Changing Neighborhood Landscape

The neighborhood around the Trent House underwent changes in both land use and population from the mid-late 19th century into the 20th century. To the west of the Trent House between Bloomsbury/Fair Street and the Delaware River, factories and other industrial enterprises became located, while smaller retail and commercial business were embedded in working class neighborhoods to the south, west, and north.

View to the northeast pre-1930, Trent House property outlined in blue. Courtesy of Hunter Research.

The year 1880 marks the beginning of the "Great Immigration" (1881-1914) during which millions of newcomers, primarily from southern and eastern Europe, came to the United States. During this period many Russian and Eastern European immigrants settled in Trenton. The neighborhood immediately to the east of the Trent House property was first the home of Western European immigrants and their descendants, changing to a Russian Jewish neighborhood. ​

From analysis of 1880 to 1950 Population Census data for neighborhood to east of Trent House, compiled and analyzed by Hannah Lee.

Photograph of Kohn's Bakery, courtesy of Art Finkle.

During the Great Depression, the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation was created to assist homeowners in getting access to financing. One strategy was to categorize neighborhoods in cities based on their assumed creditworthiness for government-insured loans. Four categories were identified and mapped in many cities, including Trenton, from green for the most desirable, blue for still desirable, yellow for declining, and red for high risk. The primary factor was the percent African American or immigrant residents. 

Sanborn Map, 1950. Current boundaries of Trent House Museum property indicated in red.

The impact of "redlining" was felt in the Trent House neighborhood and by the 1950s there were many vacant lots and deteriorating buildings. In the 1960s Trenton underwent "urban renewal" and the structures surrounding the Trent House were demolished, displacing approximately 400 individuals. By 1982 a large state office building was constructed to the east of the Trent House property.​

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Aerial photograph with Trent House surrounded by trees on the left, circa 1970.

Aerial view of Trent House property on the left and the Hughes Justice Complex on the right.