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Capital of New Jersey · Mercer County · capital since 1790 · 40.2°N 74.8°W
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, at the falls of the Delaware River, became New Jersey's permanent capital in 1790 and served briefly as the capital of the United States in 1784. Newark, 50 miles northeast, is the largest city in the state.
Where Trenton is
Trenton is the seat of Mercer County, at 40.22°N, 74.76°W, on the east bank of the Delaware River at the fall line, where the river drops from the Piedmont to the coastal plain and stops being tidal. Pennsylvania is on the opposite bank. The city is roughly midway between New York and Philadelphia and about 10 miles southwest of Princeton. Elevation is about 50 ft. Its industrial past is recorded on the Lower Trenton Bridge in the slogan "Trenton Makes, the World Takes," lit since 1935. Trenton is on Eastern Time.
How it became the capital
Colonial New Jersey had two capitals, Perth Amboy for East Jersey and Burlington for West Jersey, and the assembly alternated between them until the Revolution. Washington's crossing of the Delaware and surprise attack on the Hessian garrison at Trenton on December 26, 1776, made the town famous. The Continental Congress met here from November to December 1784 and considered making it the national capital. The state legislature settled on Trenton as its permanent seat in 1790.
Population
Trenton had 90,871 residents in 2020, the tenth-largest municipality in New Jersey. Newark, the largest, had 311,549, and Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth and Edison are also larger. Mercer County as a whole has about 387,000 people, and the city is on the boundary between the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan regions.
The capitol
The New Jersey State House on West State Street was begun in 1792, making it the second-oldest state capitol in continuous use after Maryland's. It has been enlarged and rebuilt many times: the front on State Street dates from 1889, and the gold-leafed dome from the same rebuilding after an 1885 fire. A four-year restoration of the executive wing was completed in 2023. The building backs directly onto the Delaware River.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia, PA | southwest | about 35 mi |
| Newark, NJ | northeast | about 50 mi |
| New York, NY | northeast | about 60 mi |
Related maps
- New Jersey map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- New Jersey county map · blank New Jersey map · printable New Jersey map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- Northeast region · Middle Atlantic division · Eastern Time Zone.