The William Trent House Museum, which has been closed to the public since June 2024, will officially reopen on Thursday, Feb. 20.
This comes after the installation of an energy-efficient heat exchange HVAC system. This project was jointly funded by a grant from the NJ Historic Trust and matching funds from the City of Trenton.
An opening reception will be held at 11 a.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:30. House tours will begin at 11:45 a.m.
The William Trent House, constructed in 1719 on the ancestral lands of the Lenape people, was built by a wealthy Philadelphia merchant originally from Scotland. From 1721 to 1724, when Trent passed away, the house served as the home of William Trent, his second wife Mary, their young son William, and eleven enslaved people of African descent (Yaff, Joan, Bob, Dick, Nanny, Tom, Julius, Bossin, Harry, Cupid, and Pedro).
The Georgian Colonial manor house stood on Trent’s vast 1,000-acre plantation, situated at the Falls of the Delaware in the colony of West Jersey.
After Trent’s death in 1724, the house passed through many owners and tenants. In 1929, Edward A. Stokes, the last private owner, donated the house to the City of Trenton. In the 1930s, as part of a Works Progress Administration project, the house was restored to its colonial appearance, and is now furnished in accordance with Trent’s probate inventory.
The museum is dedicated to sharing the authentic history of the house, property, and the many peoples who lived and worked there, from the Lenape and their ancestors to the diverse immigrants who have come to Trenton over the years. The museum’s mission is to connect the past with the present and future, educating and engaging our communities.
William Trent House Museum, 15 Market St., Trenton.
