History Beneath Trenton's Feet

Sponsored by New Jersey State Museum

• Location: New Jersey
• Travel Type: Driving/Walking
• Tour Duration: 1 hour
• Language:

About This Tour

Imagine you are standing on the banks of the Delaware River looking at the newly built Trent house in 1719. The area around this house would soon be the capital city of Trenton. Fast forward 300 years, and Trenton itself has transformed into a busy, industrialized state capital. Urban development, namely state government buildings, have changed the face of this once
small rural country town. However, remnants of the past still lay beneath our feet as archaeologists continue to find intact sites and features helping to piece together the story of a capital city.
This mobile audio tour takes you to several locations throughout the city where archaeologists have uncovered significant sites. You’ll stand at the spot where indigenous peoples camped and
made stone tools, where the city powered its water, and where a stoneware potter produced mugs and jugs.

Some of the most significant sites mentioned in this tour include:
· An intact prehistoric feature from 1000 BCE to AD 0 years ago underneath a manicured park.
· The early building that housed the New Jersey State Archives and the clerk for the State Supreme Court.
· One of only 5 steel furnaces in the American Colonies, and the only one to be professionally excavated.
· The location of one of Trenton’s noteworthy stoneware potteries.

Throughout the tour, you’ll be introduced to significant archaeological sites and important individuals in Trenton, including:
· The Old Barracks
· Mahlon Stacy and William Trent
· The New Jersey State House
· Prehistoric Indigenous sites

Tour Sponsor

This mobile audio tour is brought to you by the New Jersey State Museum, through the support
of the NJ State Museum Foundation, a nonprofit organization, with grants from the New Jersey
Council for the Humanities and NJM Insurance Group.

Find More Tours Near You
If you are interested in more nearby audio tours about the American Revolution, you’ll enjoy the British
Evacuation of Philadelphia and Ten Crucial Days. Also nearby is the Stories of The Delaware River tour. To find more tours in New Jersey — or wherever your travels may take you — visit TravelStorys.com. Every place has a story!