Capital Industry

Don't let the sloping lawn and park-like setting deceive you. A natural stream, Petty's Run, flowed in a steep ravine at this spot, joining the Delaware River just beyond where the War Memorial sits today. Native Americans camped along the bluffs here, hunting, fishing, preparing food and tools. In the colonial period, Petty's Run defined the western limits of the town of Trenton and powered an iron and steel works. The stream was bridged in the late 18th century opening up the State House lot and surrounding area for development. In the 19th century, Petty's Run powered more industry - a cotton mill and then a paper mill - before being enclosed and made a part of the city's storm sewer system. Town houses and row homes, erected in the 19th century, were demolished in the early 20th century to make way for Mahlon Stacy Park, which, in essence, still survives today. The timeline below places the Petty's Run site within the broader context of New Jersey History.

Iron and SteelA water-powered forge was built on the east side of Petty's Run in the early 1730s and destroyed in 1777. A steel furnace was erected across the run in the mid-1740s, staying intermittently in operation until 1784.

1719The William Trent House was built for the Trent family, for whom Trenton is named. This find brick mansion, the city's oldest surviving building, is located on the south side of the Assunpink Creek about one-half mile south of here.

1758The Old Barracks, in front of you to the left, was established as a British military base on the frontier during the French and Indian War. The largest building in the town for many years, the barracks could accommodate close to 300 soldiers.

1776Two battles fought in the streets of Trenton, on December 26, 1776 and January 2, 1777, saw the tide of the Revolutionary War begin to turn in favor of the American cause of liberty.

1784For 54 days, from November 1 until December 24, 1784, Trenton was the nation's capital. The First Continental Congress met at the French Arms Tavern on the southwest corner of State and Warren Streets.

State House and StreetsShortly after the New Jersey State House was completed in 1792 access to the new seat of state government was improved by extending West Front Street through the Old Barracks to the State House Lot. This required construction of a stone bridge over Petty's Run that survives today buried beneath several feet of fill.

1790Trenton was designated capital of the State of New Jersey by an act of the legislature on November 25. The State House, designed and constructed by master builder Jonathan Doan, opened for business almost two years later on October 29, 1792, although work on the building continued for another three years.

1804This map, prepared for local landowner Daniel W. Coxe, shows the State House Lot. Petty's Run and the extension of West Front Street. At this time the State House was situated on the western edge of town and was beginning to encourage Trenton's expansion upstream along the banks of the Delaware River.

1789On April 21, George Washington traveled through Trenton en route to his inauguration as first President of the United States. Passing beneath a triumphal arch erected on the bridge over Assunpink Creek, he was welcomed and serenaded by the rapturous ladies of Trenton.

1800In the early 1790s, yellow fever gripped the nation's capital in Philadelphia. The many country estates located upriver along the Delaware at Trenton were a welcome retreat for the wealthy.

Cotton and PaperBeginning in the second decade of the 19th century this section of Petty's Run experienced a rebirth of water-powered industry. A short-lived cotton mill, out of business before 1820, was followed by a more successful paper mill established in 1827 with the financial backing of Garret D. Wall.

1826This watercolor view of the Delaware River at Trenton, painted by Robert Montgomery Bird from a vantage point close to where you are standing, shows the flats at the mouth of Assunpink Creek, Coxe's mills beside the Trent House, and the first bridge over the Delaware built in 1804-06.

1851By the early 1850s, Trenton's waterfront was developing rapidly. This section of a lithograph shows the State House and mills along the Trenton Water Power, a canal that ran along the Delaware riverbank.

1839The Trenton to New Brunswick branch of the Camden and Amboy Railroad began operation. One of the Camden and Amboy's best known railroad engines was the John Bull, now on display at the Smithsonian Institution.

1845Peter Cooper (1791-1883), industrialist and philanthropist, founded a succession of companies in Trenton, notably the Trenton Iron Company and the Trenton Water Company. These propelled Trenton into a center of manufacturing in the Industrial Revolution.

Residences and Row HomesWater-powered industry wound down in the later 19th century as steam, electricity and other forms of energy became more widespread. The block bounded by West State, South Willow, West Front and Delaware Streets was redeveloped for residential purposes and Petty's Run was placed in a culvert.

1900The neighborhood between the State House and the Old Barracks took on a strong residential flavor. Sanitary improvements saw Petty's Run incorporated into the city-wide sewer system.

1909Henry Kelsey, New Jersey's Secretary of State, engaged architect Cass Gilbert to design a vocational school. Completed in 1911 and known as the School of Industrial Arts, this Renaissance Revival building overlooks the Petty's Run site from the corner of West State and Barrack Streets.

1885The Calhoun Street Bridge was built by the Phoenix Bridge Company using its innovative hollow iron columns. The bridge's private owner, the Trenton City Bridge Company, charged a toll until 1928 when the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission purchased the bridge and allowed travelers free passage.

1889Trenton was a national leader in the manufacture of pottery in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Etruria Pottery, established at the height of the Civil War in 1863, was the home of Ott and Brewer, makers of fine porcelain and tablewares from 1871 to 1892.

Mahlon Stacy ParkEarly in the 20th century, the State of New Jersey sought to provide the State House with surroundings befitting the seat of government for one of the country's wealthiest states. The design of Mahlon Stacy Park, named for Trenton's founding settler, adopted the principles of the City Beautiful movement.

1915The core of Mahlon Stacy Park was created between 1912 and 1916. This involved demolition of buildings, construction of a riverfront wall and extensive filling. When fully completed in the 1920s, the park extended from the Assunpink upstream to the neighborhood known as "the Island."

1920Within Mahlon Stacy Park the old canal known as the Trenton Water Power was transformed into Sanhican Creek. This linear water feature flowed along the base of the bluff below the State House and into the Assunpink Creek.

1932The landmark Art Deco concert hall known as the Soldiers and Sailors War Memorial opened to honor local veterans of World War I.

1965A major expansion of the Capitol Complex took place in the early 1960s with the creation of the Cultural Center next to the State House. Designed in the New Formalist style, this group of buildings comprises the State Library, the State Museum, the Planetarium and the Auditorium.

Untitled Last ColumnThe jumble of ruins in the pit before you, revealed by archaeological excavations in 2008-09, are a microcosm of Trenton's rich industrial history and the role of water power in the Industrial Revolution. Experience this history and learn more detail about the Petty's Run Archaeological Site as you walk around the pathway loop.

For almost a year archaeologists peeled back layers of history, exposing foundations, recovering artifacts and documenting all that was found through surveying, scale drawing and photography. Thick earth deposits and later masonry features were removed with the help of a backhoe. More delicate excavation was conducted by hand with picks, shovels and trowels.

Excavation in the deeper reaches of the site, notably the paper mill wheel pit, seen here, required a combination of mechanical and manual digging of waterlogged soils. Pumps removed water while archaeologists clad in waders shoveled mud from the timber remains of the turbine box.

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Show me all markers in:  Trenton, NJ  |  Mercer County  |  08608  |  New Jersey  |  United States of America

The Trenton Steel Works
West Front Street
State House
The Story of Trenton
Front Street Paper Mill
Old Steel Mill
Changing Landscapes Along Petty's Run
Petty's Run
The Archives of the State
Isaac Harrow's Plating and Blade Mill

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