Historic Happenings Blog

Sunday, January 19 – Mercer County Needham Roberts – Trenton’s Own War Hero Learn about the Harlem Hellfighter who was the first American to be given the Croix de Guerre      The Trent House Association presents  Needham Roberts – Trenton’s Own World War I Hero  in a talk about the life and times of this African American Trenton native in an era of racial tension and injustice. The program will begin at  2 pm on Sunday, January 19, 2020, at the William Trent House   Museum, 15 Market Street (across from the Hughes Justice Complex), Trenton, NJ 08611.      Born and raised in Trenton, Needham Roberts was 17 when he enlisted in the Harlem Hellfighters. He and his fellow Hellfighter William Johnson were awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Purple Heart for their actions fighting off a German patrol in France in 1918. Regardless of these achievements, they and their fellow African American soldiers returned to the United St...

Hogmanay 2019 Saturday, December 28, 2019 1:00 PM Enjoy the FREE Annual  Celebration of Hogmanay  at The  Trent House on  Saturday, December 28, at 1 pm  Hogmanay at the Trent House is held during Trenton’s Patriot’s Week. This year, it is scheduled between the two battle re-enactments, so you can make it an all day affair! It is a free event for the whole family.  Make a wish for the New year with us as we celebrate William Trent’s Scottish heritage at the House he built 300 years ago! Enjoy the Open House decorated for the season by the Trenton Garden Club  Hear bagpipers and 18th century Scottish songs with, “Liberty Tree” (Stacy Roth and Bob Dupre), and our esteemed Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson reminisces about Hogmanay in her childhood home of Scotland.  Enjoy hot mulled cider, eggnog and Scottish snacks and holiday sweets

Saturday,  December  7 – Mercer County Music of Scotland in the 1719 William Trent House Listen to music that the founder of Trenton likely enjoyed in the house he built in 1719       The Trent House Association presents  The Practitioners of Musick  in a performance honoring the Scottish heritage of William Trent and celebrating the 300th anniversary of the house he built at the Falls of the Delaware in 1719. The program, “Caledonia,” will include music for recorder and harpsichord composed by Bremner, Oswald, and Ramsey, among other Scottish masters, and will be performed in the historic house. The program will begin at  2 pm on Saturday, December 7, 2019, at the William Trent House   Museum, 15 Market Street (across from the Hughes Justice Complex), Trenton, NJ 08611.     Born in Inverness, Scotland, William Trent immigrated to Philadelphia and established himself as a very successful shipping mercha...

Saturday, December 7 - Trenton, Mercer County Holiday Open House and Greens Sale On Saturday from 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm, tour the magnificent 1719 Trent House Museum, decorated for the holidays by the talented members of the Garden Club of Trenton. The Trent House Museum Shop features special items and seasonal gifts. Seasonal refreshments will be provided for our guests all afternoon in the Carriage House/Visitor Center. Beautifully designed table arrangements and decorated wreaths will be for sale, created by the Garden Club of Trenton. Cut Christmas trees, undecorated wreaths and loose fresh magnolia branches will also be available for sale and awaiting your own creative touch. Event proceeds will benefit the curatorial work and educational programming of the non-profit Trent House Association. The greens sale will be open from 12:00 noon - 5:0 pm. The Trent House Museum Shop will feature special items and seasonal gifts at a discounted rate. Seasonal refreshments will be provide...

School Segregation in Trenton: the Higbee Street School Sunday, November 3, 2019, at 2 PM – 3 PM 1719 William Trent House Museum 15 Market St, Trenton, New Jersey 08611 Presentation by Lisa Toro Built-in 1857, the Higbee Street School was the first educational institution specifically constructed for the free public education of African-American students in Trenton and among the earliest such schools built in New Jersey. 

June 22-November 3 – Mercer County The Immigrant Experience A celebration of 300 years of Trenton history On display June 22 – November 3, 2019 Opening Reception June 22, 2019 6 - 8 pm Sculpture Exhibit on the grounds of The 1719 William Trent House 15 Market St., Trenton, NJ 08611  The Trent House Association presents a sculpture exhibit on the grounds of the William Trent House Museum,  15 Market Street, Trenton, New Jersey.  The Immigrant Experience is on display from June 22 – November 3, 2019, with a reception open to the general public on June 22, 2019, from 6 – 8 pm. Once settlers from across the ocean began to inhabit the lands of the Lenape on the banks of the Delaware, Trenton has been home to immigrants: both to those who came here willingly, seeking jobs and opportunity for a better life, and to those who came here under duress. The William Trent House, its inhabitants, its surroundings and its circumstances represent that history. It is the history of th...

Saturday, October 19 – Mercer County Princeton Preservation Group Presents History and Preservation of the William Trent House 1719 William Trent House, 15 Market Street, Trenton, NJ 2:00 p.m. Speaker: Kevin Joy, Historic Preservationist     The 1719 home of Trenton’s namesake, William Trent, is the topic of this program. The William Trent House, now a museum, is significant historically and architecturally. In the course of its 300-year existence, it has seen many structural changes, in spite of which it remains remarkably intact. In this lecture, Kevin Joy will present a brief history of the house, an overview of its architecture, and examine in detail structural changes over the years. He will also discuss recent rehabilitations and the conservation and preservation challenges faced in maintaining an antique house museum. An optional tour of the house will be conducted after the program.    Kevin Joy is a retired NYC Music Business Executive an...

Saturday, October 12 – Mercer County Talk, Book Signing, and Treats – A Taste of History Learn about the foods and food habits of colonial America from the renowned chef of Philadelphia’s City Tavern      The Trent House Association is honored to host Chef Walter Staib for a talk and book signing as part of the celebration of the historic house’s 300 th  anniversary. A third-generation restaurateur with more than four decades of culinary experience, Chef Walter Staib is an author, Emmy Award-winning TV host, James Beard-nominated chef and culinary historian. He is currently the driving force behind Philadelphia’s City Tavern, a faithful recreation of an original 18th-century tavern, host of  A Taste of History©  on PBS and author of four cookbooks for sale and signing before and after the lecture.  The program will begin at  4 pm on October 12, 2019, in the Chapel of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 801 West State Street, Trenton, NJ 08618 . ...

Saturday, September 21 – Mercer County The Colonial Tea Parties- Boston and More! Lecture and Tea Tasting September 21 1-3 p.m. At the Visitor Center The 1719 William Trent House 15 Market Street, Trenton, NJ 08611     The Trent House Association presents an illustrated lecture and tea tasting, featuring Michael Raab, co- founder and owner of Tea-For-All.    Tea stirred up controversy when the Tea Act of 1773 was passed by Parliament to save the British East Indies Company from bankruptcy and to demonstrate the right of Parliament to tax the colonists. On December 16 th , the “Sons of Liberty” tossed 340 chests of tea into the Boston harbor.      Join us to learn more about the importance of tea as the focal point for protests in the colonies. Our guest lecturer will discuss the events leading up to the Boston Tea Party and he will also discuss similar acts of civil disobedience that occurred throughout the colonies, including several in...

Sunday, July 21 -- Mercer County Pittsburgh's Lost Outpost: Captain Trent's Fort Hear about the life and times of the son of Trenton's founder in the years before the American Revolution Trenton, NJ  -- The Trent House Association hosts Jason Cherry, author of a recently published account of Captain William Trent as he led a militia company to establish a fort on the far frontier of the English colonies in the 1750s. The program will begin at  12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 21, 2019, at the 1719 William Trent House  (15 Market Street, Trenton, NJ, 08611).  In the year 1754, before a young George Washington would set the world on fire, trader William Trent, son of William Trent of Trent's Town at the Falls of the Delaware, and his hired volunteers would begin an outpost at the Forks of the Ohio. This would not only lay the foundation for the conflict known as the Seven Years War in Europe and the French and Indian War in the colonies, but also began the early remnants of ...

Sunday, April 7 – Mercer County The Mystery of the Shoe in the Roof: Panel Discussion Sunday, April 7, 2019 2 – 4 pm William Trent House Visitor Center Experts on concealed objects, Early American shoes, and the architecture of the Trent House to explore why, when, and how a shoe was hidden in the House roof    In early 2018, when contractors were preparing to repair the cornice on the north side of the 1719 William Trent House, they were surprised to find an old leather shoe tucked behind the soffit. Who put it there? When? Why?  The experts weigh in during a panel discussion to explore the mystery surrounding the early American shoe. The program on Sunday, April 7, 2019, from 2 – 4 pm at the William Trent House Museum Visitor Center is presented by the Trent House Association.     Chris Manning is presenting her Master’s thesis research on the custom, originating in Europe and found in the eastern and Midwestern United States, of hiding talismans, su...

Saturday, March 30 – Mercer County If These Stones Could Talk : Reading and Book Signing Local authors document the history of African American families in New Jersey’s Sourland Mountains communities Trenton, NJ  (For immediate release)—The Trent House Association welcomes  Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills, authors of the recently released If These Stones Could Talk:  African American Presence in the Hopewell Valley, Sourland Mountain and Surrounding Region in New Jersey  for a presentation and reading, followed by discussion and book signing.  The program will be from 1:00- 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 30, at the Trent House Museum, 15 Market Street, Trenton, New Jersey. If These Stones Could Talk  brings fresh light to a forgotten corner of American history that begins in a small cemetery in central New Jersey.  Authors of  If These Stones Could Talk  Elaine Buck and Beverly Mills started their journey through the past as two middle aged Afric...

Sunday, December 30 - Trenton, Mercer County Sunday's Patriots Week Events Colonial Church Service -  10:00 - 11:00 am First Presbyterian Church of Trenton, 120 East State Street Experience a Colonial service at one of Trenton's oldest landmarks. Organized in 1712, the original First Presbyterian Church  was built at its current location on Second (now State) Street in 1727 and used by the Hessians during 1776-77. The current  building dates from 1827. No admission fee.  www.old1712.org St. Michael's Restoration Tour -  12:00 - 1:00 pm St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 140 North Warren Street Organized in 1703 and built sometime before 1748, St. Michael's is the oldest Episcopal church in this area and one of the  oldest in New Jersey. Some of the fighting during the Battle of Trenton took place in its yard. Tour this magnificent historic  landmark and its restorations.  No admission fee. Trenton in 1775: Historic Tour led by Dr. Sharon Ann Holt -...

Saturday, December 29 - Trenton, Mercer County Saturday's Patriots Week Events In 1776, the tide turning Battles of the American Revolution were waged on the streets and in the fields of downtown Trenton. Join the salute to Trenton’s past, commemorate the passion of the patriots who fought for American Independence, and honor the spirit of revolution and patriotism that flourishes today. Concerts, tours, performances, presentations, exhibits, hands-on activities, and book signings bring Colonial history into the modern age and draw a dynamic mix of families, history buffs, reenactors and culture seekers to New Jersey’s Capital. Patriots’ Week is produced by the Trenton Downtown Association, in partnership with the Old Barracks Museum, which has been staging the Battle of Trenton Reenactments for more than 20 years. A collaboration of both city and state cultural and history organizations, Patriots’ Week programming reflects the quality of the Capital’s resources and provides a publ...