Trenton, Missouri

The Crowder State Park Vehicle Bridge, Jewett Norris Library, Plaza Hotel, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, Trenton High School, and WPA Stock Barn and Pavilion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

In 1869, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad arrived in Trenton. In 1890 Avalon College, which had been founded in Avalon, Missouri by the United Brethren in 1869, moved to Trenton because of proximity to the railroad.

File:Trenton-hs-1.jpg]]

Due to financial difficulties, the college nearly closed again.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} In 1900 George McAnelly Miller started to turn the school around. He was soon joined by Walter Vrooman who had just returned from Oxford, England where he 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 {{convert|1500|acre|km2}} 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. The college admitted women (unlike the Oxford school).[http://shs.umsystem.edu/manuscripts/invent/3803.pdf Ruskin College Material at the State Historical Society of Missouri][https://books.google.com/books?id=yrcYAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA16&dq=Trenton+Ruskin+College#PPA18,M1 The Arena - Benjamin Orange Flower, Harry Houdini Collection (Library of Congress) - Google Boeken]

Vrooman then proceeded to attempt to buy the major businesses in the town buying three grocery stores, a hardware store, drug store—paying for it all in cash via the Western Cooperative Association. The New York Times on April 14, 1902, headlined its article on the development "Buying a Town Outright." According to the cooperative arrangement, members of the coop who spent at least $300 in one of its stores would receive a dividend at the end of the year.

The Ruskin experiment collapsed in 1903 when town residents resisted the Utopian business model and Vrooman's wife divorced him saying that he had squandered $250,000 of her money. Miller moved the college to the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn, Illinois in 1903 where it consolidated 12 different colleges and had an enrollment of 2,500 with 8,000 correspondence students. Friction quickly arose there also and the main school burned after being struck by lightning.[http://gothere.com/Florida/Ruskin/ Ruskin, Florida] gothere.com.

Miller moved the college again in 1906 to Ruskin, Florida where {{convert|550|acre|km2}} of land around Trenton was swapped for {{convert|12000|acre|km2}}. Many of the Florida campus buildings burned in 1918 and when Miller died in 1919, the college ceased to exist.[http://www.ruskinhistory.org/founding_of%20Ruskin.htm Founding of Ruskin, Florida] - ruskinhistory.org - Retrieved October 12, 2007.

In 1925, Trenton Junior College was established (which is now North Central Missouri College). Through expansion projects and support from numerous people, North Central Missouri College (NCMC) has developed into a major agricultural and nursing educational institution for the state of Missouri. Construction additions have since added to the size of the main campus. Plus directly south of Trenton, a project completed in 2011 established a satellite agricultural location known as the Barton Farm Campus. It contains three classroom buildings, a wind turbine, two acre pond and numerous test plots all on 138 acres of farm ground given to NCMC by the Barton family.{{Cite web|url=https://ncmcpirates.com/landing/index|title = North Central Missouri College}}

Trenton has two hazardous waste dump sites.[http://www.cqs.com/super_mo.htm Missouri Superfund Sites] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120906123154/http://www.cqs.com/super_mo.htm |date=2012-09-06 }}. cqs.com - Retrieved February 27, 2008. One is on the property of Modine Manufacturing, a plant that makes automobile radiators. Modine has produced a variety of acid, lead, and copper-bearing waste products which in previous decades were buried on site and also at a public dump a mile north east of the plant.

• Mayor: Jackie Soptic {{cite web | title=Mayor | website=Trenton, MO | date=May 4, 2023 | url=https://trentonmo.com/government/mayor/ | access-date=Dec 18, 2023}}
• First Ward Council Members : Glen Briggs & Vacant
• Second Ward Council Members: Marvin Humpyres & Danny Brewer
• Third Ward Council Members: David Milka & Rob Romesburg
• Fourth Ward Council Members: John Dolan & Duane Urich

The city is on the Thompson River floodplain between the Thompson River on the west and its Muddy Creek tributary on the east. U.S. Route 65 passes the east side of the city and Missouri Route 6 passes through the south side. Chillicothe is nineteen miles to the south.Missouri Atlas & Gazetteer, DeLorme, 1st ed., 1998, p. 21, {{isbn|0899332242}}

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|6.74|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|6.45|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.29|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2012-07-08|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125061959/http://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|archive-date=2012-01-25}}

{{Weather box

|location = Trenton, Missouri (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–present)

|single line = Y

| Jan record high F = 69

| Feb record high F = 82

| Mar record high F = 88

| Apr record high F = 94

| May record high F = 105

| Jun record high F = 107

| Jul record high F = 114

| Aug record high F = 113

| Sep record high F = 106

| Oct record high F = 98

| Nov record high F = 84

| Dec record high F = 72

| year record high F = 114

| Jan high F = 34.8

| Feb high F = 40.3

| Mar high F = 52.5

| Apr high F = 63.9

| May high F = 74.6

| Jun high F = 84.5

| Jul high F = 88.9

| Aug high F = 86.9

| Sep high F = 79.4

| Oct high F = 66.7

| Nov high F = 51.7

| Dec high F = 39.5

| year high F = 63.6

| Jan mean F = 25.5

| Feb mean F = 30.0

| Mar mean F = 41.2

| Apr mean F = 52.3

| May mean F = 63.6

| Jun mean F = 73.6

| Jul mean F = 77.8

| Aug mean F = 75.5

| Sep mean F = 67.1

| Oct mean F = 54.7

| Nov mean F = 41.3

| Dec mean F = 30.4

| year mean F = 52.8

| Jan low F = 16.3

| Feb low F = 19.8

| Mar low F = 29.9

| Apr low F = 40.6

| May low F = 52.7

| Jun low F = 62.7

| Jul low F = 66.8

| Aug low F = 64.1

| Sep low F = 54.8

| Oct low F = 42.6

| Nov low F = 31.0

| Dec low F = 21.4

| year low F = 41.9

| Jan record low F = −26

| Feb record low F = −25

| Mar record low F = −15

| Apr record low F = 9

| May record low F = 22

| Jun record low F = 42

| Jul record low F = 46

| Aug record low F = 42

| Sep record low F = 27

| Oct record low F = 3

| Nov record low F = −6

| Dec record low F = −24

| year record low F = −26

| precipitation colour= green

| Jan precipitation inch = 1.13

| Feb precipitation inch = 1.70

| Mar precipitation inch = 2.60

| Apr precipitation inch = 3.90

| May precipitation inch = 6.02

| Jun precipitation inch = 4.76

| Jul precipitation inch = 4.77

| Aug precipitation inch = 4.27

| Sep precipitation inch = 3.88

| Oct precipitation inch = 3.08

| Nov precipitation inch = 2.22

| Dec precipitation inch = 1.74

| year precipitation inch = 40.07

| Jan snow inch = 4.7

| Feb snow inch = 4.7

| Mar snow inch = 2.9

| Apr snow inch = 0.3

| May snow inch = 0.0

| Jun snow inch = 0.0

| Jul snow inch = 0.0

| Aug snow inch = 0.0

| Sep snow inch = 0.0

| Oct snow inch = 0.2

| Nov snow inch = 0.9

| Dec snow inch = 3.5

| year snow inch = 17.2

| unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

| Jan precipitation days = 5.6

| Feb precipitation days = 7.1

| Mar precipitation days = 8.9

| Apr precipitation days = 10.6

| May precipitation days = 12.3

| Jun precipitation days = 10.1

| Jul precipitation days = 8.2

| Aug precipitation days = 9.0

| Sep precipitation days = 7.2

| Oct precipitation days = 8.3

| Nov precipitation days = 6.1

| Dec precipitation days = 6.4

| year precipitation days = 99.8

| unit snow days = 0.1 in

| Jan snow days = 2.7

| Feb snow days = 2.7

| Mar snow days = 1.1

| Apr snow days = 0.2

| May snow days = 0.0

| Jun snow days = 0.0

| Jul snow days = 0.0

| Aug snow days = 0.0

| Sep snow days = 0.0

| Oct snow days = 0.2

| Nov snow days = 0.7

| Dec snow days = 3.1

| year snow days = 10.7

|source 1 = NOAA

{{cite web

| url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=eax

| title = NowData – NOAA Online Weather Data

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = July 28, 2021}}

{{cite web

| url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00238444&format=pdf

| title = Station: Trenton, MO

| work = U.S. Climate Normals 2020: U.S. Monthly Climate Normals (1991–2020)

| publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

| access-date = July 28, 2021}}

}}

{{US Census population

|1860= 617

|1870= 920

|1880= 3312

|1890= 5039

|1900= 5396

|1910= 5656

|1920= 6951

|1930= 6992

|1940= 7046

|1950= 6157

|1960= 6262

|1970= 6063

|1980= 6811

|1990= 6129

|2000= 6216

|2010= 6001

|2020= 5609

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census {{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}

}}

As of the census{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=2012-07-08}} of 2010, there were 6,001 people, 2,559 households, and 1,467 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|930.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 2,960 housing units at an average density of {{convert|458.9|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 96.0% White, 0.8% African American, 0.5% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population.

There were 2,559 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.0% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.7% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.89.

The median age in the city was 41.6 years. 22.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.7% were from 25 to 44; 23.6% were from 45 to 64; and 22.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 45.7% male and 54.3% female.

As of the census of 2000, there were 6,216 people, 2,673 households, and 1,641 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1,065.5|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. There were 3,059 housing units at an average density of {{convert|524.3|/sqmi|/km2|sp=us|adj=off}}. The racial makeup of the city was 97.20% White, 0.56% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.21% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.74% from other races, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.14% of the population.

There were 2,673 households, out of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.0% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.6% were non-families. 35.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the city the population was spread out, with 22.0% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 83.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,733, and the median income for a family was $33,317. Males had a median income of $26,959 versus $16,505 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,834. About 12.7% of families and 17.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 23.2% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.

{{Redirect|Trenton High School (Missouri)|the historic building|Trenton High School (Trenton, Missouri)}}

Public education in Trenton is administered by Trenton R-IX School District.{{cite web | url=https://www.trentonr9.k12.mo.us | title=Homepage | publisher=Trenton R-Ix School District | access-date=5 June 2019}}

Trenton has a public library, the Grundy County-Jewett Norris Library.{{cite web | url=http://www.publiclibraries.com/missouri.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610012728/http://www.publiclibraries.com/missouri.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=10 June 2017 | title=Missouri Public Libraries | publisher=PublicLibraries.com | access-date=5 June 2019}}

• Roy Gardner, 1920s bank robber
• John Hack, war hero
• Yank Lawson, Dixieland trumpet player
• Imogene Lynn, pop singer
• Gregg Miller, inventor and author
• J. M. Whorton, politician

{{reflist}}

{{EB1911 poster|Trenton (Missouri)|Trenton, Missouri}}

• [http://www.trentonmo.com/ City of Trenton]
• [http://www.trentonmochamber.com/ Trenton Chamber of Commerce]
• Historic maps of Trenton in the [http://dl.mospace.umsystem.edu/mu/islandora/object/mu%3A138992 Sanborn Maps of Missouri Collection] at the University of Missouri
• http://www.marxisthistory.org/history/usa/groups/ruskin/1901/0601-appeal-ruskincollege.pdf

{{Grundy County, Missouri}}

{{Missouri county seats}}

{{authority control}}

Category:Cities in Missouri

Category:Cities in Grundy County, Missouri

Category:County seats in Missouri

Category:Company towns in Missouri

Category:Populated places established in 1834

Category:1834 establishments in Missouri