Lower Trenton Bridge
Encyclopedia
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
between Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton is the capital of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Trenton had a population of 84,913...
and Morrisville, Pennsylvania
Morrisville, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Morrisville is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,728 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Morrisville is located at . It is situated on the Delaware River directly across from Trenton, New Jersey...
, owned by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission
The Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission is a bistate, public agency charged with providing safe, dependable and efficient river crossings between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The DRJTBC was established under legislation enacted in the two states in 1934. The federal Compact for the...
(DRJTBC). It is known as the Trenton Makes Bridge because of large lettering on the south side reading "TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES", installed in 1935. In addition to being an important bridge from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, it is a major landmark in the city of Trenton.
As one goes downstream, this bridge is the last free vehicular crossing of the Delaware. Although it is owned by the DRJTBC, no toll is collected. All downstream vehicular crossings are tolled.
History
The bridge was originally a toll bridgeToll bridge
A toll bridge is a bridge over which traffic may pass upon payment of a toll, or fee.- History :The practice of collecting tolls on bridges probably harks back to the days of ferry crossings where people paid a fee to be ferried across stretches of water. As boats became impractical to carry large...
operated by the Trenton Delaware Bridge Company. It opened on January 30, 1806, and was the first bridge across the Delaware.
In 1835 the Camden and Amboy Rail Road bought the bridge and the competing Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad
Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad
The Philadelphia and Trenton Railroad was a railroad from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Trenton, New Jersey that became part of the Pennsylvania Railroad system. The majority of it is now part of Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.-History:...
to end the rivalry and the attempts by the P&T to put tracks over the bridge. The extension over the bridge was built soon after, and it was later connected to the C&A. At the time, the Lower Trenton Bridge was the first railroad bridge in the United States to be used for interstate rail traffic. The bridge was rebuilt in 1875, 1876, 1892, and 1898 to keep up with the growing demands of rail traffic. A new alignment for the railroad was completed in 1903, crossing the river on the Morrisville-Trenton Railroad Bridge
Morrisville-Trenton Railroad Bridge
The Morrisville–Trenton Railroad Bridge carries the Amtrak Northeast Corridor, SEPTA Trenton Line and empty trains for NJ Transit's Northeast Corridor rail lines across the Delaware River between Morrisville, Pennsylvania and Trenton, New Jersey.-History:...
. At this point, roadway trusses dating to 1876 were left in place while railroad girders built in 1892 and 1898 were relocated to the Long Bridge in Washington, D.C.
On March 31, 1918 the bridge, then owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....
, was sold to the state governments and tolls were removed. The company was dissolved September 15, 1919 in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and June 9, 1920 in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. With the removal of tolls, the Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway was the first road across the United States of America.Conceived and promoted by entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, the Lincoln Highway spanned coast-to-coast from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco, originally through 13 states: New York, New Jersey,...
was moved to the bridge from the tolled Calhoun Street Bridge
Calhoun Street Bridge (Trenton)
The Calhoun Street Toll Supported Bridge is a historic bridge connecting Calhoun Street in Trenton, New Jersey across the Delaware River to East Trenton Avenue in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville, Pennsylvania in 1884...
in 1920. The bridge was then designated US 1 in 1927; it was replaced by the current bridge in 1928. In 1952 US 1 was moved to the new Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge
Trenton-Morrisville Toll Bridge
The Trenton–Morrisville Toll Bridge is one of three road bridges connecting Trenton, New Jersey with Morrisville, Pennsylvania. Opened in 1952, it carries U.S. Route 1 and is owned and operated by the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. This bridge's toll plaza was originally configured to...
, and for a time the old bridge was designated Alternate US 1. It is now marked as Business US 1, but only on the New Jersey side.
The "TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES" sign on the south side of the bridge was installed in 1935 and first replaced in 1981. In 2005, the sign was replaced with one featuring higher-efficiency neon lighting, with better water proofing than the old sign, to help reduce maintenance costs. The slogan was originally "The World Takes, Trenton Makes" and came from a contest sponsored by the Trenton Chamber of Commerce in 1910. S. Roy Heath, the former Heath Lumber founder and New Jersey State Senator, coined the phrase.
Spotting
The sign is easily spotted from AmtrakAmtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
and SEPTA trains on the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
as they cross the river. On northbound trains, the sign is visible from the left side of the train, on southbound trains, from the right.
Appearances in popular culture
The "TRENTON MAKES THE WORLD TAKES" sign can be seen in- the movie Stealing HomeStealing HomeStealing Home is a 1988 movie, starring Mark Harmon, Jodie Foster, Jonathan Silverman, and Harold Ramis. The film is directed by Steven Kampmann and William Porter.-Plot summary:...
when Mark Harmon's bus crosses the bridge - the 1983 movie Baby, It's You as part of a road trip to the Jersey Shore
- the 2007 film Rocket Science
- the unaired pilot of HouseHouse (TV series)House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
- Trenton's Poor Righteous TeachersPoor Righteous TeachersPoor Righteous Teachers is a hip hop group from Trenton, New Jersey, founded in 1989. Often referred to as PRT by its fans, Poor Righteous Teachers are known as pro-Black conscious hip hop artists, with musical content inspired by the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths. Wise Intelligent, as...
1990 video of their song "Rock This Funky Joint"
The Bridge is seen
- on the cover of The Cryptkeeper Five's 2004 album Trenton Makes.
- at the end of the film Human Desire (1954) starring Glenn FordGlenn FordGlenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
. He is a locomotive engineer who drives a train across the river, so that the sign is visible to viewers of the film. - the beginning of the GanglandGangland (TV series)Gangland is a documentary television series that airs on The History Channel. It usually airs on Thursday evenings although it has been known to arbitrarily change days every so often. Gangland explores the history of some of America's more notorious gangs. It premiered on November 1, 2007 with a...
episode about Trenton - in the logo of the Trenton Titans, now the Trenton Devils
Local people sometimes refer to the bridge as the "Trenton Makes" bridge. Prior to the re-decking, the bridge was also referred to as the "Boom Boom" bridge due to the sound made by tires as the vehicle traveled over the expansion joints.