Trenton Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

Trenton Area Cameras

Village · Hitchcock County · County seat · Population 516 (2020 census) · ZIP 69044 · Founded 1885 · Peak population 1,239 (1950)

About Trenton

Trenton is a village of 516 and the seat of Hitchcock County, on the Republican River where US 34 meets NE 25. Trenton Dam and Swanson Reservoir are 2½ miles west, and the Massacre Canyon monument is about 3 miles east. It has the county courthouse, the junior/senior high school, a clinic, the county museum and a public library.

History

The Burlington built its line west through the valley in 1881–82, and a post office opened here on December 8, 1884. The railroad's Lincoln Land Company filed the townsite on December 14, 1885, and named it for Trenton, New Jersey. A survey showed Trenton nearer the center of the county than Culbertson, the seat since 1873, and three elections followed in the early 1890s. On the night of October 1, 1893, under a district-court order, Trenton men drove lumber wagons to Culbertson and brought the county records home, with the sheriff, the town marshal and the Trenton Town Band along. Trenton has been the county seat since.

The county used the Armitage Building as its courthouse until a brick courthouse was built in 1906; the present courthouse replaced it in 1969. From 1923 to 1956 Trenton held the Massacre Canyon Pow-Wow, which drew crowds of up to 10,000. The Bureau of Reclamation built Trenton Dam west of town in 1949–53, and the village reached its largest census count, 1,239, in 1950. Tom Baker, a Trenton businessman and graduate of Trenton High School, served in the Legislature from 1999 to 2007.

Highways and trails through Trenton

Route	One way	Other way
US 34East–west through town	East past Massacre Canyon to Culbertson and McCook	West past Swanson Reservoir to Stratton and Benkelman
NE 25Through town on Main Street	North to US 6 and Hayes Center	South past the reservoir to the Kansas line (toward Atwood)

Nearby towns

Culbertson	about 10 mi east-northeast	US 34
Stratton	about 11 mi west	US 34
Palisade	about 13 mi north-northwest	NE 25 and US 6
McCook	about 21 mi east	US 34
Hayes Center	about 23 mi north	NE 25
Benkelman	about 29 mi west-southwest	US 34

Things to see

The Massacre Canyon Monument, about 3 mi east on US 34: a 35-ft granite shaft dedicated in 1930 above the canyon where Lakota warriors attacked a Pawnee hunting party on August 5, 1873; the visitor center is usually open in summer (call ahead), and the battlefield itself is private land · Swanson Reservoir SRA and Trenton Dam, 2½ mi west, with 64 electric pads, about 150 primitive sites, a marina and about 3,000 acres open to hunting · the Hitchcock County Museum, 313 E. 1st St., summer Sundays 2–5 p.m. · the Weyl Service Station, 124 E. D St., a 1921 filling station on the National Register · the Hitchcock County Courthouse, 229 E. D St. (1969) · the Trenton Public Library, 406 Main St.

Schools and health care

Schools: Hitchcock County Schools (formed in 2008 from the Culbertson and Trenton districts): Hitchcock County Elementary (PK–6), 712 Arizona St., Culbertson, and Hitchcock County Junior/Senior High (7–12), 312 W. 3rd St., Trenton

Health care: Trenton Medical Clinic (Community Hospital, McCook), 406 E. 1st St., Trenton, (308) 334-5155; hospital: Community Hospital, McCook, about 21 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; Andreas, History of the State of Nebraska (1882); Nebraska State Gazetteer (1890); Who's Who in Nebraska, Hitchcock County (1940); Morton and Watkins, History of Nebraska (railroad construction table); Southwest Nebraska Genealogical Society and NEGenWeb Hitchcock County; Hitchcock County centennial history; Hitchcock County website; History Nebraska and its historical markers; National Register of Historic Places; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; Nebraska Game and Parks; National Weather Service (1935 flood); Nebraska Department of Transportation; Nebraska Department of Revenue; school, clinic, library and village websites. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.