"Trenton Makes, the World Takes"

"Trenton Makes, the World Takes". . , Today's casual visitor to Trenton may not fully understand the significance of the "Trenton Makes, the World Takes" sign on the Market Street bridge, however, those words define the important role that Trenton played in the growth of this country during the Industrial Revolution. Established by English Quakers in 1679, Trenton began as an agricultural community with links to the surrounding region via Delaware River ferries. Despite its small size, Trenton was a significant 18th century town due to its location both on the river and on the post road between New York City and Philadelphia. Trenton's substantial rise during the 19th century was primarily the result of the expansion of regional transportation in the form of the combined Camden and Amboy Railroad and Delaware and Raritan Canal., Trenton's earliest recorded manufacturing took place at a grist-mill formed in 1679, and several forges and iron works were established by the early 1700s. One of the city's primary 19th-century industries was the manufacture of rubber goods, first established in 1856 by Goodyear and laying the foundation for Trenton to become one of America's greatest rubber manufacturing centers, with operations lasting through the mid-20th century. Trenton's most extensive early industry was the making of pottery. Although pre-18th century companies were unprofitable and short-lived, by the mid-18th century primitive but permanent facilities existed. Trenton's establishment as a world-renowned ceramic center dates to the 1850s, when such manufacturers as Lenox and Maddock founded the numerous pottery companies producing ceramic wares that were sold worldwide through the mid-1900s and remain highly collectible today., During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Trenton boasted numerous other industries including locomotive works, flour and lumber mills, and paper and leather factories, and the manufacture of iron and steel cemented the city's significance. Beginning in the 1850s Trenton's iron and steel industry due to the close proximity of railroad and canal facilities enabling the shipment of structural items, tools and machinery around the world. Such firms as Cooper Hewitt and Phoenix Bridge, and perhaps the most famous company of all, established by sons of John A. Roebling, designer of the Brooklyn Bridge and developer of wire rope, ensured Trenton's international fame. Roebling remained in existence until the 1950s, supplying cables for the construction of some of America's greatest suspension bridges, including San Francisco's Golden Gate.