Hi everyone (and happy Thanksgiving!), I can definitely back up what everyone has written so far about why people moved to Trenton. I have ancestors who worked in the potteries (weren't there as many as at least 50 potteries in the area at one time?), and who worked for Roebling in the steel mills. My German side came directly to Trenton from Germany, but I do have people who came from England and settled in NE Pennsylvania first, to work in the coal mines. Around 1870 Schuylkill County, Pa., was hit with a depression and alot of mines shut down. I think it was around that time that Trenton really began to take off, so that line of mine moved here to Trenton to find work and settle. It's curious to me why they didn't go to Philadelphia - maybe by then Philadelphia was too large and too settled and Trenton was more "up and coming" with more potential for work? Not as populated as the larger city? The Delaware-Raritan canal system also parallels the Delaware River that divides NJ and PA. I believe it runs from NE PA up in Easton, down south to Bristol, PA, and on the NJ side from Frenchtown, NJ, south to Trenton. From Trenton it branches NE and heads up toward north central NJ. The canal was used to transport various kinds of goods as well, with Trenton being in the hub of it all. There's a great website for the canal if anyone is interested - I'll dig it out of my bookmarks for you! Holly Knott in Bucks Co., Pa