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TrentonIowaCityParkPhoto: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
–Not graded
History · Trenton

Trenton’s post office opened in 1839, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Samuel and Sarah Hulme House. Below: maps from 1980 on.

1839first post office
1on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: PopePompus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answers

How Trenton began

When was Trenton founded?

1839

The Trenton post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 74187 years
Founding year: the first Trenton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Trenton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Trenton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Deep rootsA post office since 1839: 187 years of Trenton.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Trenton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Trenton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Timeline

Trenton, 1839 to 1980

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1839Post officeThe Trenton post office opens
  3. 1862BuiltSamuel and Sarah Hulme House is built
  4. 20th century
  5. 1915Post officeThe Trenton post office closes
  6. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
The story so far

Trenton, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Trenton yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Trenton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Henry County, Iowa, United States. It is in the northwest part of the county, 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Mount Pleasant, the county seat. As of the 2020 census, Trenton had a population of 74. Trenton was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1839.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

By decade

Trenton, decade by decade

Today2 recent
TrentonIowaCityPark2024TrentonIowaCityParkTrentonIowaChurch2024TrentonIowaChurch
On the map

Trenton on the map in 1980

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Trenton.

Trenton on the 1980 USGS map1980Trenton sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Trenton.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Trenton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2019
Samuel and Sarah Hulme House
Buildings
All 1 listings
Samuel and Sarah Hulme HouseBuilding · listed 2019

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Trenton

Nobody well known was born in Trenton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
J
James A. Van AllenAmerican astrophysicist · b. 1914
H
Harry HarlowAmerican psychologist · b. 1905
J
Jerry WinholtzOlympic wrestler · b. 1874
Samuel M. ShortridgeAmerican politician · b. 1861
Ricky PhillipsAmerican bassist · b. 1953
William Ward JohnsonAmerican politician · b. 1892
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Trenton had its own post office from 1839 to 1915.

Trenton
1839–1915
18301930today
Gone or out of use
Trenton Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Trenton’s history

What year was Trenton founded?

The Trenton post office opened in 1839, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Trenton?

One place: the Samuel and Sarah Hulme House (listed 2019).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.