Trenton, Missouri
Encyclopedia
Trenton is a city in Grundy County, Missouri
, United States
. The population was 6,006 in 2009. The population according to the 2000 census was 6,216, indicating a 3.4% decrease in population from 2000 to 2009. It is the county seat
of Grundy County. The city claims to be the world's largest producer of vienna sausage
s (at its biggest employer ConAgra Grocery Foods plant).
. It was renamed Bluff Grove and won a battle with Tindall, Missouri
to become the county seat of Grundy County, Missouri. The hilly area today is called the "Green Hills." It was renamed again in 1842 in honor of Trenton, New Jersey
.
The Chicago and Southwestern Railroad (which became part of the Rock Island Line) arrived in 1869. In 1890 Avalon College, which had been founded in Avalon, Missouri
by the United Brethren in 1869 moved to Trenton because of proximity to the railroad. The College nearly closed again.
In 1900 George McAnelly Miller started to turn the school around. He was soon joined by Walter Vrooman who had just returned from Oxford, England where he established Ruskin Hall, a university called the "College for the People" based on the Utopian writings of John Ruskin
. Avalon College was renamed Ruskin College after Vrooman donated 1500 acres (6.1 km²) to it.
The college directly loaned money to the students and they could work at the school's canning, farming and novelty wood working businesses. The college admitted women (unlike the Oxford school).
Vrooman then proceeded to attempt to buy the major businesses in the town buying three grocery stores, a hardware store, drug store—paying for it all in cash via the Western Cooperative Association. The New York Times on April 14, 1902 headlined its article on the development "Buying a Town Outright." According to the cooperative arrangement, members of the coop who spent at least $300 in one of its stores would receive a dividend at the end of the year.
The Ruskin experiment collapsed in 1903 when town residents resisted the Utopian business model and Vrooman's wife divorced him saying that he had squandered $250,000 of her money. Miller moved the college to the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, Illinois
in 1903 where it consolidated 12 different colleges and had an enrollment of 2,500 with 8,000 correspondence students. Friction quickly arose there also and the main school burned after being struck by lightning.
Miller moved the college again in 1906 to Ruskin, Florida
where 550 acres (2.2 km²) of land around Trenton was swapped for 12000 acres (48.6 km²). Many of the Florida campus buildings burned in 1918 and when Miller died in 1919, the College ceased to exist.
In 1925, Trenton Junior College was established (which is now North Central Missouri College
). Through expansion projects and support from numerous people, North Central Missouri College has developed into a major agricultural and nursing educational institution for the state of Missouri. Recent construction additions have added to the size of the main campus, and a current project will establish a satellite agricultural location directly south of Trenton.
moved to Trenton and opened a law business and had the Buick
dealership. Hyde would become Missouri Governor and then United States Secretary of Agriculture
under Herbert Hoover
. Hoover stayed at Hyde's home in 1933 visit following his Presidency. Arthur Hyde's widow built a home in memory of him in 1949. It is located in a residential neighborhood as a bed and breakfast under the name, Hyde Mansion.
In 1939 nationally famous track star Jesse Owens
came to Trenton to run promotional races against a variety of opponents such as a man on a horse, a man in a truck, as well as anyone who wanted to run against the Olympic Gold Medalist. These were short races giving a decided advantage to the very quick Owens over horses or vehicles. Arriving in Trenton by bus Owens entered the bus station/diner known as the Blue Moon Cafe and noticed a tent sign reserving the center table. Trenton was located in an area that had historically not had slaves or free African-Americans but was segregated as the norm of the time. Owens asked the proprietor, Lee Hathaway, "where do colored folk eat?" Hathaway explained the reserved table was for him. Owens stated that he preferred to eat "where coloreds usually ate". He and Hathaway shared dinner in the kitchen.
The next day Owens raced on the track that is still used by Trenton High School.
An early film maker was in town at the time making a promotional movie hi-lighting paying Trenton businesses. This movie was not a drama but a compilation of shots of various people and places. The producer included the Jesse Owens track event in the movie as well as every person possible by filming other public events. The resulting silent movie was shown later at a Trenton theater to the delight of hundreds of locals who had never seen themselves on the big screen before. Footage was restored in the 1980s by local judge Eric Sonic and copies made for area residents.
since 1900. The round house provided locomotive overhaul work for the Kansas City terminals and was a major employer for the Trenton area. A bitter strike in the 1940s pitted union workers against the railroad and scab labor who were still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Strike breaking workers had to carry their tool boxes as they walked several miles to the round house. As a strike breaker named Hobbs walked across the bridge (now known as the Charlie Dye bridge) to Trenton in the early morning he encountered a group of striking union members drunk at the end of the bridge. He reached into his tool box and picked an item that would resemble a pistol and put it into his pocket. When he reached the thugs they jeered him but did not touch him since they had seen him put something in his pocket and he still had his hand on it. The next strike breaker that walked across the bridge was beaten to death.
Local authorities were hesitant to prosecute. Politics favored the strikers and no one was punished for the murder. Rock Island executives were outraged. They settled the strike but closed the roundhouse, moving the overhaul base to Kansas City. The result was that the trend of slow population growth was reversed and Trenton has slowly declined in population since that time.
that canned tomatoes and other produce raised by local farmers. Taylor needed a cleaner water source than what Spickard could provide so he moved his operation to a building a half block south of the east end of the 17th Street bridge in Trenton. Taylor quickly outgrew this building. He bought land to the east and began building the Trenton Foods Canning Plant. Taylor was bought out by Carnation (trademark)
which was in turn was bought by Nestle
. In 1998 the plant was acquired by ConAgra. The plant is the largest employer in the county and cans a variety of products including nacho cheese, chili, Vienna sausages, institutional foods, gravy, in the Libby's
food line and other brands.
, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²), of which, 5.8 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it (4.74%) is water.
of 2000, there were 6,216 people, 2,673 households, and 1,641 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,065.5 people per square mile (411.7/km²). There were 3,059 housing units at an average density of 524.3 per square mile (202.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.20% White, 0.56% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races
, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% of the population.
There were 2,673 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,733, and the median income for a family was $33,317. Males had a median income of $26,959 versus $16,505 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $15,834. About 12.7% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 6,006 in 2009. The population according to the 2000 census was 6,216, indicating a 3.4% decrease in population from 2000 to 2009. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Grundy County. The city claims to be the world's largest producer of vienna sausage
Vienna sausage
A Vienna sausage is a kind of hot dog...
s (at its biggest employer ConAgra Grocery Foods plant).
Green Hills
Trenton was first settled in 1834 and was known as Lomax Store for the J.S. Lomax General Store on a bluff above the Thompson Branch of the Grand River (Missouri)Grand River (Missouri)
The Grand River is a river that stretches from northernmost tributary origins between Creston and Winterset in Iowa approximately to its mouth on the Missouri River near Brunswick, Missouri....
. It was renamed Bluff Grove and won a battle with Tindall, Missouri
Tindall, Missouri
Tindall is a city in Grundy County, Missouri, United States. The population was 65 at the 2000 census, at which time it was a town.-Geography:Tindall is located at ....
to become the county seat of Grundy County, Missouri. The hilly area today is called the "Green Hills." It was renamed again in 1842 in honor of 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...
.
The Chicago and Southwestern Railroad (which became part of the Rock Island Line) arrived in 1869. In 1890 Avalon College, which had been founded in Avalon, Missouri
Avalon, Missouri
Avalon is an unincorporated community in southern Livingston County, Missouri, United States. It is located on Missouri Supplemental Route H about one mile east of U.S. Route 65 and ten miles south of Chillicothe. The community was founded in 1845 and is named after the mythic Isle of Avalon of...
by the United Brethren in 1869 moved to Trenton because of proximity to the railroad. The College nearly closed again.
The Utopian Ruskin College Movement
.In 1900 George McAnelly Miller started to turn the school around. He was soon joined by Walter Vrooman who had just returned from Oxford, England where he established Ruskin Hall, a university called the "College for the People" based on the Utopian writings of John Ruskin
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
. Avalon College was renamed Ruskin College after Vrooman donated 1500 acres (6.1 km²) to it.
The college directly loaned money to the students and they could work at the school's canning, farming and novelty wood working businesses. The college admitted women (unlike the Oxford school).
Vrooman then proceeded to attempt to buy the major businesses in the town buying three grocery stores, a hardware store, drug store—paying for it all in cash via the Western Cooperative Association. The New York Times on April 14, 1902 headlined its article on the development "Buying a Town Outright." According to the cooperative arrangement, members of the coop who spent at least $300 in one of its stores would receive a dividend at the end of the year.
The Ruskin experiment collapsed in 1903 when town residents resisted the Utopian business model and Vrooman's wife divorced him saying that he had squandered $250,000 of her money. Miller moved the college to the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Glen Ellyn is an affluent village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the village population was 26,999.-Geography:...
in 1903 where it consolidated 12 different colleges and had an enrollment of 2,500 with 8,000 correspondence students. Friction quickly arose there also and the main school burned after being struck by lightning.
Miller moved the college again in 1906 to Ruskin, Florida
Ruskin, Florida
Ruskin is an unincorporated census-designated place in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The population was 17,208 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Ruskin is located at ....
where 550 acres (2.2 km²) of land around Trenton was swapped for 12000 acres (48.6 km²). Many of the Florida campus buildings burned in 1918 and when Miller died in 1919, the College ceased to exist.
In 1925, Trenton Junior College was established (which is now North Central Missouri College
North Central Missouri College
North Central Missouri College is a junior college founded in 1925 in Trenton, Missouri.-External links:*...
). Through expansion projects and support from numerous people, North Central Missouri College has developed into a major agricultural and nursing educational institution for the state of Missouri. Recent construction additions have added to the size of the main campus, and a current project will establish a satellite agricultural location directly south of Trenton.
Historic visits
In 1915, Arthur M. HydeArthur M. Hyde
Arthur Mastick Hyde was an American Republican politician who served as the 35th Governor of Missouri and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.-Biography:...
moved to Trenton and opened a law business and had the Buick
Buick
Buick is a premium brand of General Motors . Buick models are sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico, China, Taiwan, and Israel, with China being its largest market. Buick holds the distinction as the oldest active American make...
dealership. Hyde would become Missouri Governor and then United States Secretary of Agriculture
United States Secretary of Agriculture
The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on 20 January 2009. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other...
under Herbert Hoover
Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
. Hoover stayed at Hyde's home in 1933 visit following his Presidency. Arthur Hyde's widow built a home in memory of him in 1949. It is located in a residential neighborhood as a bed and breakfast under the name, Hyde Mansion.
In 1939 nationally famous track star Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens
James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...
came to Trenton to run promotional races against a variety of opponents such as a man on a horse, a man in a truck, as well as anyone who wanted to run against the Olympic Gold Medalist. These were short races giving a decided advantage to the very quick Owens over horses or vehicles. Arriving in Trenton by bus Owens entered the bus station/diner known as the Blue Moon Cafe and noticed a tent sign reserving the center table. Trenton was located in an area that had historically not had slaves or free African-Americans but was segregated as the norm of the time. Owens asked the proprietor, Lee Hathaway, "where do colored folk eat?" Hathaway explained the reserved table was for him. Owens stated that he preferred to eat "where coloreds usually ate". He and Hathaway shared dinner in the kitchen.
The next day Owens raced on the track that is still used by Trenton High School.
An early film maker was in town at the time making a promotional movie hi-lighting paying Trenton businesses. This movie was not a drama but a compilation of shots of various people and places. The producer included the Jesse Owens track event in the movie as well as every person possible by filming other public events. The resulting silent movie was shown later at a Trenton theater to the delight of hundreds of locals who had never seen themselves on the big screen before. Footage was restored in the 1980s by local judge Eric Sonic and copies made for area residents.
Rock Island Line Roundhouse
Trenton was home to a Rock Island Railroad maintenance facility known as a roundhouseRoundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
since 1900. The round house provided locomotive overhaul work for the Kansas City terminals and was a major employer for the Trenton area. A bitter strike in the 1940s pitted union workers against the railroad and scab labor who were still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Strike breaking workers had to carry their tool boxes as they walked several miles to the round house. As a strike breaker named Hobbs walked across the bridge (now known as the Charlie Dye bridge) to Trenton in the early morning he encountered a group of striking union members drunk at the end of the bridge. He reached into his tool box and picked an item that would resemble a pistol and put it into his pocket. When he reached the thugs they jeered him but did not touch him since they had seen him put something in his pocket and he still had his hand on it. The next strike breaker that walked across the bridge was beaten to death.
Local authorities were hesitant to prosecute. Politics favored the strikers and no one was punished for the murder. Rock Island executives were outraged. They settled the strike but closed the roundhouse, moving the overhaul base to Kansas City. The result was that the trend of slow population growth was reversed and Trenton has slowly declined in population since that time.
Leading Vienna Sausage producer
Pete Taylor owned a canning plant in nearby Spickard, MissouriSpickard, Missouri
Spickard is a city in Grundy County, Missouri, United States. The population was 315 at the 2000 census.- Geography :Spickard is located at 40°14'34" North, 93°35'36" West ....
that canned tomatoes and other produce raised by local farmers. Taylor needed a cleaner water source than what Spickard could provide so he moved his operation to a building a half block south of the east end of the 17th Street bridge in Trenton. Taylor quickly outgrew this building. He bought land to the east and began building the Trenton Foods Canning Plant. Taylor was bought out by Carnation (trademark)
Carnation (trademark)
Carnation is a brand of food products. The brand was especially known for its evaporated milk product created in 1899, then called Carnation Sterilized Cream and later called Carnation Evaporated Milk...
which was in turn was bought by Nestle
Nestlé
Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...
. In 1998 the plant was acquired by ConAgra. The plant is the largest employer in the county and cans a variety of products including nacho cheese, chili, Vienna sausages, institutional foods, gravy, in the Libby's
Libby's
Libby's is a U.S.-based food company known for its canned food.The company was founded as Libby, McNeill & Libby in Chicago, Illinois, by Archibald McNeill and the brothers Arthur and Charles Libby. The business began with a canned meat product, beef in brine, or corned beef...
food line and other brands.
Superfund Sites
Trenton has two hazardous waste dump sites. One is on the property of Modine Manufacturing, a plant that makes automobile radiators. Modine has produced a variety of acid, lead, and cooper bearing waste products which in previous decades were buried on site and also at a public dump a mile north east of the plant.Government
- Mayor: Nick McHargue
- First Ward Council Members : Bryan Hamilton & Jacob Black
- Second Ward Council Members: Kenneth Ewing & Mark Robinson
- Third Ward Council Members: Chuck Elliot & Ed Spencer
- Fourth Ward Council Members: Jim Bush & Larry Huffstutter
Geography
Trenton is located at 40°4′42"N 93°36′41"W (40.078230, -93.611436). According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 6.1 square miles (15.8 km²), of which, 5.8 square miles (15 km²) of it is land and 0.3 square mile (0.776996433 km²) of it (4.74%) is water.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,216 people, 2,673 households, and 1,641 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,065.5 people per square mile (411.7/km²). There were 3,059 housing units at an average density of 524.3 per square mile (202.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.20% White, 0.56% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% of the population.
There were 2,673 households out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.0% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $25,733, and the median income for a family was $33,317. Males had a median income of $26,959 versus $16,505 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $15,834. About 12.7% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.
Entertainment
Trenton has an aquatic center at Moberly Park in the north side of the city, a modern movie theater with 3-D capibilities, a skating rink, two skateboarding parks (one indoor and one outdoor), as well as numerous city parks including ball fields and soccer fields.Notable natives and residents
- Roy GardnerRoy Gardner (bank robber)Roy G. Gardner was once America's most infamous prison escapee and the most celebrated outlaw and escaped convict during the Roaring Twenties....
, notorious 1920s bank robber - Yank LawsonYank LawsonJohn Rhea "Yank" Lawson was a jazz trumpeter known for Dixieland and swing music....
, DixielandDixielandDixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
trumpet player - J. M. WhortonJ. M. WhortonJ. M. "Jim" Whorton is the owner of an automobile sales business and a former Democratic member of the Missouri House of Representatives. He resides with his wife, Beverly, in Trenton, Missouri....
, Politician
External links
- City of Trenton
- Trenton Chamber of Commerce
- Historic maps of Trenton in the Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection at the University of MissouriUniversity of MissouriThe University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...