The Local History and Genealogy Section of the Trenton Public Library is home to the Trentoniana Collection, the largest single collection of photographs, manuscripts, books, etc., chronicling the history of Trenton, New Jersey.

The Trentoniana photograph collection highlights various Trenton street scenes, landmark buildings, portraits, etc. It consists of major Trenton postcard, lantern slide, and portrait collections, as well as various photographic scrapbooks. Another portion of the photographic collection is made up of the Trenton Tax Assessor Office (TAO) Records. This collection, developed by the City of Trenton's Tax Assessor's Office, documents nearly every property, dwelling and industrial site within the city in 1936 with a photograph and descriptive card.

The Local History and Genealogy manuscript collection, some of which is in microform, includes a wide variety of records and papers of business, government and voluntary associations, as well as some personal papers, legal documents and local histories. Among the larger holdings is an extensive collection of records of local labor unions and Trenton volunteer fire companies. A substantial portion of the collection includes Trenton area business, as well as church, cemetery and voluntary association records, diaries and family papers, genealogies, legal documents, maps and other materials.

The Local History and Genealogy Collection includes the most extensive representation of Trenton histories, books, monographs, serials, scrapbooks, periodicals, pamphlets, etc. A significant portion of this collection consists of local newspapers (most in microform) printed in Trenton from 1777 to the present.

Several indexes to parts of the collection are available.

Q. Why is the "island" portion of West Trenton so called?

A. Prior to the construction of Route 29 in the 1950s, the Delaware and Raritan Canal separated that part of the city from the mainland and the Delaware River. The canal is now flumed under the highway until it surfaces near Cadwalader Park.

The "island" circa 1928 before construction of the "East-West" Highway. Junior 3 at upper left.

Water power bed looking south from Gouverneur Ave. with Hermitage Bridge in distance. March 1955.

Cleaning for the John Fitchway at Gouverneur Ave. by the Trenton Canoe Club. March 1955.