1914: THE TRENTON BELL TELEPHONE BUILDING

A landmark building. This 100 year old article from the Trenton Times shines a little known light on just a bit of the battle of Trenton. Those of us who are familiar with the Trenton of the 20's through the early 1950's will agree that the Bell Telephone building was one of our "sky scraper" landmarks. It is interesting to know that the plaque illustrated above, along with a cannoball from the battle, were proudly displayed by that grand old lady all of us old timers know as the much missed, late, lamented "Ma Bell." Remember those olive green Bell utility trucks? Remember party lines? Remember Bell operator sitting side by side at the huge console, earphone-speakers on their heads, as they plugged into that console to complete a call? But most of all, do you remember when you made a phone call, the person on the other end of the line answered the phone......with no voice mail?

1893: ST. MICHAEL'S P.E. CHURCH A CRITICAL PART OF THE BATTLE OF TRENTON

 Just in time for Trenton's annual "Patriots' Day" celebration, here is a graphic of one of the major players in the battle of Trenton. Fortunately, St. Michael's P.E. church has survived the years and stands proudly on North Warren Street in downtown Trenton. LIttle Tommy Glover was confirmed in this church way back in his early youth. The magnificent landmark played a very critical part in the battle of Trenton. This engraving is from an October 1893 newspaper telling of the dedication of the Battle Monument.

1800's: TRENTON DESTROYS HISTORIC REVOLUTIONARY WAR LANDMARKS

The Hamilton Township Public Library's Local History Collection honors Trenton's upcoming "Patriots' Week" celebration with these two graphics which picture and give historic background information on two of the main players in the battle of Trenton. One must wonder what ever possessed the town fathers back then from destroying rather than preserving these two historic Revolutionary War structures. Those who are not history minded would dismiss those of us who are for historic preservation with the lame excuse that "progress" is more important than preservation. How sad!

1914: HISTORIC PLAQUE ON THE HISTORIC TRENTON BELL TELEPHONE BUILDING

That great old Bell Telephone building is a very familiar site to those of us who recall the buildings in the city of Trenton of the mid 20th century and before. Today, the cityscape is completely different as large, glass encrusted office building replace many of the old Trenton landmarks. The Bell building has survived.

1876: "PATRIOT'S WEEK" 1876

This fascinating look at the events surrounding the 100th anniversary of the Revolutionary Ware and the town of Trenton gives a pretty complete portrait of the activities that were part of the celebration. Unfortunately, the page had a hole in it and a small part of the original text is missing.

1893: DEDICATION OF TRENTON'S BATTLE MONUMENT

 

The above graphics have been extracted and enhanced using the available engravings and information from the 1893 October "MONUMENT EDITION" in the Trenton "DAILY TRUE AMERICAN" newspaper. I have added the color and other outside graphics. The week following Christmas will be Trenton's annual celebration of "PATRIOT'S WEEK."

1917: HAMILTON SQUARE'S REVOLUTIONARY WAR MARTYR

,I dare say that only a select few know the story of Reverend John Rosbrugh, Pastor of the Hamilton Square Presbyterian Church during the Revolutionary War. As you can see by his story, he was brutally murdered by one of the Hessian Soldiers who were on duty during a time when the Reverend dined in Trenton.

1884: DEMOLITION OF THE ABRAHAM HUNT HOUSE

I will never understand the town fathers of yesteryear, as they systematically destroyed so many incredibly historic buildings in the city of Trenton. Like Philadelphia's "Old Town," Trenton could have also been a city with buildings which were preserved and maintained as an extensive historic district. Can you imagine any contemporary historian who would approve of demolishing a Revolutionary War landmark like the Hunt House? Or the old Academy? Or Mahlon Stacy's Mill? I cringe at the thought. Gone forever, replaced by a huge Masonic building, then a bank.

Un-Dated: Hessian House = St. Michael's P.E. Church

If there is any redeeming value in this website's humble effort to focus on the fascinating history of the Mercer County area, it lies in illustrating the graphics of little publicized persons, places and things from the past; most of which are hidden deep in the pages of old, fading newspapers or scratchy microfilm. The "Central House" graphic above gives a fascinating look at an historic building which once occupied the site of the St. Michael's P.E. Church graveyard.

1870: C.C. Havens on the 2nd Battle of Trenton