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Trenton in Grundy County, Missouri — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
 

Trenton

 
 
Trenton Marker (<i>side 1</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 15, 2021
1. Trenton Marker (side 1)
Inscription.
[side 1]
Trenton, Settled in 1834, became the seat of Grundy County in 1841, when James S. Lomax gave 80 acres for a townsite. The county is named for Felix Grundy, United States Attorney General 1838-1839. The town name is from Trenton, N.J.

Important in the history of Grundy Co. is Grand River College, founded in nearby Edinburg in 1850 and chartered in 1851. In this pioneer school in coeducation, women and men were offered college work on an equal footing at the outstandingly early date of 1850. A grade school now stands on the old college site. Among distinguished alumni is Gen. Enoch H. Crowder (1859-1932), author of the Selective Service Act of 1917. Nearby Crowder State Park is established in memory of General Crowder, who was born in Edinburg.

In Grundy County's fabulous "Heatherly War," 1836, Missouri's top military leaders, a regiment and two companies turned out to fight the Indians maliciously reported on the warpath by the Heatherly family to cover their own misdeeds. The "Army" soon disbanded when no Indians were found.

[side 2]
Trenton serves a rich agricultural area. Grain and livestock farming predominate in this region of productive prairies, stream-fed valleys and green-wooded hills. In the 1870's, the city became a railroad division.

In
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Trenton's first 100 years, 3 colleges were established here. Avalon College, founded by United Brethren at Avalon, Mo., 1869-1873, was moved to Trenton, 1890. In 1900, founders of Ruskin College bought Avalon to establish a branch of an English socialistic movement. This group formed "The Multitude Incorporated, " to care for cooperative businesses and the school, but the whole venture failed, 1905. The present day Trenton Junior College, a pioneer in the public school junior college movement, was established, 1925.

Arthur M. Hyde, Governor of Missouri, 1921-1925, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, 1925-1933, lived here. J.R. Atkinson one of the co-founders of the Braille Institute of America, was born in nearby Galt. Jewett Norris, early resident gave $50,000 for the library, 1890. Nearby town is the Gen. W.P. Thompson House, the oldest in the county.
 
Erected 1953 by State Historical Society of Missouri; and State Highway Commission.
 
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: EducationRailroads & StreetcarsSettlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Missouri, The State Historical Society of series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1834.
 
Location. 40° 4.42′ N, 93° 37.145′ W. Marker is in Trenton,
Trenton Marker (<i>side 2</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 15, 2021
2. Trenton Marker (side 2)
Missouri, in Grundy County. Marker is on Main Street (State Highway 6) just north of East 7th Street, on the right when traveling north. Marker is located near the sidewalk at the southwest corner of the Grundy County Courthouse grounds. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 700 Main Street, Trenton MO 64683, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 4 other markers are within 12 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Fire Bell (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Five Points Flag Pole (about 800 feet away); Grundy County Jewett Norris Library (approx. 0.3 miles away); Harris Log House (approx. 12 miles away).
 
Regarding Trenton. Trenton Junior College became North Central Missouri College in 1988. College opportunities have been a tradition in Grundy County for more than 150 years. Grand River College, organized in 1850, was the first school west of the Mississippi to open its doors to women. The second institution, Trenton College, opened in 1867, and it was followed by Avalon College in 1890. Ruskin College, organized by Englishman Walter Vrooman, became the center of a socialistic educational experiment in the Trenton area.
 
Also see . . .  The Utopian Socialist Ruskin College Movement (Wikipedia). Walter Vrooman had just returned from Oxford, England where he
Trenton Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 15, 2021
3. Trenton Marker
(Grundy County Courthouse in background)
established Ruskin Hall, a university called the "College for the People" based on the Utopian Socialist writings of John Ruskin. Avalon College was renamed Ruskin College after Vrooman donated 1,500 acres 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. (Submitted on August 17, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.) 
 
Grundy County Courthouse (<i>northeast/front elevation</i>) image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Cosmos Mariner, August 15, 2021
4. Grundy County Courthouse (northeast/front elevation)
(Marker is just beyond right edge of image, at southwest corner of Grundy County Courthouse grounds.)
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on November 17, 2021. It was originally submitted on August 17, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 609 times since then and 208 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on August 17, 2021, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.

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Mar. 28, 2024