construction" renaissance throughout the district. Trenton Central High School is Trenton's only traditional public high school in the city. Trenton also has a host of charter and private schools.

Trenton is the home of two post-secondary institutions, Thomas Edison State College and Mercer County Community College. The College of New Jersey, formerly named Trenton State College, is located in nearby Ewing Township.

Crime

In 2005, there were 31 homicides in Trenton, the largest number in a single year in the city's history, with 22 of the homicides believed to be gang related. The city was named the 4th "Most Dangerous" in 2005 out of 129 cities with a population of 75,000 to 99,999 ranked nationwide. In the 2006 survey, Trenton was ranked as the 14th most dangerous "city" overall out of 371 cities included nationwide in the 13th annual Morgan Quitno survey, and was again named as the fourth most dangerous "city" of 126 cities in the 75,000-99,999 population range.

Trenton's mayor, Douglas Palmer, is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Numbers went down in 2006 to 20 homicides and back up to 25 in 2007 As of June 2008 there have been 16 homicides in Trenton.

Riots of 1968

Many today mark the '68 riots as the last time Trenton was a commercial and residential hub. Historian Charles Webster puts it simply: "The riots that killed Trenton."

The Trenton Riots of 1968 were a major civil disturbance that took place during the week following the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King in Memphis on April 4. Race riots broke out nationwide following the murder of the civil rights activist.

More than 200 Trenton businesses mostly in Downtown, were ransacked and burned.

More than 300 people, most of them young black men, were arrested on charges ranging from assault and arson to looting and violating the mayor's emergency curfew. Most of the assaults were on ill prepared policemen with outdated equipment, including one nearly killed when run over by a truck.

In addition to 16 other injured policemen, 15 firefighters were treated at city hospitals for smoke inhalation, burns, sprains and cuts suffered while fighting raging blazes or for injuries inflicted by rioters. The losses incurred by downtown businesses were estimated at $17 million.

Trenton's Battle Monument neighborhood was hardest hit. Since the 1950s, North Trenton had witnessed a steady exodus of middle-class residents, and the riots spelled the end for North Trenton. By the 1970s, the region had become one of the most blighted and crime-ridden in the city, and remains as such today.

Transportation

City highways include the Trenton Freeway, which is part of U.S. Route 1, and the John Fitch Parkway, which is part of Route 29. Canal Boulevard, more commonly known as Route 129, connects US Route 1 and NJ Route 29 in South Trenton. U.S. Route 206, Route 31, and Route 33 also pass through the city via regular city streets (Broad Street/Brunswick Avenue/Princeton Avenue, Pennington Avenue, and Greenwood Avenue, respectively).

Interstate 95 and Interstate 295 pass through the surrounding suburbs of Ewing Township and Hamilton Township, respectively, and connect in Lawrence Township, thus forming a beltway around the capitol region. Beginning in the mid 1960s, federal and state highway planners envisioned a highway branching off today's Interstate 95 just east of Route 31 and running through the Hopewell Valley and Somerset County to a spot on I-287 in Franklin Township, only a short ride from the New Jersey Turnpike. This plan, which was known as the Somerset Freeway, intended to allow motorists and truckers to completely avoid the New York Metropolitan Area when traveling north on either I-95 or the New Jersey Turnpike to New England or Upstate New York from Philadelphia and points south. However, as the expressway plan gained momentum in the late 1970s, community opposition grew. Residents of Hopewell, Princeton, Piscataway and Montgomery Townships banded together, organized and lobbied local politicians to scrap the I-95, I-287 link. Their cause was aided when Tom Kean won the gubernatorial election of 1981. Upon taking office, Kean successfully convinced President Ronald Reagan and New Jersey’s two Senators to "de-designate" the funding for the Somerset Freeway.

Interstate 195 connects the city to the New Jersey Turnpike via NJ Routes 29 and 129. The Pennsylvania Turnpike also passes close to the city.

Public transportation within and beyond the city is mostly provided by New Jersey Transit, in the form of local bus routes between nearby suburbs and the city, as well as commuter train service northward from the Trenton Rail Station along the Northeast Corridor to Newark and New York. The new River Line diesel light rail line extends from Trenton southward to Camden, with Trenton stations at Cass Street, Hamilton Avenue and at the Trenton Rail Station. SEPTA provides commuter train service southward from the Trenton Station along the Northeast Corridor to Philadelphia and provides 1 bus route to Neshaminy Mall.

Long-distance transportation is provided by Amtrak train service along the Northeast Corridor. Limited commercial airline transportation is provided at nearby Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing; much more extensive airline service is available at the more distant international airports in Newark (reachable by direct New Jersey Transit or Amtrak rail link) and Philadelphia.

Media

Trenton is served by The Times (of Trenton), one of the more prominent newspapers of central New Jersey, and the Trentonian. Radio station WKXW is also licensed to Trenton.

Sports

Club	League	Venue	Affiliate	Established	Championships
Trenton Thunder	EL, Baseball	Mercer County Waterfront Park	New York Yankees	1994	1
Trenton Devils	ECHL, Ice hockey	Sovereign Bank Arena	New Jersey Devils	1999	1

Points of interest

• Friends Burying Ground
• Trenton Barracks
• New Jersey State Museum
• Chambersburg

Noted residents

Some well-known Americans who were born and/or have lived in Trenton or its suburbs include:

• George Antheil (1900-1959), pianist, composer, writer, inventor
• Henry W. Antheil, Jr. (1912-1940), diplomatic code clerk, honored for service to United States
• Samuel Alito, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• New Atlantic, alternative rock band
• Bo Belinsky, former professional baseball player
• Elvin Bethea (1936-), Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end who played his entire NFL career with the Houston Oilers.
• John T. Bird (1829-1911), represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district from 1869 to 1873.
• James Bishop (1816-1895), represented New Jersey's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1855-1857.
• Edward Bloor, novelist
• Steve Braun, former professional baseball player
• Betty Bronson, actress
• J. Hart Brewer (1844-1900), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1881 to 1885.
• James Buchanan (1839-1900) represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district from 1885 to 1893.
• Shawn Corey Carter (a.k.a. Jay Z), rap mogul, CEO
• George Case, former outfielder for the Washington Senators.
• Terrance Cauthen (1976-), Lightweight boxer who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
• David Dinkins, first black mayor of New York City.
• Al Downing, former professional baseball player
• Samuel Gibbs French, Major General in the Confederate States Army.
• Dave Gallagher, former professional baseball player
• Tom Guiry, actor
• Charles R. Howell (1904-1973), represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1949 to 1955.
• Elijah C. Hutchinson (1855-1932), represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district from 1915–1923.
• William J. Johnston (1918-1990), Medal of Honor recipient for gallantry during World War II.
• Dahntay Jones (1980-), professional basketball player
• Patrick Kerney (1976-), professional football player
• Tad Kornegay (1982-) defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League.
• Ernie Kovacs (1919-1962), comedian
• Judith Light (1949-), actress
• Nia Long (1970-), actress
• Craig Mack (1971-), rapper
• N. Gregory Mankiw (1958-), macroeconomist.
• D. Lane Powers (1896-1968), represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1933 to 1945.
• Poor Righteous Teachers, hip-hop group
• Dennis Rodman (1961-), former professional basketball star
• Bob Ryan, sportswriter, regular contributor on the ESPN show Around the Horn
• Daniel Bailey Ryall, United States Representative from New Jersey, in office from 1839-1841.
• Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Central Command in the Gulf War
• Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
• Charles Skelton (1806-1879), represented New Jersey's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855.
• Sommore, comedian
• Robert Stempel, former chairman and CEO of General Motors.
• Jon Stewart, Comedian
• Gary Stills, professional football player
• Mike Tiernan, major league baseball player
• Troy Vincent (1971-), professional football player, current president of the NFL Players Association
• Allan B. Walsh (1874-1953), represented the 4th congressional district from 1913 to 1915.
• Charlie Weis (1956-), Notre Dame football coach.
• Ira W. Wood (1856-1931), represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district from 1904 to 1913.

External links

• City of Trenton website
• Trenton local community news
• Trenton Public Schools
• School Performance Reports for the Trenton Public Schools, New Jersey Department of Education
• Data for the Trenton Public Schools, National Center for Education Statistics
• Trenton Historical Society
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Trenton, New Jersey
• US Census Data for Trenton, NJ