Mill Hill | |
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 Mercer Street in Mill Hill | |
  Mill Hill  Mill Hill  Mill Hill | |
| Coordinates: 40°13′01″N74°45′34″W / 40.21694°N 74.75944°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  New Jersey |
| County | Mercer |
| City | Trenton |
Mill Hill is a historic neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. [1] It is considered to be part of Downtown Trenton. [2] The Mill Hill Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The name Mill Hill refers to central New Jersey's first industrial site, a mill, erected in 1679, at the southeast corner of the present Broad Street crossing of the Assunpink Creek. [3] Mill Hill and its wooden mill were among the holdings of the first settler in the vicinity of Trenton, Mahlon Stacy, a Quaker who arrived in North America in 1678. The mill was destroyed in a flood.
Mill Hill became famous in the late 18th century for being the site of the Second Battle of Trenton, a battle many historians consider the turning point in the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place on January 2, 1777, in what is now Mill Hill Park. [4] Every year, this battle is re-enacted during Patriots Week in Trenton. [5] Mill Hill remained relatively undeveloped during the first decades of the 19th century. During this time it was not yet part of the City of Trenton. In 1840, the entire area was incorporated as South Trenton and then into the City of Trenton in 1851. The name Mill Hill was applied to the area at least as early as 1821.
Mill Hill grew rapidly during the 19th century as Trenton grew into an industrial center of some note. The Roebling steelworks made the wire cables used to construct most of the major bridges built in the United States, including the Golden Gate Bridge and George Washington Bridge. Trenton was also the principal center of the pottery and ceramic industry in the United States. The Mercer Street Friends Center, a Quaker meeting house at 151 Mercer Street, was completed in 1858.
The population of Mill Hill swelled rapidly, enhanced by immigration. By 1920, 52% of the city's population was foreign-born.
During the Great Depression, Trenton started to decline. By 1953 Roebling Steel was one of Trenton's last great manufacturers to be sold to another company and then closed.
Since the early 1980s, Mill Hill has been undergoing a revitalization. This was enabled by a redevelopment plan that aims to convert Mill Hill into a latter-day "Georgetown". Instead of replacing the historical fabric of the area, the buildings were to be preserved and renovated. The red brick row-houses - constructed in the late 19th century - have been restored, in many cases being converted back to single-family homes (many had been converted to multi-family rental properties during less prosperous times). In a symbolic act that ended up carrying significant weight for the neighborhood, the then Mayor of Trenton, Arthur J. Holland, moved his family to 138 Mercer Street in 1964. "Mayor Arthur Holland and his young wife were idealistic newlyweds with a baby daughter in 1964 when they decided to restore a house in Trenton's crumbling, if historic, Mill Hill neighborhood." [6] The restoration of the area has proceeded in waves ever since.
Initially focused on the 100 blocks of Mercer and Jackson Streets, some residents began renovating their homes. In 1967, the first Holiday House Tour took place. The tour became an annual event that continues today, attracting more than 1,000 people who tour the historic homes. [7] With these changes came improving house prices, more investment and more restoration.
After the property collapse of the late 1980s, the second wave of renovation started. Commercial developers, led by Atlantis Historic Properties, took up renovating the vacant properties on the 200 blocks of Mercer, Jackson and Clay streets. [8] Atlantis was formed by the members of the Mill Hill community themselves (in the early 1990s) to preserve and restore the historic homes - starting with the properties at 261 and 263 Jackson Street.
Today, renovated historic structures and historically sensitive new construction stand side by side. The Quaker Meetinghouse on 151 Mercer is also home to the offices of Mercer Street Friends, a Quaker-affiliated social service agency serving Trenton and surrounding communities.
Mill Hill Historic District | |
 Montgomery and Mercer Streets | |
| Location | Roughly bounded by Clay, Jackson, Front, Market, Broad, and Greenwood Streets |
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| Area | 31.5 acres (12.7 ha) |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Second Empire, Queen Anne |
| NRHP reference No. | 77000880 [9] |
| NJRHP No. | 1781 [10] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | December 12, 1977 |
| Designated NJRHP | April 13, 1977 |
The Mill Hill Historic District is a 31.5-acre (12.7 ha) historic district encompassing the neighborhood and roughly bounded by Clay, Jackson, Front, Market, Broad, and Greenwood Streets. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 1977, for its significance in architecture, commerce, and military history. The district includes 284 contributing buildings, two contributing structures, and one contributing object. The individually listed Douglass House and Mercer Street Friends Center contribute to the district. A marble statue of George Washington, sculpted by Mahlon Dickerson Eyre in c. 1876, is located in Montgomery Plaza. He is standing on a boat, symbolically representing his crossing of the Delaware River. [11]
Trenton is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Mercer County. It was the capital of the United States from November 1 until December 24, 1784. Trenton and Princeton are the two principal cities of the Trenton–Princeton metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses those cities and all of Mercer County for statistical purposes and constitutes part of the New York combined statistical area by the U.S. Census Bureau. However, Trenton directly borders the Philadelphia metropolitan area to its west, and the city was part of the Philadelphia combined statistical area from 1990 until 2000.
Washington Crossing State Park is a 3,575-acre (14 km2) New Jersey state park that is part of Washington's Crossing, a U.S. National Historic Landmark area. It is located in the Washington Crossing and Titusville sections of Hopewell Township in Mercer County, north of Trenton along the Delaware River. The park is operated and maintained by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry. It is supported by the Washington Crossing Park Association, a friends group that works to preserve, enhance, and advocate for the park.
Assunpink Creek is a 22.9-mile-long (36.9 km) tributary of the Delaware River in western New Jersey in the United States. The name Assunpink is from the Lenape Ahsën'pink, meaning "stony, watery place".
South Trenton is a neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is home to Italian Americans, Latin Americans, Irish Americans and their descendants. South Trenton borders Hamilton Township to the southeast and the Delaware River to the west. It had a brief existence as an independent municipality from 1840 to 1851.
Riverview Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at 870 Centre Street in the city of Trenton, New Jersey in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. A number of notables are interred there, including Civil War Union Army Major General and New Jersey Governor George B. McClellan, whose grave is marked by the tallest monument in the cemetery. His wife, Mary Ellen Marcy McClellan, is interred with him.
Chambersburg is a neighborhood located within the city of Trenton in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is considered part of South Trenton. Chambersburg was an independent municipality from 1872 to 1888.
The New Jersey Register of Historic Places is the official list of historic resources of local, state, and national interest in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The program is administered by the New Jersey's state historic preservation office within the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
The Abbott Farm Historic District is a National Historic Landmark archaeological site in New Jersey. It is the largest known Middle Woodland village of its type on the East Coast of the United States. Significant evidence suggests that the Delaware River floodplain was occupied by Paleoindian people for a long period. It was inhabited between 500 BC and 500 AD. It has been a source of controversy and debate around early development.
The Princeton Battlefield in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, is where American and British troops fought each other on January 3, 1777, in the Battle of Princeton during the American Revolutionary War. The battle ended when the British soldiers in Nassau Hall surrendered. This success, following those at the Battle of Trenton on December 26, 1776, and the Battle of the Assunpink Creek the day before, helped improve American morale.
The William Trent House is a historic building located at 15 Market Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. It was built in 1719 for William Trent and is the oldest building in Trenton. He founded the eponymous town, which became the capital of New Jersey. It has served as the residence for three Governors. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places and listed as a National Historic Landmark on April 15, 1970, for its significance as an example of Early Georgian Colonial architecture.
List of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Mercer County, New Jersey
The Trenton Battle Monument is a massive column-type structure in the Battle Monument section of Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It commemorates the December 26, 1776, Battle of Trenton, a pivotal victory for the Continental forces and commander George Washington during the American Revolutionary War.
Trenton Friends Meeting House is a historic Quaker meeting house at 142 E. Hanover Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States.
The Douglass House is a historic house currently located at the corner of Front and Montgomery Streets in the Mill Hill neighborhood of the city Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey. It served as George Washington's headquarters prior to the Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777. Listed as the Bright–Douglass House, it was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1936, when the house was located in Mahlon Stacy Park near the Delaware River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 18, 1970, for its significance in architecture, military and social history. It was added as a contributing property to the Mill Hill Historic District on December 12, 1977.
Bow Hill is located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. The building was built in 1790 and added to the National Register of Historic Places on January 25, 1973.
The Old Eagle Tavern is a historic building located at 431, 433 South Broad Street at the corner of Ferry Street in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey. The building was built in 1765 by Robert Waln. The building operated as a tavern and hotel from 1765 to 1896. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 3, 1972 for its architectural, commercial, and political significance. The building is also a contributing property of the Trenton Ferry Historic District, which was listed on June 26, 2013.
The Mercer Street Friends Center is located at 151 Mercer Street in the Mill Hill neighborhood of the city Trenton in Mercer County, New Jersey. Built in 1858, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 12, 1971, for its significance in architecture, religion, and social history. It was added as a contributing property to the Mill Hill Historic District in 1977. It now houses the main offices of Mercer Street Friends, a Trenton-based Quaker-affiliated social service agency founded in 1958.
The Princeton Historic District is a 370-acre (150 ha) historic district located in Princeton, New Jersey that was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1975. It stretches from Marquand Park in the west to the Eating Clubs in the East, from the Princeton Cemetery in the north to the Graduate College in the south. The district encompasses the core parts of the campuses of the Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University. It also includes the business district centered on Nassau Street and many historic homes, both mansions in the western section and more humble dwellings in the Witherspoon/Jackson neighborhood. Notable churches within the district include Nassau Presbyterian Church, Trinity Episcopal, Nassau Christian Center, and the Princeton University Chapel. The district is home to seven of Princeton's nine, and New Jersey's fifty-eight, National Historic Landmarks, the largest concentration of such sites in the state.
John A. Roebling's Sons Company, Trenton N.J., Block 3 is the northern portion of the former Roebling manufacturing complex in Trenton, New Jersey. The buildings date from 1908–1929 and the site was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 22, 2012.
The courthouses of Mercer County are located in Trenton, the county seat, and capital of New Jersey, United States. They are home 7th vicinage of the New Jersey Superior Court as well as numerous county offices.
Media related to Mill Hill, Trenton, New Jersey at Wikimedia CommonsMunicipalities and communities of Mercer County, New Jersey, United States | ||
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