Editing Trenton, Washington County, Wisconsin

{{short description|Town in Washington County, Wisconsin}}
{{For|other locations in Wisconsin named Trenton|Trenton, Wisconsin (disambiguation){{!}}Trenton, Wisconsin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}

{{Infobox settlement
|official_name            = Trenton, Wisconsin
|settlement_type          = [[Administrative divisions of Wisconsin#Town|Town]]
|nickname                 = 
|motto                    =

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Trenton Town Hall.jpg
|imagesize                = 
|image_caption            = Town hall
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = WIMap-doton-Trenton_c.png
|mapsize                  = 250px
|map_caption              = Location of Trenton, Washington County, Wisconsin
|image_map1               = 
|mapsize1                 = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
|subdivision_name         = {{flag|United States}}
|subdivision_type1        = [[U.S. state|State]]
|subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Wisconsin}}
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Wisconsin|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Washington County, Wisconsin|Washington]]

<!-- Government -->
|government_footnotes     = 
|government_type          = 
|leader_title             = 
|leader_name              = 
|leader_title1            = 
|leader_name1             = 
|established_title        = [[Municipal corporation|Incorporated]]
|established_date         = {{Start date and age|March 11, 1848}}

<!-- Area -->
|unit_pref  =  Imperial
|area_footnotes           =

|area_magnitude           = 
|area_total_km2           = 86.7
|area_land_km2            = 86.5
|area_water_km2           = 0.2
|area_total_sq_mi         = 33.5
|area_land_sq_mi          = 33.4
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.1

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[United States Census, 2000|2000]]
|population_footnotes     = 
|population_total         = 4440
|population_density_km2   = 51.3
|population_density_sq_mi = 133.0

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
|elevation_m              = 274
|elevation_ft             = 899
|coordinates              = {{coord|43|25|3|N|88|6|32|W|region:US-WI|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = 
|postal_code              = 
|area_code                = [[Area code 262|262]]  
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standard|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 55-80575<ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1584294<ref name="GR3" />
|website                  = {{URL|www.townoftrenton.info}}
|footnotes                = 
}}
'''Trenton''' is a town in [[Washington County, Wisconsin|Washington County]], [[Wisconsin]], United States. The population was 4,440 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of [[Myra, Wisconsin|Myra]] is located within the town.

==Geography==
The [[Milwaukee River]] bisects the Town of Trenton. The north branch of [[Cedar Creek (Wisconsin)|Cedar Creek]] runs through the town.<ref name="Encyclopedia">{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Town of Trenton|url=https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/town-of-trenton/|publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee|access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref> Wallace Lake is in the northwestern corner of the town on the boundary with the [[Barton, Wisconsin|Town of Barton]].

According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the town has a total area of 33.5&nbsp;square miles (86.7&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which, 33.4&nbsp;square miles (86.5&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of it is land and 0.1&nbsp;square miles (0.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) of it (0.21%) is water.

==History==
[[Potawatomi]] and [[Menominee]] Native Americans lived along the Milwaukee River until the 1830s. In 1836, land speculators, including Milwaukee founder [[Solomon Juneau]] bought land in what would become the Town of Trenton. However, permanent settlers did not arrive in the area until 1845.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quickert |first1=Carl |title=Washington County, Wisconsin: Past and Present |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic |date=1912 |publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |location=Chicago, IL |page=[https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic/page/35 35]}}</ref> Many of the early settlers were German immigrant farmers. Dairy farming has been the main economic activity for much of the town's history,<ref name=Encyclopedia /> and the Wallau Dairy Company of [[West Bend, Wisconsin|West Bend]] operated a large cheese factory on the town's west side in the 19th and early 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quickert |first1=Carl |title=Washington County, Wisconsin: Past and Present |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic |date=1912 |publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |location=Chicago, IL |pages=[https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic/page/231 231]–32}}</ref>

[[Image:St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery (Trenton, Wisconsin) September 2013 02.jpg|thumb|left|[[St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery (Trenton, Wisconsin)|St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery]] was founded by a community of immigrants from [[Kingdom of Bavaria|Bavaria]] in 1856. Sermons were in German into the 1940s. The building is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Wisconsin|National Register of Historic Places]].<ref>{{cite web|title=St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery|url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI14272|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|access-date=December 22, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=McArthur|first1=Shirley du Fresne|title=St. Augustine Catholic Church and Cemetery|url={{NRHP url|id=90000638}}|access-date=December 22, 2016|work=[[NRHP]] Inventory-Nomination Form|publisher=National Park Service|date=June 21, 1989}}</ref>]]

The Town of Trenton was incorporated on March 11, 1848.

In 1848, Barton Salisbury built a dam on the Milwaukee River to generate power for his feed and saw mills. The area around his mills would become the [[Newburg, Wisconsin|Village of Newburg]], the most significant settlement in Trenton.<ref>{{cite web|title=Newburg Dam: History|url=https://www.co.ozaukee.wi.us/DocumentCenter/View/6812/Newburg-Dam-History|publisher=Ozaukee County Planning & Parks Department|access-date=January 10, 2020}}</ref>

As early as 1848, a group of [[Free Will Baptists]] from New England settled in northwestern Trenton, near Wallace Lake. They were led by Reverend Comfort Babcock Waller, who also founded a Free Will Baptist community in [[Scott, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin]]. The group performed [[immersion baptism]]s on the lake's northeastern shore, even going so far as to cut holes in the ice to baptize their members in the dead of winter. The community members dispersed in the 1860s; some of them established a new church in nearby [[Boltonville, Wisconsin|Boltonville]] in 1872.<ref>{{cite web|title=A History of Wallace Lake |url=https://townoftrenton.info/files/wallaceLake-history.pdf |publisher=Town of Trenton |access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Boltonville Church |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=53324 |publisher=Historical Marker Database |access-date=January 12, 2020}}</ref>

In November 1862 during the [[American Civil War]], the draft was unpopular with some residents. On the day Trenton men were being drafted at the courthouse in West Bend, a mob disrupted the proceedings and forced the draft commissioner to flee to [[Milwaukee]]. On November 22, 1862, the commissioner returned to West Bend with six companies of the [[30th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment]] to prevent further disruptions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quickert |first1=Carl |title=Washington County, Wisconsin: Past and Present |url=https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic |date=1912 |publisher=S. J. Clarke Publishing Company |location=Chicago, IL |page=[https://archive.org/details/washingtoncounty01quic/page/121 121]}}</ref>

[[Bohemia]]n immigrants settled in the community of [[Myra, Wisconsin|Myra]] in the 19th century.<ref>''Town of Trenton Village of Newburg Bicentennial; 1976,'' James Esselman and Leonard Casper, Stapled Wraps:1976, p.9</ref>

In the 20th century, Trenton lost some of its geographic area when the neighboring City of West Bend annexed land for residential subdivisions, commercial developments and the [[West Bend Municipal Airport]]. Additionally, Newburg incorporated as a village in 1973 out of the town's land.<ref name=Encyclopedia />

In the 21st century, Trenton has become a [[commuter town]] with approximately half of its residents working outside Washington County.<ref name=Encyclopedia />

==Demographics==
As of the [[census]]<ref name="GR2" /> of 2000, there were 4,440 people, 1,520 households, and 1,287 families residing in the town. The [[population density]] was 133.0 people per square mile (51.3/km<sup>2</sup>). There were 1,562 housing units at an average density of 46.8 per square mile (18.1/km<sup>2</sup>). The racial makeup of the town was 98.74% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 0.18% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.20% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 0.14% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.38% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 0.36% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 1.10% of the population.

There were 1,520 households, out of which 38.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.8% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 15.3% were non-families. 11.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the town, the population diversity was 26.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 111.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $66,213, and the median income for a family was $70,154. Males had a median income of $45,570 versus $28,272 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the town was $24,767. About 1.4% of families and 2.9% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.townoftrenton.info Town of Trenton]
{{Washington County, Wisconsin}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in Washington County, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Towns in Wisconsin]]