Trenton, NJ

Bernie · Sep 22, 2024

caravanman said:
I remember seeing the "Trenton makes..." sign on that bridge, and I wondered just what it was that Trenton was so known for making?
(I kind of hope it was bridges) ?

I just stumbled on this, but I needed to respond to say Trenton WAS known for making bridges. The John A. Roebling's Sons Company is most famous for making the Brooklyn Bridge, but also manufactured the steel wire used in bridges across the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the industry that inspired the motto on the Lower Trenton Bridge.

PVD · Sep 22, 2024

Bernie said:
I just stumbled on this, but I needed to respond to say Trenton WAS known for making bridges. The John A. Roebling's Sons Company is most famous for making the Brooklyn Bridge, but also manufactured the steel wire used in bridges across the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the industry that inspired the motto on the Lower Trenton Bridge.

And there is more:

https://www.trentondaily.com/slogan-of-the-city-trenton-makes-the-world-takes/

BlackDiamond · Sep 23, 2024

Bernie said:
I just stumbled on this, but I needed to respond to say Trenton WAS known for making bridges. The John A. Roebling's Sons Company is most famous for making the Brooklyn Bridge, but also manufactured the steel wire used in bridges across the world, including the Golden Gate Bridge. This is the industry that inspired the motto on the Lower Trenton Bridge.

The Great Bridge by historian David McCullough is a fascinating read of the story of how the Brooklyn Bridge got built.

Literalman · Sep 23, 2024

I thought the Roebling works were outside Trenton in a part of Florence called Roebling. Trenton did have a good bit of industry in the city. You can see a few former factories east of the Trenton station.

railiner · Sep 25, 2024

I overheard one Penn Central trainman, when asked about that sign by a tourist-passenger, reply that it should have said: “Trenton uses, what the world refuses”…

Literalman · Sep 25, 2024

Great Cities of the World, published in 1958, says that among Trenton's industries were Lenox pottery and Roebling bridges. It specifically says that Roebling had a Trenton plant. The website of the City of Trenton Museum says that the company had plants in Roebling and Trenton. Sadly, Trenton is probably no longer on any list of great cities of the world.